People Share Product Purposes That Aren’t What They Were Designed For And Here’s 30 Of The Best Ones
Even the biggest discoveries can happen by accident. So it's only natural that many of the world's famous products were created for one purpose but people found them useful for a completely different task.
In an attempt to learn about as many of these cases as they could, Redditor u/ljchazal posted a question on the platform, asking other users, "What products serve a better purpose than what they were designed for?" And everyone immediately started submitting their answers.
As of this article, there are 14K comments under the post, many of which provide surprising insights into such things as talcum powder or botox. Bored Panda went through them all and handpicked a selection we believe is worthy of your time. Enjoy.
This post may include affiliate links.
Press and Seal sucks for food use in my experience, but we use it to apply numbing cream on my son's chest at home before he gets blood drawn from his port at the oncology clinic each week. It holds the cream in place and adheres to his skin well enough that the film doesn't get dislodged by the seat belt on the ride to the hospital. It comes off painlessly, which is not the case for any medical films we have tried. It's a strange little miracle in the pediatric oncology world.
There are many approaches to creating a product. So to find out more about these practices, we contacted Chris Lefteri who's recognized throughout the world as a leading authority on materials and their application in design.
"In my work, the process starts with researching and finding materials and because it's about bringing material innovation to my clients, it's essential that we understand what the material can achieve and start designing from that," the creator of FixIts, a reusable bioplastic stick that is revolutionizing repairs and the fight against unnecessary waste and product obsolescence, told Bored Panda.
"If you play with materials, pull them apart and ask them what they want to be, then they will give you the answers. It's much more effective than designing products and then trying to fit a material into something you have already designed."
The royal dansk danish cookie container, used by many for storing sewing/ knitting supplies
Trying to determine whether or not a particular design is good, many turn to Dieter Rams and his '10 commandments.' According to Rams, good design is innovative, makes a product useful, is aesthetic, makes a product understandable, is unobtrusive, is honest, is long-lasting, is thorough down to the last detail, is environmentally friendly, and involves as little design as possible.
But can we say that something is inherently bad because people found a new use for it? One that wasn't foreseen by the manufacturer?
"I love products that are misused!" Lefteri said. "People do it all the time, the back of a chair to hang clothes, a brick to hold open a door, an upturned pot as a step to reach. It's inspiring to see creativity applied in this way. My product FixIts, which is a moldable plastic that can be reused again and again, was created exactly with this in mind. It lets consumers find their own uses and be creative in how to make, mold, and mend."
Amputee here. VR systems have been shown to reduce phantom pain. The proprioceptive illusion of a VR system is similar to mirror therapy but more effective.
VR is also being used to help those who suffer from chronic pain and it looks quite promising. That gives me hope as a 40 year old who's suffered from rheumatoid arthritis since the age of 6 and Adult Onset Still's Disease as well as fibromyalgia. Some days my pain is so intense I can hardly get out of bed much less be productive in any significant way.
Taking a broader look, Lefteri thinks that it's more and more important that we find new ways to use materials and products since the global community needs to really think about the impact we all make on our planet. "If you can reuse something rather than throwing it away then that's far better than it ending up in a landfill," Lefteri added.
And he's right. Every year, we dump a massive 2.12 billion tons of waste into the Earth — if we put all of it on trucks, they would circle the world 24 times.
Garbage is dumped on land-based dumpsites or in the oceans and include:
- Construction waste;
- Industrial waste;
- Household waste;
- Plastic waste;
- Electronic waste;
- Radioactive waste;
- Sewage;
- Run-off waste (fertilizers, pesticides, and oil from, for example, farms running off into groundwater, rivers, oceans).
We need to do better.
Sugar free gummy bears would be better marketed as gummy laxatives
Tampons were invented to plug bullet wounds and bloody noses. Then the nurses started using them to plug a different bloody hole.
Shaving cream, the super foamy cheap kind, cleans glass shower doors better than any cleaner!
Congested? Vicks Vapor Rub. Cough? Vicks Vapor Rub. Headache? Vicks Vapor Rub. Squeaky door hinge? Vicks Vapor Rub. Dry skin? Vicks Vapor Rub. Anything stuck? Vicks Vapor Rub.
