# Your life-hacks (formerly known as tips & tricks) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 15, 2024, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-life-hacks-formerly-known-as-tips-tricks/1004267 "2024-07-15T12:59:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2024, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-life-hacks-formerly-known-as-tips-tricks/1004267/101 "2024-08-22T14:14:50Z")
When shopping on amazon, if something comes in a variety of colors or designs, check them all. There’s often one option that is way cheaper than the rest, or has a checkbox coupon you can use, for various reasons. It’s usually an unpopular color or design, but if you don’t care what it looks like, you can get stuff for _really_ cheap. My whole basement floor is covered in area rugs and runners that all cost me less than $10 each because I didn’t care what they looked like. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2024, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-life-hacks-formerly-known-as-tips-tricks/1004267/102 "2024-08-23T12:48:29Z")
Ok this is going to be hard to explain. I have a slow leak in the tire of my plow truck. Using one of those lug wrenches that look like a big x or + (fits 4 different sized lug nuts) I could NOT get the lug nuts to budge. I drafted my wife to help. She would put all here weight on one side, and I would pull up with everything I had on the other. Not working. But, I have a hydraulic bottle jack. Hmmm, says I. I put the piston of the jack under the arm of the lug wrench that needed to go up. I put my wife in charge of the jack. I pushed down on the other arm and kept the lug wrench secure on the lug nut. Sure enough, 6 tons of force did it, broke the lug nuts free. I was worried that the lug wrench was gonna snap, but it stayed intact. It’s a sweet sound to hear that ‘crack’ when the lug nut broke free. And I’ll add a spatial ‘salute’ to the guy that used an air gun to over tighten these. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2024, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-life-hacks-formerly-known-as-tips-tricks/1004267/103 "2024-08-23T13:13:55Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > It’s a sweet sound to hear that ‘crack’ when the lug nut broke free. I know exactly what you’re talking about, and you used a very creative method to accomplish the job. Your x-wrench must be extremely solid, not like the cheapies that used to be sold at Wal-Mart. A suggestion: if there is a next time, try using a product called Liquid Wrench penetrating oil. That shit works amazingly well. > **[Amazon.com: Liquid Wrench L106 Penetrating Oil, 5.5 Oz : Automotive](https://www.amazon.com/Liquid-Wrench-L106-Penetrating-Oil/dp/B00200MR8Q)** > > Amazon.com: Liquid Wrench L106 Penetrating Oil, 5.5 Oz : Automotive ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2024, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-life-hacks-formerly-known-as-tips-tricks/1004267/104 "2024-08-23T15:11:25Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > I know exactly what you’re talking about, and you used a very creative method to accomplish the job. Your x-wrench must be extremely solid, not like the cheapies that used to be sold at Wal-Mart. Thanks. I used to do a lot of jeeping. You often have to come up with creative ways to get out of trouble. All you have is you and your buddies. I didn’t have any pipe to make an extra leverage advantage on the x-wrench. Buying that would have been the next step. I was rather surprised the x-wrench took that pressure. This truck is chained up on all four. taking them off is easy enough. Putting them back on is a real job. So I was not wanting to take the whole truck to a tire shop. That’s a 45 minute drive, one way. > [@Railer13](#): > > A suggestion: if there is a next time, try using a product called Liquid Wrench penetrating oil. That shit works amazingly well. Yeah, I use PB Blaster. Otherwise known as Panther Piss. ---
**Author:** ![Dark\_Sponge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dark_sponge/32/121_2.png) [@Dark\_Sponge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dark_Sponge)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2024, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-life-hacks-formerly-known-as-tips-tricks/1004267/105 "2024-08-23T15:22:00Z")
> [@Briny\_Deep](#): > > The easiest and most effective emergency lighting solution, by far, is a good LED flashlight pointed at the ceiling. Agreed. Put a translucent bag over the end and it works even better. I used to do a lot of international travel to places which did not have hotels. Bar soap does NOT travel well. I switched to body wash and that was better but I had to deal with the hassle of two bottles. I tried mixing body wash with shampoo but discovered I couldn’t tell the difference between the two. I just use cheap shampoo now. One bottle to wash everything. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2024, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-life-hacks-formerly-known-as-tips-tricks/1004267/106 "2024-08-23T15:27:35Z")
Cling wrap has long been a pantry staple in my house. I. Microwave with it, cover leftovers with it, wrap up produce with it. A chef once told me to wrap it well and tightly to secure freshness. Bah scallions go limp, can still smell the cut onions wrapped in it. What did we ever do before plastic wrap, I ran out and found out. We used aluminum foil. And it works so much better than wrap and keeping produce fresher longer. Lettuce, ginger, onions, parsley, all wrapped in foil and staying fresh for weeks! But I can’t tell any of the foil wrapped veggies apart in the crisper. So now I remember why plastic wrap got popular, no more mystery packages. NTL going forward I will continue to use foil for prolonging freshness. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2024, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-life-hacks-formerly-known-as-tips-tricks/1004267/107 "2024-08-26T05:56:18Z")
