Multiple random uses for household objects

[uncomfortablydumb60]

I was just using a drawing pin to reset my WiFi router and it got me thinking about how many items I use as not intended!
i have been called the Queen of improvisation more than once!
Here are a few of mine, I'm sure I will think of more
Safety pins
vaseline.. from dry patches, lips and eyebrows it also shines and protect shoes( and skin everywhere) see also lipsalves
Vaseline also swells and hides scratches on solid wood
Zip lock bags.. Bacofoil zipper are brilliant
Philadelphia tubs as drawer organisers for things like batteries, Allen keys, screws
Tea towel.. when my boys were younger I never went out without one and a damp flannel( in freezer bag)
tea towel was used for a multitude of things from a makeshift nappy, hat, bib, and parasol.
i find them useful as a napkin now as I'm clumsy especially over a white blouse
Over to you lovely lot

Oh me too, it has a hooked end which is perfect for grabbing the handle!

Ditto - funnily enough I was at my parents the other day and tried to do the same, was very annoyed their handles are too big for their soup ladel 😂

@justasking111 ooooo. Good to know. ,👍

What a brilliant idea!!

A fluffy recorder cleaner is amazing for cleaning out blockages in the tubes of a vacuums cleaner

and a butter knife is a great flat head screwdriver!

Some great ideas on this thread! I use many already but others are:

*yogurt pots for houseplant cuttings
*old socks to clean Venetian blinds
*old jam jars (especially the nice ones) washed out to hold nuts and seeds
*old fabric conditioner bottles (Ineos, not the huge ones) to hold hand soap liquid refills (I have a huge container with refill liquid in the shed and I keep the Ineos bottle in the bathroom cupboard)
*cocktail measures for measuring small amounts of liquids
*essential oil on cotton wool
pad in the car as a freshener
*essential oil on cotton wool
pad then cut up and vacuumed up to make the vacuum smell nice

Me three with the potato masher.

Also re potato mashers, great if you’re weaning a baby for doing the slight smoosh on things like blueberries in porridge so they aren’t chokeworthy.

I use an old Calpol syringe when I need to add the tiniest bit of liquid to something, most often loosening up icing or butter icing with boiling water.

I use Gu pots to make a couple of extra mini cheesecakes whenever I make a large cheesecake. The small amount removed from the main cake is not noticeable and the mini ones get frozen for a treat some other time.

Cardboard inner from kitchen roll. Slit down length. Slip over long wrapping paper to stop it unfurling

That was my answer too. 💪🏻

This is such a pleasing thread

A big soup ladle is perfect for putting paint into a roller tray, less messy than tipping the tin of paint.

The handle of a pair of scissors - perfect to whack the side of a jar lid to make it easy to open. Actual scissors for cutting sandwiches and pizza.

Back of a spoon to butter bread

Paperclip to take out SIM card

So do I!!! Just came on to say this! 🤣

I use my spray mop to open my kitchen skylight window, and my soft sweeping brush to close it.
Another who uses coffee tin lids for tin cans.
Gu pot for washing powder.
M&S garlic dough ball trays for paint palettes.

Clothes pegs are great. I agree. I use them for all sorts, including a couple with magnets stuck on the back to hold coupons, loyalty cards and shopping lists on the fridge.

Old electric toothbrush heads go in a box in the cleaning cupboard. They are great at scrubbing hard to reach bits in the bathroom or kitchen (very important to put them back in the cleaning box and not leave them on the toothbrush for unsuspecting DH to use later, obviously)

No need to go to the trouble of a soap press. Just press the wet sliver of the old bar of soap onto the new bar. Make sure all the edges are well pressed down and leave for the rest of the day. (You can dampen the new bar first for extra stickability.) The old bar gets 'welded' to the new bar and you can then just use as normal.

I just used a cable tie to push through some sticking out threads on my jumper. It was just handy as I use cable ties for all sorts of things. I use them on my wrapping paper to keep them under control. I don't use elastic bands are they tend the rip the paper.

I use instant coffee, and keep all the jars. In my grocery cupboard, everything is in jars, from popcorn seeds to pulses, oxo cubes you name it. My rice is in a big jar that was a baking kit initially.

Lets not forget about "the bowl" that every household has. The multipurpose hair washing, car washing, window washing, vomit bowl, substitute extra dog water bowl that every household has. Mine is finally coming to the end of its life as was mistakenly left up in the roof to catch a leak (now fixed). It has since been rescued, and is now still hanging on for dear life in the garden as a water catcher under a pot.

Oh and my pride and joy. Where my dd works they were throwing out an empty Azul tequila bottle (the one with the bell) and being thrifty like her mum, she asked if she could have it.

Its proudly on my kitchen counter with olive oil in in.

😀

I use blu tak for anchoring my chopping boards to the countertop. They used to move around but not anymore! I use it also for pinning prints and light pictures to the walls in the d/s loo. No nails and I can move the pics around easily and quickly if I want. Same for the fridge door, magnets won't work on an integrated door, so blu tak for the inevitable lists.

Bulldog clips and hairclaws for keeping things together like documents, well anything that needs to be attached.

Double sided sticky tape is invaluable for keeping mats in one place on the tiled floor.

Cocktail muddler is instead used as an avocado or banana masher

MN thread perfection - full of good ideas kicked off with a bucket load from OP. Love the baby bottle one so much, our measuring jug is too big for a lot and measuring cups are a faff.

Spoons for peeling ginger and rubbing over your fingers to get rido of garlic smell. (I have always wondered if the latter is an old wives' tale but my brain is convinced it makes a difference.)

We also have a decorating spoon and a decorating screwdriver. The former is for stirring and taking paint out of the tin, and the latter is a bent screwdriver used for opening the tins.

Waste paper bin for storing collections of long narrow things - toys eg swords, wands, giant water pistols, or rolls of wrapping paper, or wand toys for cats.

My spaghetti server was unused in the drawer but it makes an excellent paint stirrer (ditto a whisk).

The rolling pin has only ever been used as a hammer.

The icing palette knife is used for filling holes with polyfiller.

Ah yes, cat's wand toys are kept in a yoga back tube thingy.
I don't do the daily meds sorted thingy anymore, I keep a strip of each in a small make up bag. The rest of them are in a cosmetics flight case.

I use an old water flosser jet sprayer to clean out the gunky mouldy stuff in plugholes, overflows, shower crevices. Old electric toothbrush & heads for cleaning limescale on taps etc & grout gunk. Long microfiber sleeve on a metre rule to clean between the glass on a bloody Neff oven because they don't unscrew conventionally and are a nightmare to disassemble and reassemble or incur a large call out fee for a Neff engineer. Plastic bag on a mop to force the water out of the toilet when blitzing limescale. Mop stays dry. Tea towel to whip flies dead. (I have a superpower with this acquired in Australia where flies abound)! Tea towel goes straight into the wash. Pool noodle/pipe insulator on the kitchen tap to fill a bucket on the floor or use the bath shower hose. I'm sure there are more but that's all I can remember for now.

Great thread @uncomfortablydumb60
I use a wire hanger a fair bit. Unfolded full length, little hook on and end. Vacuum cleaner unblocker, sink unblocker, all sorts. Special hook for it in the back room.
I learned this at my late mothers knee and it makes me smile as I think of her every time.