# Share your random, minorly useful tips and tricks.
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-random-minorly-useful-tips-and-tricks/296863
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [March 30, 2005, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-random-minorly-useful-tips-and-tricks/296863 "2005-03-30T01:23:05Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 9
### Author:  [@flamingbananas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flamingbananas)
#### Post date: [April 4, 2005, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-random-minorly-useful-tips-and-tricks/296863/161 "2005-04-04T21:37:58Z")
Got a dirty CD? Put it in the toilet and flush. It doesn’t hurt the CD and cleans off all the dirt and whatnot.
---
### Author:  [@Tentacle\_Monster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tentacle_Monster)
#### Post date: [April 4, 2005, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-random-minorly-useful-tips-and-tricks/296863/162 "2005-04-04T21:45:27Z")
> [@klintypooh](#):
>
> Going to a football match? Light a match for every goal/touchdown scored and put it in your pocket. At the end of the game, count the matches to find out the score!
That’s a helpful hint from Viz, right?
---
### Author:  [@dublos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dublos)
#### Post date: [April 4, 2005, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-random-minorly-useful-tips-and-tricks/296863/163 "2005-04-04T22:14:04Z")
> [@Little Wing](#):
>
> All these wonderful tips and no one has a solution for getting waxy deoderant stains out of t-shirts? (post #15) Well, dang. I thought for sure _some_body out there would know the solution for this. 🙂
I’m not so sure about removing them (It looks like you’ve gotten a few suggestions on that front so far) but do have one on not causing them.
Alternate anti-perspirents. Ever since I started keeping at least two in my medicine cabinet and always using the one on the left and putting it away on the right, no more anti-perperant stains on my shirts. Usually one solid, one liquid, all claiming goes on clear, etc.
No one has come up with a satisfactory explination about why this seems to prevent the build up, perhaps it’s just coincidence and it was my switch to Tide liquid with bleach alternative that’s stopped them from building up again. Can’t say for you, but it can’t hurt to try.
---
### Author:  [@brownie55](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brownie55)
#### Post date: [April 4, 2005, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-random-minorly-useful-tips-and-tricks/296863/164 "2005-04-04T22:25:57Z")
> [@Antiochus](#):
>
> What does a gallon of bleach e.o.m. do to one’s septic tank?
>
> And what do you put down the toilet to merit such extreme shit? 🙂
Septic tanks I can’t speak to, sorry.
And it’s not the toilets, it’s the sinks. Kitchen with the disposal seems to retain lettuce and back up the whole house when it clogs the main drain. Bleach sure cures that, even when it’s locked tight.
> [@Annie-Xmas](#):
>
> A cup of baking soda followed by two cups of boiling water will do the same thing, and it is cheaper and greener.
Will that clear a total stoppage? I am really just asking. And frankly, when you are talking cost, neither of these will break the bank, especially when compared to a plumber. Speaking of which, it was my plumber who told me to do this, he would rather take money from strangers than friends.
---
### Author:  [@klintypooh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/klintypooh)
#### Post date: [April 4, 2005, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-random-minorly-useful-tips-and-tricks/296863/165 "2005-04-04T23:21:11Z")
> [@Tentacle Monster](#):
>
> That’s a helpful hint from Viz, right?
Wow! I was pretty sure nobody would get the reference and I am pleasantly surprised, I tried to remember some others but they all eluded me.
Whilst on the subject of references is your name from Ghastly’s Ghastly Comic?
---
### Author:  [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)
#### Post date: [April 5, 2005, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-random-minorly-useful-tips-and-tricks/296863/166 "2005-04-05T00:13:00Z")
Two ibuprofen every night of your period–and two days before it starts–will significantly reduce menstrual discomfort and lessen the flowage.
Ginger ale helps a bloated stomach.
---
### Author:  [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)
#### Post date: [April 5, 2005, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-random-minorly-useful-tips-and-tricks/296863/167 "2005-04-05T00:40:24Z")
> [@Tentacle Monster](#):
>
> That’s a helpful hint from Viz, right?
Why use expensive toilet blue? Simply place a teabag under the rim of the bowl, and every time you flush PRESTO! Your toilet fills with lovely tea.
---
### Author:  [@Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glory)
#### Post date: [April 5, 2005, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-random-minorly-useful-tips-and-tricks/296863/168 "2005-04-05T00:41:47Z")
> [@flamingbananas](#):
>
> Got a dirty CD? Put it in the toilet and flush. It doesn’t hurt the CD and cleans off all the dirt and whatnot.
Is this a woosh?
---
### Author:  [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)
#### Post date: [April 5, 2005, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-random-minorly-useful-tips-and-tricks/296863/169 "2005-04-05T00:50:02Z")
> [@Glory](#):
>
> Is this a woosh?