> [@chela](#): > > can still smell the cut onions wrapped in it. The plastic bags that contain the cereal in cereal boxes work. They’re translucent so you can at least see the color of what’s in them. The aluminized bags that chips come in also block almost any smell as long as you close them carefully and completely. Either wash the bags out or wrap the veggies in plastic wrap so they don’t get salty. I use Jewel’s Splenda equivalent, and the aluminized bag even has a ziplock to seal it! ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2024, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-life-hacks-formerly-known-as-tips-tricks/1004267/108 "2024-08-26T19:45:51Z")
That’s a good tip though I don’t keep cereal in the house much anymore Never thought to reuse bags like that for food storage. Sure I’ll use them to collect debris from kitchen prep. I can just see my spouse sticking a hand into a chip bag and coming out with chopped onions. 😂 ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2024, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-life-hacks-formerly-known-as-tips-tricks/1004267/109 "2024-08-27T01:21:03Z")
> [@chela](#): > > NTL going forward I will continue to use foil for prolonging freshness. I Googled NTL and came up with stuff like the National Thoroughbred League, etc. What did you mean by NTL? In my opinion, it helps when folks spell these things out in their post (but maybe I just spaced some super-obvious initialism like ‘USA’). ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2024, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-life-hacks-formerly-known-as-tips-tricks/1004267/110 "2024-08-27T01:26:17Z")
If you don’t get useful results, add urban dictionary NTL stands for none the less or nevertheless ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2024, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-life-hacks-formerly-known-as-tips-tricks/1004267/111 "2024-08-27T01:41:49Z")
ILMVI What’s your hack, anything useful to contribute or just the uzh? ---
**Author:** ![Lancia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lancia/32/17174_2.png) [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2024, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-life-hacks-formerly-known-as-tips-tricks/1004267/112 "2024-08-27T01:56:02Z")
> [@Dark\_Sponge](#): > > Bar soap does NOT travel well. Strangely, I’ve found that bar soap travels better than liquid: no chance of leaks or burst bottles. You can get [small plastic clamshell containers](https://a.co/d/aVenVcs) that perfectly hold a full-size bar of soap; put that in a freezer quart Ziplock and it’ll travel fine without any danger of making a mess. If you’re 100% sure the soap is dry going into its container then you can skip the Ziplock. However, for liquid soap while traveling, nothing beats Dr. Bronners. Works as a good shampoo and a fine body wash, and in a pinch can be used to do laundry or the dishes. I always travel with a small bottle (in addition to my bar of Dial Gold). ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2024, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-life-hacks-formerly-known-as-tips-tricks/1004267/113 "2024-08-27T02:12:28Z")
I was reading through this and kept on expecting the punchline to be that the nuts were threaded left-handed. You find those sometimes on wheels (on one side of the vehicle), because operation of the vehicle tends to stress them in ways that would rotate the nuts counterclockwise, which would loosen normal nuts. The three places where you’ll find left-handed threads are on some things that rotate like that (I’ve also seen it on fans and bicycle pedals), turnbuckles and related devices, and on plumbing intended for use with pure oxygen (because you do NOT want to ever use ordinary plumbing for that). ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2024, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-life-hacks-formerly-known-as-tips-tricks/1004267/114 "2024-08-27T02:44:52Z")
Moderating: > [@chela](#): > > ILMVI > > What’s your hack, anything useful to contribute or just the uzh? Please don’t attack other posters in MPSIMS. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2024, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-life-hacks-formerly-known-as-tips-tricks/1004267/115 "2024-08-27T03:03:42Z")
> [@chela](#): > > ILMVI > > What’s your hack, anything useful to contribute or just the uzh? I had no idea what your initialism meant, either. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2024, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-life-hacks-formerly-known-as-tips-tricks/1004267/116 "2024-08-27T03:41:25Z")
Nor did I. Looking it up, as advised just brought right back to SDMB, first hit on google. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2024, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-life-hacks-formerly-known-as-tips-tricks/1004267/117 "2024-08-27T03:58:47Z")
Pssst, he’s addressing I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2024, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-life-hacks-formerly-known-as-tips-tricks/1004267/118 "2024-08-27T04:05:14Z")
I know who she’s addressing with “ILMVI” . I was referring to when ILMVI politely asked her what NTL meant and she got snarky. I’ve never run across NTL before. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2024, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-life-hacks-formerly-known-as-tips-tricks/1004267/119 "2024-08-27T08:43:55Z")
When it comes to fastening a bag closed you cannot beat a “klippit” [Amazon.co.uk : klippits](https://www.amazon.co.uk/klippits/s?k=klippits) ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2024, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-life-hacks-formerly-known-as-tips-tricks/1004267/120 "2024-08-27T11:00:47Z")
IIRC, large paper clips work in a pinch as well YMMV. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-life-hacks-formerly-known-as-tips-tricks/1004267.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-life-hacks-formerly-known-as-tips-tricks/1004267.md?page=7)