Usually products are designed and created with a specific purpose in mind. They are perfected to deal with a particular issue or they are just commonly used for one thing. If you need your windows cleaned, there’s a specific product for that. You use salt to season your food and usually use bleach to take out stains from white clothing.
But all these products can be used for different intentions. A person whose nickname is secondhandsisters probably had that thought and went to Reddit to ask people “What are some lesser-known secondary uses for an everyday product?” And that created a big and very useful thread with people sharing so many products that don’t have to be used just for what they were initially intended to.
Do you have any advice that really works on how to use everyday items or products? Tell us about it in the comments and then upvote the answers that you will try out yourself!
More info: Reddit
This post may include affiliate links.
Condensed milk for those with chronic vomiting. Not only is it great for cooking, but I had a pharmacist tell me about adding some water till it is the consistency of thick soup. Get the person to sip small amounts of it slowly. It helps line the oesophagus to reduce vomiting, and allowing medication time to hit the stomach and work. Also provides much needed sugar. I’ve used it on kids and adults and it’s worked a treat every time
add salt to your hand wash to get gasoline smell off
Love,
Dad
I carry a garlic press in my purse so that when I'm out at a restaurant I can make a small amount of baby food out of any steamed vegetable.
As a mechanic, a flat-head screwdriver is a pry-bar, package opener, square-head (Robertson) screwdriver, hose-pick, a punch, test-lead, electrical bridge, scraper, chisel, and least importantly, a flat-head screwdriver.
Corn starch is a good blood coagulant if you need to stop bleeding
Clean mascara wands are used in animal shelters to soothe the animals by brushing, and to remove fly eggs and larva from fur.
If you have a landline telephone, the dial tone is a concert F.
By holding the phone to your ear and your finger on the first fret of the first string of your guitar (for example) you can use the dial tone as a reference pitch and accurately tune up without a tuner
Coffee grounds are quite versatile. Among other things, you can use them for:
A soil additive to improve the pH balance for plants
Place them in a refrigerator to neutralize odors
Scour pots and pans
De-icing your steps and driveway
An ant repellent
An exfoliating scrub for your skin
Any kind of cooking oil will easily get pine sap off of your hands. Just use it like soap.
I wrap those thick rubber bands (you know the ones that come around broccoli crowns) around tight jar lids to make them grippy and easy to undo.
Blue Dawn dish soap works really well on clothing stains.
I spent years in the Marina Industry and it works really well for zipping people down water slides as well.
Vagisil for chafing. It's antibacterial, lubricating, and an anesthetic. I learned that in the army
Vinegar is amazing. It can be used as a cheap household cleaner, refresh the coffee maker, and it can cure foot fungus and jock itch.
Please note that this refers to white vinegar (white wine or cider vinegar can work too) and definitely NOT balsamic like the picture. I use diluted vinegar with a few drops of essential oil as a spray for the garbage bin, and you can put it in the washing machine to get rid of musty smells in clothes. I always have a massive jug of white vinegar in the house, it's very useful. Oh, and for cleaning glass.
Your library card can do a lot more than let you borrow books.
It allows you to take free courses on Lynda, or learn a language, and even stream movies. A lot of libraries also have video game rentals, which a lot of people don't know about.
Bottom shelf cheap VODKA.... Put it in a spray bottle and squirt in on your bathroom walls to kill mold, squirt it on clothes to remove any odors, use it to clean mirrors, glass, windows.
If you do put vodka on clothes, you will smell like vodka. Is that a win?
Peroxide gets blood stains out
baking powder does the job as well. had some bad blood stains on my favourite pants due to bleeding while pregnant. when I came home after an emergency c-section I restored said pants the their former glory. but you have to put it in cold water beforehand.
Liquid Laundry detergent glows under blacklights but is clear under normal light. You can dip a qtip in some detergent and draw/write on your walls and only see it with a blacklight on. Different brands glow different colors. Lots of fun in dorm rooms.
WD 40 removes old adhesives from any thing with out damage or staining or discoloration
Use vet wrap instead of sports tape. It's basically the same thing but much less expensive.
If you have a French press for coffee, you can also froth milk in it after. Pour in hot milk and raise and lower the plunger until the volume of the milk has about doubled.