No, it just sounds like it. 😃
---
### Author:  [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)
#### Post date: [April 5, 2005, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-random-minorly-useful-tips-and-tricks/296863/170 "2005-04-05T02:47:34Z")
> [@StillWL](#):
>
> When you get a bottle labeled for pharmacy use and a xeroed page of instructions wrapped around it telling you to quarter the (then penicillian) tabs for feline use, you can be relatively certain that these were not created for vet use. In another case, I am hard put to explain why an antibiotic for aquarium use would be put in 250mg capsules - the fish don’t swallow them, and the capsule simply slows dispersal. These also look like human drugs re-labelled to allow non-'script use. My MD is aware that I use these and sees no cause for alarm (and he’s easily alarmed). There are other things sold at vet supply stores which I will not publicize, but this one seems benign enough - and yes, I know better than to over-use antibiotics. I have seen other antibiotics for aquarium use which were simply a coarse powder mixed with a binding agent - these, I would not touch.
>
> Sorry, I was using “cold” as a catch-all for any upper respiratory infection - maybe “sore throat, sniffles, mildly elevated termperature, with or without muscle ache” would have been the better expression, but “cold” does it for me.
Oh, I don’t doubt that many Vet Antibiotics were originally made for Human use. But remember what I said “You run a very real danger of having been infected by an antibiotic resistant strain- or perhaps helping a strain achive antibiotic resistance.”. Bacteria that are getting- or already are- resistant to common antibiotics are not something rare. If you had an infection that was worth taking antibiotics for- and it turned out to be a resistant strain- you run a very real risk. And, even if you don’t- using Antibiotics casually is what caused there to be Resistant strains in the first place- which has caused quite a few deaths. Not only are you risking yourself- but the lives of many others. You life is yours to play with, but the lives of others that may die because you are taking fish antibiotics to “cure your cold” are not. :mad:
**Never take Antibiotics unless they are prescribed by your Doc, and only under a Doctors care**. Of course, I exempt the “lifeboat” cases such as being in an area without a doctor, or such.
Next - Antibiotics _don’t_ help with “sore throat, sniffles, mildly elevated termperature, with or without muscle ache” . They can help with various Bacteriological infections that sometimes come along with such symptoms- ear infections, sinus infections and strep throat. But only that sort of secondary bacteriological infections. None of those symptoms call for Antibiotics- they sound like a normal viral disease. Bed rest, plenty of fluids, etc. Now, sure- a Strep throat does give you a sore throat- but a Strep throat is too dangerous to treat yourself. The white patches are a danger sign, not just soreness. (IANA(real)D. See your MD.)
I hate to say anything bad about a real MD (since I am not one), but unless your MD has been living in a cave for the last decade and he doesn’t know about resistant strains, and the dangers of casual taking of Antibiotics when you’re not in danger from a bacteriological infections- then he has no business practicing medicine. However, I doubt if your MD really approves such.
**DON’T TAKE ANTIBIOTICS UNLESS UNDER A DOCTOR’S ORDERS!**
---
### Author:  [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)
#### Post date: [April 5, 2005, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-random-minorly-useful-tips-and-tricks/296863/171 "2005-04-05T03:00:36Z")
When playing Candyland against a 4 year old you can use simple misdirection and deck-stacking in order to make sure certain cards get drawn from the deck at favorable points in the game.
I have used this to make sure the game was over by bedtime with no crying or temper tantrums (for example I make sure the cards that send you back to the beginning get drawn early in the game, not near the end).
---
### Author:  [@drpepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drpepper)
#### Post date: [April 5, 2005, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-random-minorly-useful-tips-and-tricks/296863/172 "2005-04-05T03:25:21Z")
> [@](#):
>
> If you have to install a tiny screw, and because of the awkward position or angle you keep dropping it, you can weakly magnetize the screwdriver by holding it on a tabletop at a low angle, pointing North, and then giving it a sharp rap with another tool. Then, chances are, the weak magnetic attraction will be enough to hold the tiny screw on the end of the driver until you get it in place.
Fascinating, **Spectre**. So for example I could give it a whack (I’m assuming you mean the metal shaft) with a hammer or another screwdriver or something? Any idea of the science behind this? (in layman’s terms, please, I know nothing about physics!)
---
### Author:  [@NoPretentiousCodename](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoPretentiousCodename)
#### Post date: [April 5, 2005, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-random-minorly-useful-tips-and-tricks/296863/173 "2005-04-05T03:31:19Z")
> [@Laughing Lagomorph](#):
>
> When playing Candyland against a 4 year old you can use simple misdirection and deck-stacking in order to make sure certain cards get drawn from the deck at favorable points in the game.
>
> I have used this to make sure the game was over by bedtime with no crying or temper tantrums (for example I make sure the cards that send you back to the beginning get drawn early in the game, not near the end).
Similarly, take out two of the four “Sorry” cards when playing Sorry with younger kids. This limits the “I got Sorry-ed” tantrums to a maximum of two per game.
---
### Author:  [@NoPretentiousCodename](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoPretentiousCodename)
#### Post date: [April 5, 2005, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-random-minorly-useful-tips-and-tricks/296863/174 "2005-04-05T03:32:56Z")
> [@NoPretentiousCodename](#):
>
> Similarly, take out two of the four “Sorry” cards when playing Sorry with younger kids. This limits the “I got Sorry-ed” tantrums to a maximum of two per game.
(Cause I really hate getting Sorry-ed. Man, those kids are ruthless.)
