Neat household MacGyver tricks you've learned

[Philip A.]

Honey disinfects and heals suppurating wounds. Rub on, and apply a soaked gauze on it. Beats many antibiotic creams.

Activated charcoal tablets get rid of 95% stomach bugs, cramp-diarrhea episodes after bad food. Faster and better than Imodium and other drugs, cheaper too, no side-effects, no possible overdose.

Superglue closes deep cuts faster than stitches (still need to have an idea of what you're doing, though).

All the above tested for years in the bush, when the closest hospital was a hundred miles away.

 

[jz6342]

One neat trick I have learned is to load the dishwasher completely different than your significant other. They will get frustrated and tell you to forget it and they will do it from now on😁

Yeah, that one doesn't work 🙄 I tried...

 

[Chauncey Gardiner]

Step 1. Paint the door and jamb.

Step 2. Purchase new hardware, and attach it to the door, then attach the door to the jamb ....... the door won't close.

Step 3. Watch a few YouTube videos. None were helpful. HA HA. Get it?

Step 4. Phone a friend. 📲

Step 5. The door closes like butter. 🧈

 

[bykfixer]

One neat trick I have learned is to load the dishwasher completely different than your significant other. They will get frustrated and tell you to forget it and they will do it from now on😁

 

[bykfixer]

Back around 2000 or so my brother would often grumble "where did I leave the tv remote this time?" He had one for his cable tv box that worked the tv but not the VCR. He kept misplacing the one for the VCR. One day I noticed he had a large stash of newspaper sized rubber bands from the morning paper. I used a few to "clamp" the two remotes together. At first he didn't like the idea but soon after was showing his friends how to never lose the remote again. Soon after my whole family had their remote's strapped together.

Fast forward a decade or two later....

Industrial strength velcro holds the tv/dvd remote to the blu ray remote.
But when adding a center speaker remote...

Back to the rubber band trick. A hair band actually.
It holds the trio together nicely. Yet there are times when the question is asked "where are the remotes?"

 

[bykfixer]

Have a gathering with a bunch of Solo cups and people get confused as to which cup belongs to who?
Everybody gets a bottle of water but again who's is who's?
Sharpie marker a number on the side of the cup or the lid of the bottle.

Don't throw that bubble wrap evelope in the trash

Use it to insulate stuff. Vapor barrier in a cooler.
With packing tape you can make panels with it or staple them together.

 

[Monocrom]

Zipper sticking badly on your favorite bag or pack?
Get a tube of Burt's Bees wax. Run it across the outside of the zipper a few times. Press hard! Work the zipper-pull back and forth a few times. Problem fixed! (May have to re-apply every couple of weeks. But no need to replace zipper or throw out that bag.)

 

[globen6]

Saw but haven't tried reinforcing superglue with baking soda for repairs to plastic.

Have used this alot in the last 6 months and the fix is near bullet proof if you do it right!

 

[bykfixer]

I have an older thick alluminum pan that the non stick coating came off of long long ago. It's a great pan to cook with though. Food gets stuck to it and a plastic scouring pad won't begin to get it clean. I'd actually wet sand it at times.

Well, one day I was doing a rice dish where I brown meat in butter then toss in some pre-cooked rice. Or broccolli. The butter at the end carmelizes and sticks to the food. Yummy! But it also adds a layer of crud to my pan.

One day I added a few teaspoons of water to moisten the rice. After stirring I noticed the crud was mixing with the food and after serving it all the pan was clean. Wuh?!?

So now when the food is prepared and served (meaning pan has cooled) I add about 5 tablespoons of water to the empty pan, heat that up and whatever crud is stuck comes right off with a spatula. No more scouring to get the pan clean.

 

[Chauncey Gardiner]

Given all that 👆even MacGyver would purchase himself a new pan. 😄

 

[Dave_H]

MacGyver not really but how about:

Locations which get ice in winter can benefit from use of dried coffee grounds in place of salt and/or sand. Grounds absorb heat from sun and embed themselves in the ice surface which provides grip. It does not melt ice the same way salt does, but is effective in some conditions.

Road and sidewalk salt is having adverse effect on lawns, plants, and trees. Runoff into lakes and streams is threatening some fresh-water creatures. Salt is also bad for concrete. Salt costs money to buy, and has mining/processing/packaging overhead.

