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?

Supermarket

I use a wooden clothes peg clipped to the edge of the pan to stop the lid closing completely, if you leave them ajar they always end up vibrating back into place and then silently boiling over until you hear the hob spitting and have to rush in to rescue it.

Hand sanitiser is what I use to remove sharpie. Amazing. It's the alcohol I'm guessing.

What if you make a mistake while peeling off the Tippex and leave some Tippex on the cheese? Or is it a Brie-ze to peel?

Condition your hair first then shampoo. It gives me an extra 1-2 days between washes.

The OP is basically grassing up Laura Ashley for producing an alcohol-heavy body spray. 😆 Specific spectacle cleaning products are just diluted isopropyl alcohol, sometimes with a little soap.

Oh another I learned from TikTok

’dont put it down put it away’ which I say in my head alllll the time.

Not a massive big deal but the main ingredients used in many nail varnish drying products are the same as the ingredients in many hair oil products. Specifically cyclopentasiloxane and dimethicone.

The hack is that the hair oils are better value because they come in bigger bottles than the little nail polish bottles and can be cheaper eg high street brands.

Water spill on wooden furniture iron it dry I placed a cloth between iron and wood just in case - this was on unvarnished pine - worked very well but you have to do it whilst the wood is still wet

For jars I use a special opener, I think I got it from Lakeland. It's like a big thick ribbed rubber band. You can use it to open and close. I have arthritic hands but I can open anything with this tool

Toilet brush/holder - after rinsing brush when flushing balance over bowel and trap with seat. Couple of hours later it's dripped dry and you can put back in the holder

Following on from post above, freeze ginger and it is easy to grate once frozen

Love threads like this, and the laughs! Thanks janboree, (I’m looking at your chest) 😁

I heard that at Slimming World yonks ago. I hate swede though so will never try it.

Cut pizza with scissors. Easy peasy.

If you have a fruit fly infestation (due to leaving a bag of carrots in a bag and forgetting them for a month at the height of summer 😱) half an inch of red wine in the bottom of a bottle will attract and drown them.

Bonus if you are arguing with your husband about which wine tastes better - keep half an inch in a sealed bottle until both are available and count how many flies are in each bottle in the morning by pouring out through a tea strainer.

I use a bar of soap, and always have, I do favour the Dettol soap, but it doesn’t really matter.

To do what? I don't find rinsing either a problem!

I buy a litre bottle of isopropyl alcohol, for about £5 on Amazon, and a little refillable spray bottle, and fill the latter with the former - for cleaning my specs. I bought the current bottle in about 2021 and still not used it up, and I clean my specs quite a bit. Far cheaper than exactly the same thing at £5 a throw from Boots.

Handy to have alcohol for other things too, like cleaning laptop screen.

Also for babies, 8 assume everyone may do this already, if not using cotton wool and water for nappies, you could use baby lotion. I used it with wipes.
When wipes were first marketed, they were advertised as having baby lotion on them.

Also instead of toilet wipes, have baby lotion in the bathroom and use that.

It needs to be a cold wash first or else you'll cook any remaining blood in as it's a protein stain. But once it's out, you can do the hot wash for hygiene if needed. I've used washable sanitary towels for years and despite getting full of blood every month, they stay surprisingly white as long as the blood is never cooked in. It is a bit harder for the older, thicker blood you get towards the end of your period but still works.

Not again !! 🫣😂😂

Were you really unaware of this basic fact?

This is probably a bit lame but I tend to go to bed with wet hair fairly often, especially in the summer, and I couldn’t keep the towel/ turban things on my head. So would pop my little one’s t shirt over my head then pull it back up so it was around my face, and it made an elasticated hair cover. Also have a special cover for my pillow those nights so is quite the routine 😆 she’s getting bigger now so I must remember to keep a t shirt for next summer!

Yes it does and sweet potatoes too (they need less time) but the skin is thinner so you don’t get the “scoop out” effect but still you can peel it off (wait til cooled down a bit!)

Shower oil is by far the best thing for shaving legs.

L'Occitane do a gorgeous but expensive almond-scented one (uk.loccitane.com/almond-shower-oil-29HD250A15.html). Boots do a cheaper version in their Sanctuary Spa range, and you can sometimes find odd brands at TKMaxx. You don't need much at a time.

Oh oh- and a tip you probably all know but has changed my life- white vinegar soak on those awful synthetic sports tops- stinky smells completely gone! It’s amazing.

Do you have to do anything to it first, like making a gash in it or wrapping it in kitchen towel?

Or peel it?