Whaddaya mean you don't eat no meat? That's OK, I make lamb.
Load More Replies...
Really? That's crazy different from intended purpose!
Load More Replies...
Was thinking the same, "am I doing it wrong, should I use Vicks suddenly? My house would certainly smell different". Also I think neither are good as intimate lubricant, so on balance they may be equally good/ personal preference.
Load More Replies...
Apply on the soles of your feet, cover with the thickest, warmest socks you have and watch your cold dissipate overnight. Apply to chest, back, and temples if the symptoms are severe. Works like a charm!
I'm undergoing chemo and work in the food industry. The smell of the food makes My nausea worse. A little on my mask keeps that from happening.
Going to the morgue? Vicks Vapor Rub. We had to use it during our forensic field classes to mask the smell of decomp.
My step mom swears by this stuff. She makes my dad put it on his toenails before his socks and shoes and it has cleared up his gross toenails. I couldn't believe the difference. I couldn't stand looking at them before. 🤢
I'll have to keep that in mind for my 92-year old mom. I've had to trim her toenails a couple times, and they're heading in the direction of revolting.
Load More Replies...
I hated VapoRub as a kid. Literally despised the stuff. As an adult, I think the stuff is awesome.
I would think if you had dry skin, the menthol in the rub would sting. Anyone? I have eczema, so if I'm not at home and I get a break out, anything OILY will help temporarily.
Put a couple of tablespoons of plain oats in tights, tie it up and drop it in your bath. If you squeeze it you get a white gloopy slime, smoother yourself in it (super slippy, be careful), espically where the eczemas bad. use in baths when due a flare up (to lesson the issue) and for a few days after (to keep back) if you know near enough when they're coming. Also if you have an aloe Vera plant, loo off a leaf and freeze. When you flare (especially if weeping or cracked skin), get it out and stand it up in a glass for 10 mins or so, the orangey sap will run out. Slice the green away and use the frozen jelly like a chap stick on the affected area. Two of my girls get it really bad and this is what's kept it under control and not stingy for a while now
Load More Replies... 
No!! Having that slathered across my chest then buried alive under blankets as a kid has given a me a Vicks phobia...I DO use it around the nails/hangers for my Hummingbird Feeders...Ants find it NO bueno.✌*Mentholatum works great & is less Stanky...
Picked some up after seeing Jo Koy talk about how his mom puts it on everything. No lie takes the itch right out of mosquito bites. Relieves muscle pain & the tweak in your neck from too much BP lol
I feel this way toward Mentholatum. It's great for chapped lips, hands or cheeks. Also super for sore noses from wiping and blowing during a cold. A smear on a small scrape does wonders. Mentholatum, best over the counter salve available.
Rub it on the bottom of your feet and put on socks before you got to bed, works great for night time coughing
Works great on foot/toenail fungus, and pair it up with some duct tape and it'll get rid of your warts, too.
Another great use is for toenail fungus.Vicks VapoRub (The Proctor & Gamble Company, Cincinnati, OH) has been advocated in the lay literature as an effective treatment for onychomycosis. This pilot study tested Vicks VapoRub as a safe, cost-effective alternative for treating toenail onychomycosis.
Also cold sores on your lips. My sister in law told me. Sure enough, using it twice a day cleared it up in a few days. I felt one coming on, used the Vicks trick and it never grew to eruption.
An ingredient in mentholated rubs is an antifungal agent. If you have toenail fungus, try the rub on your toenails for a while before going with a much more expensive antifungal cream. I was using a prescription medication and not getting very good results. Then I read about Vicks, and started using the cheap store brand twice a day on my toenails. Cleared them right up.
Absolutely works!!!!! You have to use it everyday, rub it onto and under each nail that is affected. It may take two months, but it absolutely, positively works.
Load More Replies...
It works much better if you have a mom to rub it into your chest.
Just don't use it like ky jelly unless you want a very interesting sensation.
