There are some things we’re so used to doing but these things deserve a second look so we can use them the way they were meant to be used. Here are the everyday items we’ve been getting wrong all along.
Saucepan Handles
Eating is something we all do every day, and there’s very little eating that doesn’t start as cooking. The upside of cooking is it inevitably leads to eating, but the downside is it inevitably leads to cleaning up afterward.
If you’ve ever made a mess by dipping a spoon in a saucepan of food and then leaving the spoon out on the countertop, then this handy trick will be a lifesaver. Almost every saucepan has a hole in the handle, and you can use this to balance the spoon and save yourself the clean up after.
Plunger
Like Are you using a sink plunger in your toilet? Many people aren’t even aware of the fact that there are various kinds… Long story short, if you’re using a flat bowl-shaped rubber plunger to unclog a toilet, it’s not the right one for the job. This is the type of plunger (pictured above) designed for flat surfaces, such as a sink or a bathtub.
Drink Cartons
Pouring yourself a glass of milk or filling up a bowl of cereal sometimes leads to accidents. There’s no use crying of spilled milk and that’s because it happens all the time. There’s something about all that liquid sloshing around that makes it harder to keep control.
Unless that is, you try this simple trick. If you pour milk from the other side of the carton there’s less milk sloshing around and it’s easier to hold it steady. It may seem weird, but give it a try and see how it works.
Soda Can Tabs
Is there anything more common than the tab of a soda can? You pull it, open the can, you drink, you forget all about it. There’s nothing special about it, there’s no little trick — or so most of us think, until we learn the use of it.
If you’ve ever lost your straw in a soda can, or had it fall out, you’ll be pleased to discover a use for the little hole in the tab. Slot your straw through and it holds everything in place, making it much easier to manage.
Shopping Cart Loops
Not very many of us will take the time to really look at a shopping cart and wonder how it’s designed. It’s a cart — it’s got space on the inside for your groceries, it’s got wheels on the bottom to move it around, and it’s got a handle for you to push it. That’s all, right?
Not quite — there’s another handy feature that many of us might miss. There are loops on shopping carts that can be used to hold your grocery bags, keep them upright if they have fragile items, or store extra if you’ve got a lot of groceries.
Bananas
Okay, there has to be a mistake here — there’s no trick to eating a banana, right? It’s the simplest thing in the world to do. You grab the stem, you pull, the skin peels off, you eat it. Well, sometimes it doesn’t peel quite so easily. In fact, sometimes it can be a real pain.
There is another way — grab the bottom of the banana, and peel from there. The skin comes off much easier. That’s why monkeys do it this way, and when it comes to bananas monkeys know best.
Juice Boxes
There’s nothing better than a juice box on a hot summer’s day. Sure, if you squeeze it too hard, juice can go everywhere and leave a sticky mess — but if you’re a kid, someone else will clean that up. You don’t have to worry about it.
Unless you do. If you’re the one who has to do the cleaning, you’d rather kids didn’t make a mess with their juice boxes. That’s why it’s helpful to open up the flaps on the bottom of the juice box, to give them something to hold when they’re drinking.
Tic Tacs
Keeping your breath fresh is a matter of pride for many of us. There are people who won’t go anywhere without a pack of gum or some Tic Tacs. The trouble with Tic Tacs, though, is that they’ll come spilling out when all you wanted was one or two.
It doesn’t have to be that way. There’s a trick to everything — even Tic Tacs. Turn the pack upside down and use the lid as a dispenser for one Tic Tac at a time. Easy!
Detergent
Detergent keeps your clothes clean and fresh, but it can cause damage if you use too much of it. How can you be sure you’re getting the right balance of cleaning your laundry thoroughly, but not going overboard?
Usually, the cap of your detergent will have a marker, or there’ll be instructions on the bottle to let you know how to measure it out. That way you can be sure you’re using the right amount — no more, no less.
Oranges
An orange is a delicious snack, it’s good for you, and it’s lots of fun to eat as well. Except once you’re done, there’s juice everywhere, and you’re all sticky. There’s a better way to do it that avoids all the mess, and makes the whole experience easier too.
Cut the orange on both ends, top and bottom, and then you can just pull it open. The orange will unwrap conveniently and you can use the skin to keep it all together. Very handy.
Toilet paper rolls
Like There are two kinds of people – those who place the toilet paper so that the end falls over the roll, and those who let it hang under the roll. Surprisingly, the subject caused a great deal of debate over the years and even spurred a few scientific studies. And while you may not think that there is a right or wrong way to place a toilet paper roll, Seth Wheeler, the New York businessman who invented perforated toilet paper, begs to differ.
According to the illustrations that are part of his 1891 patent, the flap is intended to fall over the roll. Not only is it much easier to find the end of the roll this way, but it’s also the more sanitary way to use toilet paper because the end isn’t close to the bathroom wall.
Vegetable Peelers
There’s only one way to use a vegetable peeler, but it does more than just peeling the outside of a vegetable. You can use it to peel vegetables in just about any way imaginable, which can really come in handy when you have a meal to prepare.
Try using your vegetable peeler to slice onions. Chopping onions with a knife works well enough, but sometimes you want thinner strips and you don’t have the patience to slice everything up nice and thin.
source: /brain-sharper, ba-bamail