Grounds are essentially free, other than the effort to dry and store them (which many people won't bother with). They need to be very dry, as moist grounds in a container e.g. plastic jug, leads to mould and clumping. I dry them on aluminum foil pie plates, outside in summer sun, or inside near hot air vent in winter.

Dave

 

[KITROBASKIN]

Interesting idea about coffee grounds. Perhaps as an individual this could be done, but the amount of roads we have, seems like it would take more coffee than is consumed right now?

Pistachio and other nut shells, peach stones, cherry pits/stems, corn husks and other organic items that do not compost readily can be held until the cold time and burned in the wood stove.

 

[Monocrom]

Would rather not see the price of coffee skyrocket to $50.oo per teaspoon.

 

[IMA SOL MAN]

Would rather not see the price of coffee skyrocket to $50.oo per teaspoon.

If your coffee is $50 per teaspoon, it may be 100% Colombian, but it ain't 100% COFFEE!

 

[Dave_H]

Interesting idea about coffee grounds. Perhaps as an individual this could be done, but the amount of roads we have, seems like it would take more coffee than is consumed right now?

Pistachio and other nut shells, peach stones, cherry pits/stems, corn husks and other organic items that do not compost readily can be held until the cold time and burned in the wood stove.

Only suggesting for household use given the scale. When at home I typically go through about 1 oz. per day (for 3 cups). Over a year, with ice on the ground less than 6 months, and no need to use it continuously, it works out.

Failing this, the grounds could be composted, or just thrown on the grass, it seems to be good fertilizer. We have "green bin" collection every week here, but no need for it to ever go that far.

Dave

 

[bykfixer]

Only suggesting for household use given the scale. When at home I typically go through about 1 oz. per day (for 3 cups). Over a year, with ice on the ground less than 6 months, and no need to use it continuously, it works out.

Failing this, the grounds could be composted, or just thrown on the grass, it seems to be good fertilizer. We have "green bin" collection every week here, but no need for it to ever go that far.

Dave

I used to dry out used coffee grounds. Heck, you're tossing them in the trash anyway (unless you compost). I used dried coffee grounds to suppliment the 50/50 leaves/grass clippings compost for fertilizer on the lawn. It took about a month to accumulate enough to have enough to spread lightly over the yard.

So using them on sidewalks or other walkways in winter won't hurt a thing unless your significant other konks you on the head for tracking them in your home.

It'll raise the pH of your lawn so lime is needed on occasion but they hold moisture, add loamy textture and worms love coffee too so they'll aerate your lawn while you sleep.

 

[Poppy]

Turn a water bottle into a light weight insulated thermos.

In Florida last week suffering their 105 feels like temps, and walking through Disney World. It was important to stay hydrated. At $4.95 a bottle of water, it was behooving to get cups of cold water and replenish/refill one. I couldn't find a 16oz slip on insulating sock so I made one out of an Amazon bubble pack shipping bag/envelope.

I cut it to length, wrapped a bottle with it, and used tape to hold it together.
It worked very well. It kept the water cold for an hour or two. By then it was consumed, and replaced. It was lightweight enough that it was easy to carry. It was ugly enough that there was no fear that it would be stolen if left behind while on a ride, and if it went missing, it was cheap enough that there would be no pain in its loss, and it could be replaced the next day.

Sorry, no pictures, I threw it away at the end of the trip.

 

[Monocrom]

Getting knots in your dress-shoes?
Can't get your fingers into those ridiculously skinny laces?
Use a titanium toothpick as a micro marlin spike to get in there and undo those knots. Just be extra careful if using bolt-action Ti toothpicks. They can retract very easily.

 

[PhotonWrangler]

Getting knots in your dress-shoes?
Can't get your fingers into those ridiculously skinny laces?
Use a titanium toothpick as a micro marlin spike to get in there and undo those knots. Just be extra careful if using bolt-action Ti toothpicks. They can retract very easily.

Interesting. I've never heard of a titanium toothpick.

 

[Monocrom]

Interesting. I've never heard of a titanium toothpick.

It's more for spearing things such as loose grapes and those small mini tomatoes common on salads sold primarily to office workers. I've seen folks using them as actual toothpicks. Yeah, great way to damage teeth. Traditional wooden toothpicks, and modern plastic ones are designed to break if you apply too much force. With the Ti ones, you'll chip a tooth before one of those breaks.