It's a good fire starter.👍 It's the same as mixing Vaseline and a cotton ball. Good at staring camp fires. Vicks probably smells better. Lol
It's the lubricant in Vicks Vapor Rub that makes it work so well for dry skin etc. If you don't want the Vicks smell, just use Vaseline instead.
The child of every Guatemalan parent has known about this their entire lives
When I was little my granny always used Vicks. She would ask me if I wanted some more? So, naturally I thought it was called, “S’more.” So it took her a while to realize what I was asking for when I said, “ Can I have S’more?” She still calls it that today.
Very true! Just don't use it instead of horn oil on trombones and trumpets. LOL
I remember as a kid back in my country where meds was a luxury, if you’re sick, this one here is our one cure all, good for insect bites too!
I'm allergic to eucalyptus which is the main ingredient (menthol). So, no Vick's for me!
Since it has a Vaseline base, I can't use it. I'm allergic to petroleum distillates.
My family uses Vicks VapoRub on our babies after they get their first shots. We put a little on the injection site immediately after. It helps the vaccine travel and not knot up and be sore afterwards
First time I suspected I was allergic to eucalyptus was when I walked past my dad who had vaporub in a steam bowl for his sinus headache. It stuffs my head up and makes it hard to breathe and burns. Took many years for my mum to believe me because she didn't think it was possible!
Mortician dealing with the obvious smells that come with the job? Vicks Vapor Rub. xD
My sister and I use it for restless leg syndrome. She started doing it first.
I read it is good for cold sores. Have not tired it yet but did buy a jar for the next time.
Dawn dish soap is a miracle cure for almost anything. Poison oak? Dawn will do it, greasy hands? dawn. oil spot on your favorite shirt? a little baking soda and dawn will whisk it away in no time.
Inspecting hideous crime-scenes? Vicks vapoRub. Or at least Television have told that :D
Unless you are allergic to eucalyptus, like my husband. His mom used it when he was little and they didn't understand why he would have even more trouble breathing... until they discovered his allergy.
Di not put vicks vaporub on your face or chest near where you breathe. Vicks is actually for your FEET. Ik its sounds weird but you heighten the risk of developing COPD if you chronically use vicks on your face or chest close to where you breathe. Vasaline and other petroleum jellys, while amazing for your skin, are bad for your lungs.
For your feet as in helps with these things by you rubbing it on your feet.
Load More Replies... Slap it on anything - I sometimes use it to make me drowsy if I have trouble getting to sleep!
Fun fact-- Cooking spray is excellent to stop squeaky anything! Better than WD40 in my opinion!
When my grandpa was a kid his brother said he couldn't fall asleep, so he told him to rub some in his eyes....That kept 'em closed alright-
I was prescribed a diabetes medication called Metformin, despite not having diabetes, which helped me to fall pregnant after almost 1.5 years of unexplained infertility so that’s pretty cool.
Metformin, have to take it twice a day for my diabetes. Read that they suspect it's a longevity miracle drug, tests are ongoing but only if you're not diabetic. smh 😔
There's a prostate drug that my wife's doctor prescribed her for passing kidney stones. It relaxes the ureter, which let her pass the stones, which made surgery or other options unnecessary. I thought that was pretty neat.
Also, doc gave her another drug to lower her blood pressure (beta blocker), which reduced her anxiety almost immediately. All the time I've known her, she's been a nervous wreck over the most mundane things. Now she lives normally. She became a different person instantly. I could always see the shell she lived in and now it's broken away and gone. She's the person I saw behind the shell. Amazing.
Lebatolol (the BB) and flomax for the kidney stones.
There used to be a rat poison that would make the blood in the vermin stop clotting and literally let it bleed to death on the inside and lacking vitamin k. It's also odorless and tasteless, so the rest or mouse would come back and have more blood thinning until it died. Well, eventually rats and mice became resistant to this poison (because the smart survive and learn to avoid it or they had higher forms of vitamin k), and this, combined with a Navy officer attempting suicide by taking this four blocks of this poison and being just fine after getting vitamin k to stop the blood thinnig effects led to the creators taking a different path for this now ineffective rat poison...
