Simple useful things that took you too long to work out...

[MyCatIsAGit]

Like taking the oven shelf out of the top oven to use in the bottom (bigger) oven so you can fit 3 trays in rather than just 2.

10 years we've had that oven, juggling baking trays at Christmas and for kid's beige food and chips tea, in fact most days. Especially as top oven doesn't work v well.

Revelation this Sunday..

Some of these are bloomin' genius!

My offering is this, if you want to microwave 2 bowls but they don't fit in together, put one on the plate in the microwave and turn a mug upside down on the plate and put the second bowl on the mug so they overlap.

I can't claim credit for this, I read it somewhere but it has been useful

Freeze chillies and grate them straight from the freezer - no more faffing about trying to chop it up tiny enough that you don't blow anyone's head off, and much less chilli-covered stuff to try and clean without touching your eyes (or other parts).

The best large ziplock-type bags I've come across are free with birds eye frozen veg. obv you might need to label with the sharpie which by now you've all got handy in the kitchen if you hadn't before.

If your dog , cat or even child has thrown up on your laminate or tiled floor. Tip cat litter on it and leave for a couple of mins. Soaks up the mess, gets rid of smell and is easy to scoop up. No more gagging whilst paper towelling yuck.

Oh, I like that tip. It reminds me of the caretaker at school with his sand bucket.

Or was it sawdust?

Homemade pizza dough breadsticks! Wow fantastic

I don't fold my knickers Pip - ref Marie Kondo for full folding madness genius.

Hang shirts hoodies etc on clothes hangers to dry. Skirts on the hangers with clips. Then they can be hung up in closet straight from line. Esp if you don't iron. I don't iron.

Cover paint roller trays with tin foil or cling film before adding paint. Just discard when finished. No washing messy paint trays.

Remove wax crayon masterpieces scribbles from paint work with WD40

Put talcum powder on sticky drawer runners, never wax.

Cut the bottom off a plastic milk bottle to make a funnel.

Cut the bottom off a plastic milk bottle at an angle and keep the lid on to make a handy scoop for pet biscuits etc.

Use salad cream or mayonnaise to clean and polish marble, slate or granite.

Cat litter is also great for removing oil drips from paved or Tarmac driveways.

Sorry. Couldn't resist......

www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/viz-is-30-our-50-all-time-best-427354

"HORSE whisperers: Speak louder. The animals will hear you more clearly, thus speeding up training times."

^ that was fromAshbees link.

HOUSEWIVES: Before attempting to remove stubborn stains from a garment, circle the soiled area with a permanent pen so that when you remove it from the washing machine you can check the stain has gone.

These are brilliant. The winner for me is the wine in the fridge water dispenser!

If , like in my office, there's never any washing up liquid or scourer, using salt to scrub the inside of your teacup takes the stains off.

Thank you mumsnet. I've just discovered my ghds have a 2 pin plug inside the other plug. I've been taking an adapter on holidays for 10 years!

That clip was great (except the knickers - far too faffy!) I've been folding stuff differently to that & wondering why it doesn't look right. Thank you!

Freezing and grating chillies is sheer genius!

Nothing really life changing, but I keep a window squeegee (£1 from Ikea) inside the shower cubicle and give the shower a quick squeegee before I get out, prevents the inside looking all water marked and streaky.

I also use floor wipes instead of kitchen/ bathroom wipes for cleaning, they're much thicker and larger and therefore seem to last much longer.

Quick and healthy kids dinner: two-tier steamer (electric/stove top). Water in bottom pan, piece of salmon or chicken wrapped in foil in next pan, veggies in top pan. All cooks together (although depending on veg you might want to cook meat for 5 mins first before adding veg pan).

Cut both ends off carrots and store in lidded Tupperware in fridge. They last weeks and never go bendy.

Tear dylon colour run sheets in half, they work just as well. Also, if using tabs where the recommended amount is two per wash, only use one. Same results, half the price.

For big tea drinkers: make a cuppa in a mug as usual, but also make one in a travel cup. Keeps it hot until you'd normally have your next cup, useful if painting or gardening (for me I do this when having a long bath, so i get to stay longer!).

Chuck peas/sweetcorn/broccoli into pasta water when making children's pasta and pesto.

Towelling robes for everyone means you only ever need to use hand or hair towels.

Campers: cheap shallow plastic basket/bucket from poundland or similar, lined with a nappy bag and a value nappy. Wee in the tent in the middle of the night without having to go to the loo (just place the container between your legs). The nappy absorbs to stop the wee sloshing about, and then you tie the nappy bag up. Just like a baby's nappy.

Milk can be frozen-always keep a one or two pint bottle in the freezer to save dashing to the shops.

Don't waste time/money/effort getting poncy name tags with your first child's full name on when they start school. They are all crap anyway. Just write SURNAME on the label of clothes with a sharpie. That way they will do for the next child as well. Even if your name is Smith or Jones, what are the odds on another child with the same surname losing the exact same piece of clothing at exactly the same time as yours does? The stickers for things like lunchboxes are quite good but again, just the surname will be fine.

Pipbin and 1hamwich

I do them same - packing is so much easier and you don't forget anything.

I also have a ready to go box of stuff (tea towels, washing up liquid etc) for when we go self catering and a list of basic food items so we can at least have a cuppa when we arrive.

BalloonSlayer - a friends parents used to get name tags printed in such a way that they could be cut down and used for friend and her brother.

ie. if siblings are called Peter and Jane, surname Smith, then they would get name labels printed as:
Jane SMITH Peter
They would then either cut off the Peter or Jane bit so they could be either "Jane SMITH" or "SMITH Peter"

The labels stamp looks genius.

For families with more than one child (where there will be inevitable hand me downs) order clothing labels/write in labels with just surname. Unless there are loads with that name in the school it will always find it's way back to one of your kids!

X-post! Sorry

Packing cubes are great for holidays when you have a baby and they have lots of different little clothes. You can use one for vests, one for socks, one for pjs, one for outfits etc. Easy to keep track whilst packing of how much you have packed, and you can transfer them straight to chest of drawers or whatever on hols.