---
### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [April 5, 2005, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-random-minorly-useful-tips-and-tricks/296863/175 "2005-04-05T04:31:50Z")
> [@StillWL](#):
>
> When you get a bottle labeled for pharmacy use and a xeroed page of instructions wrapped around it telling you to quarter the (then penicillian) tabs for feline use, you can be relatively certain that these were not created for vet use. In another case, I am hard put to explain why an antibiotic for aquarium use would be put in 250mg capsules - the fish don’t swallow them, and the capsule simply slows dispersal. These also look like human drugs re-labelled to allow non-'script use. My MD is aware that I use these (it’s a mild broad-purpose antibiotic) and sees no cause for alarm (and he’s easily alarmed). There are other things sold at vet supply stores which I will not publicize, but this one seems benign enough - and yes, I know better than to over-use antibiotics. I have seen other antibiotics for aquarium use which were simply a coarse powder mixed with a binding agent - these, I would not touch.
>
> Sorry, I was using “cold” as a catch-all for any upper respiratory infection - maybe “sore throat, sniffles, mildly elevated termperature, with or without muscle ache” would have been the better expression, but “cold” does it for me.
> [@StillWL](#):
>
> And to be discreet - animal breeders can get certain (“for veteranary use only”) drugs, which if packaged and sold for human consumption, would require 'script. I used to breed cats. I don’t get colds. You figure out the relationship.
>
> Along the same lines, as the FAA requires supplemental oxygen above certain altitutes, pilot supply stores sell Ox2 gear OTC, no questions. Getting the same stuff from a medical supply store requires 'script. Go fig (p.s. - it is my understanding that medical Ox, Pilot Ox, and welder’s Ox all comes from the same tank - don’t know if that’s true).
Your “advice” is both illegal and highly dangerous. Do not post in this manner on the SDMB again.
---
### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [April 5, 2005, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-random-minorly-useful-tips-and-tricks/296863/176 "2005-04-05T04:40:18Z")
Quoth **Aragowyn** :
> [@](#):
>
> And yes, the right turns are a tighter radius which may seem to negate the usefulness of the tip, but in my experience doesn’t.
This will make the centrifugal force more extreme, not less, on right turns, which just makes the grocery-bags-on-the-left tip even more valuable.
And while we’re at it on the physics, when you put a piece of iron (like your screwdriver) in a magnetic field (like that of the Earth) and whack it, you can shake some of the magnetic domains loose and allow them to align themselves with the field like they want. By the same token, steel silverware sometimes gets accidentally magnetized by dropping, and a magnet can also be de-magnetized by impact.
For those clogged drains, baking soda and water are OK, but even better is baking soda and vinegar. Pour the baking soda in first, the put in the plug and pour in the vinegar. Open the plug and quickly close it again, to let the vinegar in, and then press it closed. The soda and vinegar will react to produce carbon dioxide gas, and the gas pressure can push clogs through the pipes.
---
### Author:  [@Tentacle\_Monster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tentacle_Monster)
#### Post date: [April 5, 2005, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-random-minorly-useful-tips-and-tricks/296863/177 "2005-04-05T04:48:55Z")
**klintypooh** : More or less, yes, it is.
Also, you can keep your bread from going stale by keeping it in a bucket of water.
---
### Author:  [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)
#### Post date: [April 5, 2005, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-random-minorly-useful-tips-and-tricks/296863/178 "2005-04-05T05:47:41Z")
When driving Allen screws with a ball driver, put a little tape or plastic on the end of the wrench and then put the screw onto the wrench. The tape will fill the gap between the wrench and the screw head and keep the screw from falling off the wrench.
---
### Author:  [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)
#### Post date: [April 5, 2005, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-random-minorly-useful-tips-and-tricks/296863/179 "2005-04-05T07:03:02Z")
To get that damn shrink wrap off a CD, hold the spine against a relatively “sharp” counter edge and zip the spine against it while applying a modicum of force. Takes less than a second.
I think everyone in the free world is aware of this next one, but I’m constantly amazed when people say “that’s kinda cool, I’ve never heard of that”. To dewrinkle most types of clothes, hang them in the bathroom with the shower on at it’s hottest. Takes about 5 minutes and works like a charm. A bachelor’s best friend.
Sick of high gas prices? Try googling for a website that shows the areas lowest pump prices. I don’t exactly live in a huge city and we’ve got one. It has saved me hundreds over the past few years.
---
### Author:  [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)
#### Post date: [April 5, 2005, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-random-minorly-useful-tips-and-tricks/296863/180 "2005-04-05T08:13:48Z")
To peel a Kiwi Fruit:
Slice off both ends; take a teaspoon that has a flattish bowl and insert it under the skin at one end (so that the curved back of the spoon ends up just under the skin) rotate the fruit, keeping your thumb against the skin so that the spoon ‘scoops’ around the flesh. Repeat at the other end. Squeeze the skin and out pops the fruit, ready for slicing with very little waste or mess.
[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-random-minorly-useful-tips-and-tricks/296863.md?page=8)
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-random-minorly-useful-tips-and-tricks/296863.md?page=10)