And that's the story of the popular heart drug Warfarin.
I very, very seldom use flathead screwdrivers for their actual purpose. They’re just so useful - chisels, scrapers, punches, exploratory instruments, very small crowbars, shitty chopsticks... the possibilities are endless!
Botox. Originally used to control crossed eyes, then to control spasming facial muscles, when it was noticed it alleviated wrinkles. Now also used as a migraine treatment. Who would have thought injecting a toxin that temporarily paralyzes muscles would find such widespread usage?
Ketchup cleans up brass and gold better than most toxic chemicals sold as cleaners.
I used to clean cars at a rental company. We obviously didn't have enough time to deeply clean every car, and sometimes people would bring their dogs. We had a rubber brush for removing dog hair, but it hardly worked. Wearing a rubber glove and rubbing the hair off the seats and carpet worked wonders.
Just tried this on on stair rug that vacuums just would not remove cat and dog hair - works super!
Binder clips.
I use them for everything except holding documents- closing chip bags, holding parking stubs or packets of headache powder on my visor in my truck, keeping cables bundled, keeping the trash bag from slipping down into the trashcan, holding up my mini Spider-Man bobblehead so it looks like he's clinging upside-down on the bottom of a shelf, keeping rubberbands contained so they can't take over my junk drawer...
I use them to keep my phone charger cable from falling behind my desk, and to hold the bottom of the toothpaste tube after I've rolled it up
sticky notes were invented on accident when the adhesive used in them was rejected as a glue because it wasn’t strong. The inventor had a musician friend who loved how easy it made pinning his sheet music up, and now we have post-its
No way. Romy and Michele invented Post-its. I learned it in business school.
Thalidomide.
Originally developed as treatment for morning sickness, Thalidomide infamously caused serious birth defects in thousands of children. However, a cancer research lab in the 90s found out that Thalidomide cut off blood vessels shortly after the same lab discovered that solid tumors need new blood vessels to grow. Thalidomide has turned out to be a good potential treatment for multiple myeloma.
If you’re in an Asian household, dishwashers serve as excellent drying racks, as do empty ovens.
In my office there was always big deal to never leave dishes in dishwasher because people are incapable of checking if the dish is clean od dirty and just put dirty dishes among clean ones. Also, the sink was full of dirty dishes, so it's better to just empty the dishwasher immediately
Talcum powder is great for getting excess sand off your feet when you get off the beach and want to put your shoes on without getting sandy socks and shoes for the rest of the day
Q-tips are meant for cleaning my ears and don't let anyone else tell you otherwise
A disposable razor will get all the loose bobbles from your clothes.
Hairspray takes toddler ink pen doodles off my couch. While it makes my hair look just awful sometimes.
I swear I used so much Aquanet in the early 90s lol I can almost smell the fumes now
Play doh was wallpaper cleaner before it was a kid toy
We used something like 'Play doh to clean the keys of our Typewriter internal keys back in the olden days - it was a bit stiffer. Used something like Play doh to strengthen my hands after an injury - back in the olden days!
Pipe cleaners. As a teacher and a pipe smoker, I can safely say I use them for arts and crafts about 1000x more often than I use them to clean out my pipe.
As a child I thought pipecleaner was one word, didn't twig that it was cleaner of pipes until I was about 6, and we moved next door to a pipe smoker. It may have been when I said oh look, Mr Dykes is using a pipe cleaner to clean his pipe, sound of penny dropping
Melon baller. It's for making balls from melons but works perfectly to take the core out of apples and pears.
Ive used the same carabiner as a keyring for over a decade.
Its never had to support anywhere near the kilo Newtons its listed to be able to support.
Slipping keys on and off it is kilo tonnes easier and secure than normal key rings though.
Vacuum sealers.
My FoodSaver never sees anything edible. Instead, I use it to protect infrequently used items from dust & moisture, and to make archived papers (taxes, passport, etc.) easier to store. It's also very useful to repackage bulky or specialized cleaning products & supplies & emergency items.
Food, that just gets eaten, usually.
Bubblewrap initially was just fancy wallpaper.
