What other commonly known stuff should I know, but don’t?

[Lolabear38]

I found out maybe 6 months ago that you should clean out the filter in your tumble dryer on a regular basis, as it gets full of fluff and lint and is a fire hazard. I had no idea. I’m an educated woman, generally reasonably intelligent and practical, I just had no idea you were supposed to do this. I don’t know how. My friend mentioned it in relation to something and I immediately told my husband who looked at me like some kind of moron - turns out he’s been doing it for years!

I’ve been thinking about it recently and I’m starting to wonder what other commonly known stuff you’re supposed to be doing in day to day life that I’m just not. Any ideas? Can be household related or just general life stuff really. I’m starting to wonder what I might be missing out on/ putting us in danger of.

If you didn't know this (and the whole tone thing) you haven't been practising!

A musical one of more general use - to find the major (or relative major*) key any musical piece is in

If there are sharps in the key signature, the key note is one note above the last sharp you can see (so if the last sharp you can see is F# it's in G major).

If it's in flats, you have to remember that one flat is F major. After that, the key note is the PENULTIMATE flat you can see. So if you can see 4 flats it's in A flat major.

If there's nothing in the key signature, it is C major.

*If it's a minor key, you find the major key note then count down 3 semitones on the piano. So if the piece looks like A flat major and is actually in a minor key, it's in F minor.

If your nail varnish has gone gloopy, squirt a bit of nail varnish remover into it and shake. Brings it back to life.

More relevant to everyday life - don't wash underwired bras without putting them in a mesh bra saver first. There is a chance the wires can escape and ruin your washing machine.

It's tighty righty @Supersimkin2.

If a coin falls straight through a parking ticket machine it can often be made to stay in by moistening a finger and running it along the edge of the coin.

I learnt it as righty tighty, lefty loosy

If your whites are looking a bit grubby, leave them out for a day or two - the sun will “bleach” them.

Has worked better for me when spread out over an airer, rather than hanging vertically on a line - but that may just be the orientation of my garden.

I always thought this sign meant emergency room as in an A&E/ casualty until my DH told me otherwise. 🤣

I blush to admit I learned that from an episode of California Dreams. I was 26 at the time. 😳

Yup, that’s how I remember it too.

I was about to comment that this is ridiculous and then I saw my one!

Sorry where is this thing?

and what is TOMM?

You can relieve knat or mosquito bite itching for hours using a teaspoon heated in hot water pressed against the bite. As hot as you can stand, for a couple of minutes. The heat breaks down the proteins that cause the itching.

😂😂 not a footie fan then?

Never drink or cook from the hot water tap

Why not? I've been doing this for decades with no (known) ill effects.

Rather than trying to see the tiny bevel on the edge of your contact lens (without your lenses in), it's much easier to just gently squeeze the sides. Right way out it will roll inwards (away from the pinching fingers), wrong way and it will fold outwards.

The freckle theory is just confirmation/sample bias - and most of the 'proof' photos show freckles in wildly different places.

There's no appreciable amount of ammonia in fresh urine - it only develops if for some reason you keep a bowl of urine for a few days.

And the fig wasp thing applies only to some varieties of figs. Not most of the ones grown commercially, or the types that are grown in UK gardens.

While we're at it, no - the numbers on toasters don't indicate number of minutes (I know nobody's mentioned it yet but they always do eventually).

On what the thread actually asked for:

• You can tell when a spider plant needs watering because the leaves change from a bright green to a paler shade.
• If you have compost gnats in your houseplants get some butterworts to catch them (and only water plants from the base, not the top).
• To clean the inside of a decanter, bottle or similar container add a teaspoon of uncooked rice and a couple of cm of water and shake vigorously.
• Shower heads need descaling unless you live in a very soft water area. Unscrew them from the hose and stand them in a jug of descaler.

Based on 30 years in healthcare….men who have a full head of hair have bald chests. Men who have bald heads have hairy chests. It’s not 100% but it absolutely is true for most men.

Not a problem if you have a combi boiler, only if you have the old type f boiler with a hot water cylinder fed from a tank in the loft (if you do, have a look in the loft tank and you'll see why).

I'm a man with a full head of hair and a very slightly hairy chest.

As a child I was taught

The cookoo comes in April,
Songs a song in May,
In June it changes tune,
And then it flies away.

It's not about the definition of gasoline, but that we don't call that stuff gasoline. We call it petrol - and when we say 'gas' we mean an actual gaseous substance.

Not on my right forearm, but I do have one on my left. I'm left handed.

I'm not in the UK, never had a tank in the roof

Think they meant "isn't".

Back of the fridge