In the first two parts of this series, I explored the strange and amazing world of internet “hacks” — suggestions on how you can make life easier using what are allegedly items you already have in your home. There is no lack of hacks to boil and peel hardboiled eggs, make insect repellent, unclog drains, clean stovetops, crush garlic and chop vegetables.
I couldn’t help but notice that by the time you used some of those ingredients you already had, you could have bought the commercial product for half the cost.
But I get it: The homemade version will likely not have as many chemicals, and it harks back to the days when homemade recipes for cleaning products were pretty much the norm.
All of this did not prevent me from trying all manner of hacks myself.
My results:
• As reported in my most recent column, pots will boil over even with a wooden spoon across the top.
• Putting a sponge with a scrubber side in your washing machine to collect pet hair and dirt didn’t collect much of anything.
• Bar Keepers Friend did not remove the discoloration from my mother-in-law’s Spode china. But it worked great on the bottom of my wok when the toothpaste and green dish soap hack failed. I guess you just have to be flexible.
• Shaving cream failed both as a carpet spot cleaner and mattress stain remover. (Maybe need a different brand?)
Then there were the hacks I didn’t try:
• I didn’t rub toothpaste on my windshield wipers. I just got new ones. I was trying to figure out how I would explain to my insurance company after the accident why my windshield was obstructed with Crest.
• I was equally nervous about rubbing a potato half on my car windows so there would be no water spots if it rained. (See “toothpaste” above.)
• I also forewent using Coca-Cola to remove facial wrinkles. I kept ing that hack for using Coke to remove grease from your oven vent.
There are definitely some hacks I do plan to try when the fly season is upon us. Like putting cinnamon sticks or wine corks atop fruit in a bowl on the counter to keep flies away. Or putting cut-up orange peels in a bowl with a teaspoon of sugar plus dish soap and water and setting it on the counter. I will report if any of those work.
In Part 1 of this series, I tried using a hack that involved balls of aluminum foil plus silver coins in a bag of water hung up outside. I think this was meant to be an insect deterrent. But whatever it was supposed to do, I couldn’t detect that it did anything besides look ridiculous.
I might have failed at many of the hacks, but I have become completely hooked on gadgets. Like hacks, they don’t always work in your home as well as they do in the video, but many of them do, and they’re totally fun to try.
The internet is abuzz with lots of creative garlic mincers, food choppers, wine openers, “magic” cleaning cloths, sweater defuzzers, etc. Not surprisingly, I found them irresistible and seem to have Amazon showing up pretty much daily with a new one.
My home now sports a bathroom sink stopper with a basket, a teeny mushroom-shaped silicone funnel, a digitized tire pressure gauge, an amazing computer devices cleaning kit, a great sweater defuzzer, a magnetized clip that keeps the kitchen towel from falling off the stove handle, along with some overhyped and not very good but fun to try skin creams. So many fun gadgets. Truly addictive.
That said, there are some absolutely horrific (in my view) gadgets out there.
For example, reusable machine-washable toilet paper sheets (comes in a pack of 25). Saves paper! Not sure it saves the washing machine! This is another one of those hacks/gadgets that pretty much guarantees you’ll never have guests again. (See Part 1 column ing tampons to soak up grease while sautéing ground beef.)
There’s also a pot with which you can cook food on your bed “if you’re too tired to get up.” What the …? How is this not incredibly dangerous?
How about a fast-food dipping sauce holder that attaches to your car air vent? No! You should not dip and drive!
Then there’s a UV flashlight that detects blood spatter that someone has tried to wash off. Has someone been watching too much “CSI”? If I saw one of these in my home, I’d want to re-evaluate my marriage.
You can also buy a step-in gadget that wraps your guests’ shoes in plastic wrap while they’re still wearing them so they don’t have to take off their shoes when they come into your home. Seems … slippery?
My four conclusions are:
1. Hacks and gadgets are really fun to try, even if my success rate with hacks is less than I might have desired. I really, really want at least one of those fly repellent hacks to work come July.
2. Nothing is going to get the hard-water deposits off my shower door except new shower doors. Sorry, hacks!
3. Especially with hacks, do some people have too much time on their hands?
4. Is that person me?
Inga’s lighthearted looks at life appear regularly in the La Jolla Light. Reach her at [email protected]. ♦