Also, superglue was invented by accident, when engineers couldn't separate glass sheets after attempting to make clear plastic. Later it was used in battlefields to temporarily close wounds.
Wall paper 🤔 I'd feel as though I'd walked in on Dexter, getting his kill ready 😵
My dad bought a fruit scale specifically for the purpose of weighing meatballs. His reasoning was that, if all the meatballs he prepared are the same weight, he'd only have to poke one to know whether or not they were all cooked because the heat absorption would be more or less identical.
Scarf hanger = camisole holder.
Whoever chose the picture doesn't know what a camisole is, apparently.
Note: this post originally had 40 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
I can add the following: to polish silver (if you are fancy like me and have silver), you put it in a pot with some aluminium foil and a tablespoon of baking powder. Bring to the boil. Voila, polished silver. The dirty silver is silver sulphide. The baking soda creates a redox reaction which transfers the sulphide to the aluminium.
*baking powder = baking soda with a small amount of flour in it, so same damn thing. Also, if you have an aluminium pot (very commonplace here), then you can skip the tinfoil, as long as the pot is not enameled (painted/surface covered with polymer)
Load More Replies...
You can use a crochet hook to pull out hair (and other nasty stuff) from drains. A squeegee to rid a carpet/couch of pet hair before vacuuming will change your life. And a little vinegar water to clean nearly anything, except your own dirty little secrets.
My mother always keeps a potatoe peeler at hand to use it as a screwdriver or small crowbar. I also used it for some time to peel cables when i was in tech class
I use my peeler to slice cheese for sandwiches! I have a cheese slicer but it's too thick
Load More Replies...
Here's a more obscure one: a hemostat! They're a type of clamp used to keep wounds from bleeding during surgery without fully closing them, and they can do so much more than that! Since they're long-handled and have a needle-nose head, they can fit in many tight spaces, and they're explicitly designed to get a firm grip without causing undue damage to the thing they're gripping. Great for grabbing small stuff that's gotten jammed in a narrow space!
Dry erase markers remove permanent marker marks. I always try to use matching colors so the dry erase marker isn't damaged.
A dure fire way to get rid of permanent marker stains is to scrub it with toothpaste. It really works. I got a large sharpie stain on my duvet cover and after a few applications it came right out. You just apply it straight from the tube scrub in with a nail brush then wash it out with cold water. Repeat the process as often as you need you to.
Load More Replies...
one of my ADHD medications guanfacine was originally a blood pressure medication. Then they realized it worked really good for impulsivity and other ADHD problems so they also used it for that!
me too... works weel in some tipes of dirty on the walls too
Load More Replies... You can use sunscreen to get tree sap off your skin, and you can use mayo to get the sticky off glass and plastic jars
Chapstick is great for covering papercuts or shaving nicks to stop the bleeding and the sting.
Also works really well for when you have sore skin around your nose during a cold. Just.. use a separate one from your lips.
Load More Replies...
another off-label medicine that helps with joint pain is Children's Benadryl liquid... If you have gouty joint pain, massage a little liquid benadryl into the red, inflamed joint. The pain will go away...
They do make antihistamine creams...would be less sticky.
Load More Replies...
And right at this moment, I can't bring to mind any of my brilliant life hacks!
If you for some reason choose to use oil-based paint, all you need is butter to get it off your skin.
Load More Replies...
A hard boiled egg slicer is perfect for slicing bananas, strawberries, kiwi fruit, button mushrooms and even pitted olives if it's not too flimsy. You can get a cast aluminum one made in Germany that's quite sturdy.
Peanut butter will take crayon off of hard surfaces. I found out when my 3yo scribbled on the fridge, then got peanut butter on it while I was Googling crayon removal methods.
