Small and simple tips to make life easier No2

[IAmKerplunk]

Hope nobody minds me starting a new thread? I am finding it very helpful!

My tumble drier doesn't have heat options, just item types on the dial, like whites, duvets, wool etc. Very annoying when I know I just want to tumble something on a low heat for a bit, but don't know which settings to pick.
I just stuck some tape beside the dial, next to the setting symbols/words, looked them up in the online manual to see what each meant heat wise, and wrote on the tape with a Sharpie. So now I know that the XXL setting is the highest and the anti-odour is the lowest, with a selection of highs, mediums and lows in between.

I got a stencil made. White, oil-based gloss sticks to clean smooth plastic very well. No primer or undercoat needed. I found a soft natural bristle half-inch paintbrush worked best, run down and round each character. Dabbing lifted the edges and smudged. It was even better when I sprayed the back of the stencil with low-tack peel off adhesive made for the job. All from ebay. I put the address on the back and front of the bins. Apparently ambulance drivers and cabs look out for bin numbers now as so few people have visible house numbers.

I cleaned off drips with white spirit on kitchen roll.

I don't think water based paint adheres as well.

I don’t often clean my oven (slattern) but I keep a liner in the bottom so that when I do, shelves and liner go in the dishwasher.
When the cycle is about half way through, I take out the shelves one by one and give them a quick scrub with a wire scrubber and then the liner and do the same (keep the dishwasher running as it keeps the unscrubbed bits hot - I think that’s what helps to clean them so easily).
That just leaves the door to do, which a going over with hob brite and a scraper if necessary (the type with a razor blade in it) takes care of.
Wear gloves if you treasure your nails when using the wire scourer!

I use the green nylon scourers. Seem OK to me and do not scratch surfaces.

Unfortunately I am so cack-handed that this wouldn't work - I'd just end up with vaguely shaped paint marks. Even the house number figures I bought are stuck on either crooked or with huge bubbles in because I couldn't get them straight or stuck properly. Which was, I thought, enough to mark my bin as unique from the same-numbered house behind (I should have bought my actual house name, as we don't have roads). So I got floral stencils.

Most of which are crooked. But that doesn't matter, what does matter is that it's bleeding obvious who has taken my bin!

ETA: Our bins live in our back gardens so no use for ambulance drivers. This is a very rural area!

@IfItWereMeYou mentioned in the other thread that you wanted solar lights to light up your house sign for emergency services. You can give your What3Words location when you call and they’ll use that to find you. I rang the police earlier this year and it took them three attempts to find me and that was their suggestion.

Thank you so much. That’s really useful to know.

I freeze sandwiches and wraps for school lunches. You have to be sensible about what you put in there but meats cheeses and butter all freeze great and defrost by the time they are eaten at lunch and actually stop it from getting hot and crusty and similarly although my kids love salad in a wrap they say it gets soggy sitting in a box all morning anyway. I also freeze muffins and cupcakes and pop them in too. Sometimes I let them sit for half an hour near warmth in the kitchen to see them start to defrost but honestly they do defrost very quickly and I've never had a complaint and it means I can do a months worth of lunches in under an hour.

@Strangerthanfictions thanks you’ve just helped me with another idea.

my general health at the moment is awful due to some cancer drugs so I batch cook my evening meals when I’m on the week drug free break once a month.

I put a meal size selection of my favourite frozen vegetables into small snacking zip lock bags and have a drawer in my freezer that’s all batch meals I can whip out a meal and veggies and cook/reheat in minutes.

I think I’ll add some sandwiches and muffins to my freezer drawer as well for my lunches.

That's so clever! Is half a sheet enough for most loads?

does anyone have grab bags of toiletries ready to go for each person in the house? Just in case of an unexpected emergency or hospital stay that sort of thing (I’m a single mum) so I’m thinking it would be easier to get these ready with each person’s initial one so I can call someone and say dd is having to stay in hospital can you grab her toiletrie bag it’s in the cupboard with her initials on ( I know I’m probably thinking too much) all clothes and pjs are organised and put in there own places.. and what do you carry in your bags? Everyday bag for days out with the kids I still need to carry nappies. I’m thinking I need 2 bags one for when I’m out with dc especially youngest and one for when I’m out with just the older dc (which happens rarely)

Yes, although it was a fail last year when I was admitted to hospital, and rang my teen to ask her to bring my toiletry bag. Was feeling awful and got it out late at night, looking forward to washing my face/ brushing teeth. She’d only picked up my makeup bag which was in the same drawer - plenty of foundation/ mascara, but no toothbrush 😂

🤦🏼‍♀️🤣 that’s something my teen dd would do or fetch me something random like eyelash curlers

Don’t know if it was on this or the previous thread /but huge thanks to the poster who recommended waterbottle/glass drier /bought one on Amazon this week and it has changed my life!!! 😃 (for the better 😃)

In my dishwasher I always put all the knives in one compartment in the basked. Same for forks and spoons. Makes it much easier to empty.

Does anyone not do that?!? 🤯

Mixing the cutlery results in a better wash, because it stops it nesting together.

I didn't do that in our old dishwasher as the spoons and forks would 'nest' inside each other.

Garage storage. Ikea PAX frames (50cms wide), tall ones to make the most of the height. No need for doors, and arrange with pull-out baskets and drawers. Great for wrapping paper, ribbon, tools, etc. You can see at a glance what is where and easy to get to.

I did similar in our home office which is also a guest room. Got a PAX, the tall one, and inside I put a Billy bookcase: it gives lots of cheap storage and I can still shove stuff o the bottom of the PAX in front of the bookcase.

I have a bureau like this and it’s a complete mess! Stationery is spread out between that and my home office, and it’s too small to fit loads of gift bags so those are in a different place. Do you mind posting a photo of yours please?!

But don't they spoon (excuse the pun!) thus not getting cleaned properly?

In one of my adult son's flat moves he decided he didn't want a rather nice looking ikea shoe cabinet. Therefore it ended up being stored in my junk room. After a couple of years he never retrieved it so know I have fixed it to wall and use it to store wrapping paper rolls, gift bags and cards etc. It is amazingly brilliant for this purpose because of the way the doors pull out and the shoe compartments at an angle make seeing what is in there easy. If you are like me and have multiple rolls of gift wrap for different occasions and like to buck buy a lot of cards in advance then a shoe cabinet is really good solution to keeping it all neat and easy to use.

@Neverstopwondering genius!

Bloody brilliant! I rarely use wrapping paper unless for Christmas but have a bunch of gift bags that have been circulating among my friends and family for years 🤣

We pin any odd socks to the notice board in the kitchen under a heading ‘Single, Looking for a Partner’ After a week they are declared widowed and binned 🙈 We are a strange family 🤣 but I can’t bear odd socks

I'd love to see a picture of this; it sounds great but I feel as though the paper would be angling outwards too far for the door to close.