If you happened to buy the toy for frothing milk Ikea sells, you will do much better if you take quarter cup of milk, heat it for 10s on 800W in microwave and then froth it. (the milk does froth at about 40°C because the proteins start changing their shape and actually allow longer strands that are necessary to make the structure last.
put a somewhat thick layer of vaseline on the skin around your hairline and ears and neck when dying your hair. if you accidentally get dye on your skin, you can easily wipe it off.
My hairdresser always does this, for people who get perms too.
Keep a bag of cat litter in the trunk of the car, in case you need extra traction if you get stuck in ice or snow.
Bleach to keep away cockroaches. I used to get big ass cockroaches in the summer that came up my drain.
My exterminator told me to pour 1 cup of bleach down my drain each week. You have to pour it down the drain in the room you see them. I started 18 months ago and haven't seen a cockroach since.
(Don't do this if you have a septic tank)
If you have a highlighter that's dying, take the "pen" part of it out of the casing and soak it in nail polish remover. It will revitalize it to working like new
this will work only when the highlighter has dried out and the pigments are still in it. If you do use it out and do try this, it will eventually stop highlighting.
Any cooking oil is a great way to remove the residue from stickers.
Idk if this is recommended but if you get scratches on wood furniture I've always taken a matching washable marker, colored over the scratch, and then wiped it with a damp cloth (to effectively stain the wood back to match).
I use sharpies on wood scratches. They come in lots of colors, and if you're quick, you can still wipe away excess to get a nice blend. They're permanent, so there's no need to worry about it coming off on people's hands or washing away.
Makeup remover wipes are really good at getting bike chain grease off your hands.
A jeweler's loupe can double as a macro lens for your cell phone.
Shaving foam reducesstops misting on bathroom mirrors and car windows.
Also good for when you have a really sticky poop that you just CANNOT get off no matter how many passes you make with TP. Pop some cream on your TP, lather it around and prepare for a much easier job. Even works with hairy butts. (The only reason I needed to know this is because I'm a nurse and I wipe a lot of butts!)
Clear nail polish:
Prevent skin going green from brass
Permanently stop fabric from fraying
Same goes with yarn
Seal paint
The $2 quick dry stuff is the best for me.
Use salt as an abrasive and absorber when cleaning. I spray my stove top with a general household cleaner then sprinkle salt liberally over the top. It gets grease out easily.
For liquid stains like wine, I pour salt over the stain to soak up excess liquid then come through with hydrogen peroxide. Finally I get absorbent towels and dab clean it.
For the love of god, don't believe anyone saying anything about salt and burns. (like right next to my comment). I've been with a girl who has made me a tea into glasses that weren't for hot liquids, it shattered on her and she's had boiling water on her jeans. I was half asleep when that happened but the sound woke me up. I've got her (still in shock somewhat) to rush into shower and pour cold water over it (and take her jeans off). There's been her alternative aunt who made her stop and made a stupid flour, egg or something mixture in the meantime to "cool" it when they went to the hospital. It's been confirmed by the doctors that she'd be 100% less burnt and wouldn't even have a scar if she had an ice bag in a towel on her leg during transit instead. 5°C water takes off way more heat than salt. Freezing things make water condense on them. That means that your skin is in contact with a wet surface. Far better than salt that drains the water out instead.
Toilet seat covers are the same as blotting paper for oily skin.
Toilet seat covers are RIDICULOUS. If there's visible ick on the seat - DON'T SIT THERE. If there's invisible ick on the seat, do you really think a piece of thin paper, which is like a loose fishing net to a virus or bacteria, is going to do a damn thing?! Either way, NO SEAT COVER NEEDED. Just another way to get us using paper products all the damn day, many of which are STILL made from old-growth forests.
Q-tips to clean your keyboard
Turn it around, hit it softly, use a moist once folded paper towel. Q-tips are often too wide.
Kinesiology tape to hold up your boobs when your outfit is too revealing for a normal bra. I used a few strips of tape under my wedding dress, and my girls were good to go the entire day and night.
KINESIOLOGY tape is a special stretchy "sport injury" tape. But for the love of God, DON'T use the Duct Tape pictured🙀🙉😱
Pickle juice can assist the ph balance in your stomach. This means when out drinking, if your stomach starts to feel queezy take a shot or two of pickle juice... why vomit when you’re out having fun?
On a side and probably more relevant note, pickle juice is essentially the OG Gatorade. If you need to replace electrolytes or simply feel a bit dehydrated, drink some pickle juice and then some water
Plastic fruit cups are great seedling pots.