My Best tip is 🦃 cooking: Stuff your bird, place stainless steel butter knives in the cavity, two apart on the bottom one in the top w/an end sticking out, use Kabob skewers semi horizontally into the thighs holding the wings down..Conducts heat wonderfully & the skewers help to keep the foil from sticking to your bird...like Prime Rib Preheat your oven to 450° put tented bird in for 1/2hr then turn the oven down to 325°. Never had an under done bird in 40+ years. Bon Appétit 😁✌
Speaking of ears: lay down, pour in some hydrogen peroxide, listen to it crackle for about 30 minutes, flush out with one of those rubber, bulb-style syringe, squeeze the warm water in your ear really hard and you'll be rewarded with a clump of earwax! And you'll hear better.
I bought a wire fruit bowl that I use to hold my ball of yarn when knitting. The bowl is lightweight, the yarn doesn't roll off where I have to crawl all over chasing it, and when I put my knitting down, I can stick the needle points into the wire holes to keep the stitches from falling off.
Aspartame was originally developed to be a cure for stomach ulcers, but didn't work very well. Then they realize it tasted sweet and had no calories so it was marketed as a sweeter for diet drinks and chewing gum.
For years now I’ve had back pain that gets worse when I lay down for too long. So waking up in the morning sucked and painkillers didn’t do hardly anything. Then I got diagnosed with ADHD and started taking a stimulant for that… no idea why but it works better as a painkiller than anything I’ve tried before. 20 minutes after taking it my pain is completely gone for the rest of the day. I also sleep way better after taking it so I sometimes take it a couple hours before I need to get up and those couple hours of sleep are the most refreshing sleep I’ve ever had
Mine helps if I wake up with a headache - awesome stuff!
Load More Replies... That Foam shelf liner is a gift from the Gods! I use it in my Bay Window to keep my colored glass collectibles from getting knocked over, it 1/10ths the price of the no skid rug holder, great in the bottom of potted plants, in the shower a small piece to keep your soap from falling & can even be used as a no skid shower mat. ✌
I clean my super dirty stove and the internal part of the washing machine with kerosene (pure and original): just a cotton cloth and some gentle rub will leave them super clean... and the smell is off quickly... it works too on some glue residues...
One of my medications was originally used for seizures. It was prescribed to me for BPD.
If you want a good multi-surface kitchen cleaner, then use antibacterial soap in a dispenser. A couple of squirts onto a wet warm cloth, wipe it over the area and leave for a minute and then wipe off. Repeat for stubborn muck. Not only will your kitchen surfaces be 98% bacteria free and clean but you can have it smell nice too
Tons and tons of medications fall into the "not the intended use" category, lots of them having been developed for heart- and blood-related conditions and ended up being more useful in other applications. The HRT standby spironolactone is a great example: started life as a blood pressure medication, turns out it's a natural testosterone blocker.
Use Easy Off oven cleaner in the BLUE can to take soap scum off of a fiberglass shower stall. I had a rental that had a "plastic" stand up shower that was absolutely filthy and caked with slimy soap scum. I tried scrubbing it with everything to no avail. Spent 2 hours on it and got nowhere. I read online that you could use the fume free, blue can of the oven cleaner and gave it a shot. Spray the surfaces and wait an hour. The goop just wiped right off. Any spots that didn't come right up got treated again and came clean the second time. It was a godsend!
If you have a sunburn, melt an aspirin in warm water, then take a washcloth and gently apply to your skin. The aspirin will act as a numbing agent. Of course, aloe is the tried and true solution, but this actually works best for me. Also, trivia answer...The Monkees member Mike Nesmith's Mom invented White Out. Could not tell you my source of knowing this, it's been years, but it's true!
I use my oyster knife in the kitchen for everything from prying the pulp out of coconuts to peeling grapefruit, and I keep a pair of swimming goggles in my kitchen drawer for cutting onions. Also, Brasso can be used to give acrylic or plastic a high gloss polish. Great for crafts and for buffing scratches out of plastic things. Not to mention that vaginal yeast infection cream is the best face moisturizer I've ever used.
Gabapentin is an antidepressant that has been used more often as a pain relief drug for dogs with spinal issues. I currently have a Labrador that's starting to get his spnial discs degenerated due to old age and he was having severe pain crisis. Vet prescribed gabapentin and he's been taking it for 2 months now and he's better! Since it's a degenerative disease, it doesn't have a cure, but it can improve your dog's life-quality a lot!
