Unexpected life hacks you stumbled across

[Janboree]

I’ve just discovered that my body mist cleans my spectacles brilliantly. As good as my opticians cleaning spray and a lot cheaper. Added bonus it makes my glasses smell nice too and I didn’t like the smell of the glasses spray. I only used it as it was to hand and my other spray had run out.
Have other mumsnetters stumbled across any life hacks unexpectedly?

Haven't rtft but for opening jars I have one of these.

https://www.lakeland.co.uk/7706/jarkey-screw-top-jar-opener

Breaks the seal and then they open easily. No risk of slipping and stabbing myself using other implements.

If you get an oven cleaning kit they come with big bags that you soak the racks in. You could wash out the bags and reuse

Buy stuff in bulk to reduce cost / need / mental energy involved in buying it more frequently - my best examples of this are kids birthday cards and washing up liquid. Pack of 20 and 5l bottle. Similarly, don't buy a lot of disposable things like kitchen roll and find reusable equivalents (like tea towels). Saves a fortune as well as the associated hassle of having to buy it regularly.

Use pan lids to drain pan contents rather than using a colander (I only just realised this a few years ago).

If you have kids, keep a party box with cotton table cloths, plastic plates and cups for kids parties to save buying disposable versions every year. Long term it will save you money if you use every year, especially for multiple kids.

Can you buy those bags separately? I didn’t know about those.

Spray on elbow grease oven cleaner.
Chuck em on the floor outside, coat either side and leave to marinate, then hose off, I do this until it's loosened enough and then bring them in for a scrub.
I do this with my BBQ grills as well and leaves minimal scrubbing. :)

Peanut butter gets chewing gum out of hair and clothes. Just rub it in and the gum will break down and you can wash it off.

Make yo

This thread reminds me of Mumsnet of yore. My hack is the recent discovery that putting pre-1983 one or two pence coins in your birdbath keeps the water less minging for much longer! Also using non tapwater to fill (algae likes the minerals in most tap water more than eg rain or distilled).

Second bonus tip – vicks first defence. Use at the first sign of a cold and thank me later.

Never thought of hosing them off either! Such a good idea.

k

Why specifically pre 1983? Is it something to do with the amount of copper?

Keep packs of baby wipes upside down to stop them drying out.
Put half a sterilising tablet in vases with flowers - keeps the water clean, flowers last longer.

Gellerjeller Also hold the rim under boiling water and it unscrews beautifully( Be careful though, to hold the jar and not the rim!)

Request here - does anyone have a tip for outdoor retractable washing lines? I'm on my third in five years because the plastic retainer things that you wind the line around to keep it taut keep snapping! Does anyone have any tips to either stop this happening or an alternative way to keep the line tight?

Or as they used to be described in WW2, a "wrinkle"

I need a tip for peeling hard boiled eggs, even when I take them off the heat and straight into iced water I end up with so much egg stuck to the shell.

I use the tip someone put on here couple of years ago. Roll the hard boiled egg around until the shell is all cracked. Most times, it comes off almost in one piece.

Roll them on a hard surface and the shells will come off easily.

Wd40 cleans fridge doors beautifully, gets rid of stickers and any glue.

** Let them cool first.

I'm sufficiently long in the tooth to remember people saving used bath water and keeping it in buckets to use for this purpose during the drought of 1976. (Quite often the bath water would have been used by more than one person too, talk about waste not want not. 😄)

Tip for gardeners. My dad used to keep a ball of string in the shed within a plastic container, the type for dried milk, put a small hole in the top and feed the string through. Can always find it and keeps it from unrolling and getting in a tangle.

Instructions for a Heatwave by Maggie O'Farrell

Have you read this?

In a MN thread a few months ago, someone suggested easing the vacuum on hard to open jar lids with the bottle opener gadget on a tin opener. This works brilliantly. I find the lids on Bonne Maman jars are often particularly difficult to unscrew but a slight lift with the bottle opener is enough to ease the vacuum and the lid will unscrew easily. But I will try the wooden spoon method next time I'm struggling.

My thought too 🤣