Also, white vinegar is an amazing cleaner! I use it to get rid of stains and dried grease from oven/pans/etc
Load More Replies...
Check your facts next time https://www.period.media/factsfigures/tampon-history/
Thanks for your helpful and constructive input. What a joy you bring to all of us.
Load More Replies... I can add the following: to polish silver (if you are fancy like me and have silver), you put it in a pot with some aluminium foil and a tablespoon of baking powder. Bring to the boil. Voila, polished silver. The dirty silver is silver sulphide. The baking soda creates a redox reaction which transfers the sulphide to the aluminium.
*baking powder = baking soda with a small amount of flour in it, so same damn thing. Also, if you have an aluminium pot (very commonplace here), then you can skip the tinfoil, as long as the pot is not enameled (painted/surface covered with polymer)
Load More Replies... You can use a crochet hook to pull out hair (and other nasty stuff) from drains. A squeegee to rid a carpet/couch of pet hair before vacuuming will change your life. And a little vinegar water to clean nearly anything, except your own dirty little secrets.
My mother always keeps a potatoe peeler at hand to use it as a screwdriver or small crowbar. I also used it for some time to peel cables when i was in tech class
I use my peeler to slice cheese for sandwiches! I have a cheese slicer but it's too thick
Load More Replies... Here's a more obscure one: a hemostat! They're a type of clamp used to keep wounds from bleeding during surgery without fully closing them, and they can do so much more than that! Since they're long-handled and have a needle-nose head, they can fit in many tight spaces, and they're explicitly designed to get a firm grip without causing undue damage to the thing they're gripping. Great for grabbing small stuff that's gotten jammed in a narrow space!
Dry erase markers remove permanent marker marks. I always try to use matching colors so the dry erase marker isn't damaged.
A dure fire way to get rid of permanent marker stains is to scrub it with toothpaste. It really works. I got a large sharpie stain on my duvet cover and after a few applications it came right out. You just apply it straight from the tube scrub in with a nail brush then wash it out with cold water. Repeat the process as often as you need you to.
Load More Replies... one of my ADHD medications guanfacine was originally a blood pressure medication. Then they realized it worked really good for impulsivity and other ADHD problems so they also used it for that!
me too... works weel in some tipes of dirty on the walls too
Load More Replies... You can use sunscreen to get tree sap off your skin, and you can use mayo to get the sticky off glass and plastic jars
Chapstick is great for covering papercuts or shaving nicks to stop the bleeding and the sting.
Also works really well for when you have sore skin around your nose during a cold. Just.. use a separate one from your lips.
Load More Replies... another off-label medicine that helps with joint pain is Children's Benadryl liquid... If you have gouty joint pain, massage a little liquid benadryl into the red, inflamed joint. The pain will go away...
They do make antihistamine creams...would be less sticky.
Load More Replies... And right at this moment, I can't bring to mind any of my brilliant life hacks!
If you for some reason choose to use oil-based paint, all you need is butter to get it off your skin.
Load More Replies... A hard boiled egg slicer is perfect for slicing bananas, strawberries, kiwi fruit, button mushrooms and even pitted olives if it's not too flimsy. You can get a cast aluminum one made in Germany that's quite sturdy.
Peanut butter will take crayon off of hard surfaces. I found out when my 3yo scribbled on the fridge, then got peanut butter on it while I was Googling crayon removal methods.
My Best tip is 🦃 cooking: Stuff your bird, place stainless steel butter knives in the cavity, two apart on the bottom one in the top w/an end sticking out, use Kabob skewers semi horizontally into the thighs holding the wings down..Conducts heat wonderfully & the skewers help to keep the foil from sticking to your bird...like Prime Rib Preheat your oven to 450° put tented bird in for 1/2hr then turn the oven down to 325°. Never had an under done bird in 40+ years. Bon Appétit 😁✌
Speaking of ears: lay down, pour in some hydrogen peroxide, listen to it crackle for about 30 minutes, flush out with one of those rubber, bulb-style syringe, squeeze the warm water in your ear really hard and you'll be rewarded with a clump of earwax! And you'll hear better.
I bought a wire fruit bowl that I use to hold my ball of yarn when knitting. The bowl is lightweight, the yarn doesn't roll off where I have to crawl all over chasing it, and when I put my knitting down, I can stick the needle points into the wire holes to keep the stitches from falling off.
Aspartame was originally developed to be a cure for stomach ulcers, but didn't work very well. Then they realize it tasted sweet and had no calories so it was marketed as a sweeter for diet drinks and chewing gum.
For years now I’ve had back pain that gets worse when I lay down for too long. So waking up in the morning sucked and painkillers didn’t do hardly anything. Then I got diagnosed with ADHD and started taking a stimulant for that… no idea why but it works better as a painkiller than anything I’ve tried before. 20 minutes after taking it my pain is completely gone for the rest of the day. I also sleep way better after taking it so I sometimes take it a couple hours before I need to get up and those couple hours of sleep are the most refreshing sleep I’ve ever had
Mine helps if I wake up with a headache - awesome stuff!
Load More Replies... That Foam shelf liner is a gift from the Gods! I use it in my Bay Window to keep my colored glass collectibles from getting knocked over, it 1/10ths the price of the no skid rug holder, great in the bottom of potted plants, in the shower a small piece to keep your soap from falling & can even be used as a no skid shower mat. ✌
I clean my super dirty stove and the internal part of the washing machine with kerosene (pure and original): just a cotton cloth and some gentle rub will leave them super clean... and the smell is off quickly... it works too on some glue residues...
One of my medications was originally used for seizures. It was prescribed to me for BPD.
If you want a good multi-surface kitchen cleaner, then use antibacterial soap in a dispenser. A couple of squirts onto a wet warm cloth, wipe it over the area and leave for a minute and then wipe off. Repeat for stubborn muck. Not only will your kitchen surfaces be 98% bacteria free and clean but you can have it smell nice too
Tons and tons of medications fall into the "not the intended use" category, lots of them having been developed for heart- and blood-related conditions and ended up being more useful in other applications. The HRT standby spironolactone is a great example: started life as a blood pressure medication, turns out it's a natural testosterone blocker.
Use Easy Off oven cleaner in the BLUE can to take soap scum off of a fiberglass shower stall. I had a rental that had a "plastic" stand up shower that was absolutely filthy and caked with slimy soap scum. I tried scrubbing it with everything to no avail. Spent 2 hours on it and got nowhere. I read online that you could use the fume free, blue can of the oven cleaner and gave it a shot. Spray the surfaces and wait an hour. The goop just wiped right off. Any spots that didn't come right up got treated again and came clean the second time. It was a godsend!
If you have a sunburn, melt an aspirin in warm water, then take a washcloth and gently apply to your skin. The aspirin will act as a numbing agent. Of course, aloe is the tried and true solution, but this actually works best for me. Also, trivia answer...The Monkees member Mike Nesmith's Mom invented White Out. Could not tell you my source of knowing this, it's been years, but it's true!
I use my oyster knife in the kitchen for everything from prying the pulp out of coconuts to peeling grapefruit, and I keep a pair of swimming goggles in my kitchen drawer for cutting onions. Also, Brasso can be used to give acrylic or plastic a high gloss polish. Great for crafts and for buffing scratches out of plastic things. Not to mention that vaginal yeast infection cream is the best face moisturizer I've ever used.
Gabapentin is an antidepressant that has been used more often as a pain relief drug for dogs with spinal issues. I currently have a Labrador that's starting to get his spnial discs degenerated due to old age and he was having severe pain crisis. Vet prescribed gabapentin and he's been taking it for 2 months now and he's better! Since it's a degenerative disease, it doesn't have a cure, but it can improve your dog's life-quality a lot!
Also, white vinegar is an amazing cleaner! I use it to get rid of stains and dried grease from oven/pans/etc
Load More Replies... Check your facts next time https://www.period.media/factsfigures/tampon-history/
Thanks for your helpful and constructive input. What a joy you bring to all of us.
Load More Replies...