Life Hacks, or Urawaza: Those useful little tips.

Have a hundred charge cables for a multitude of devices and can't remember what goes with what? Snap a bread tie on the cable and use a Sharpie to letter what it's for (i.e. P for phone, M for mp3 player, T for tablet, C for camera, etc.) on the bread tie. Also, if you have several small cords (like for mp3's, which are usually only 4-6" long), snack-size ziplock bags work well to keep them all together (and you can write on the bag what they are).

 

I use a pipe wrench on stubborn screw caps.

 

I use a strap wrench on stubborn screw-capped jars. It's a lighter tool and gives you more control over the force you use, less likely to break the jar in your hand.

 

Ok...so this one is a weird one, and I'm trying to restrain myself, but in terms of weird random tips I learned that help me in everyday life, this one is far above the rest.

Like it's embarrassing how life changing this was for me in terms of clothing fit and comfort: remeasure yourself for a bra, and promptly forget everything you ever learned about bra sizing and what is a large cup size.

Should you desire to go down the rabbit hole, there's a really helpful group of people online willing to help you.

As for basics (there are better calculators online; ignore the ones that use an overbust measurement or say add two inches), you want two measurements:

1. Bust circumference leaning over 90 degrees

2. Underbust measurement

The underbust is your band size, the bust circumference - underbust is your cup size. Each inch (for UK/AU/US; or 2cm--yes I know it's technically 2.54, I don't make the rules--is EU; this means UK/AU/US cup increases are larger than EU) is an increase in cup size.

Ex: 1"/2cm [+ 10cm]= A, 2"/4cm = B...

The pattern:
US/EU: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I/HH, J, K...

UK: A, B, C, D, DD, E, F (¯\_(ツ)_/¯), FF, G, GG, H, HH, J (¯\_(ツ)_/¯), JJ...

AU: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (I haven't learned this one)

 

Safer, easier avocado prep: You don't need special tools and you don't need to stab the stone with a knife. Halve it, then just squeeze the half with the stone in and it'll pop out. Use your knife (it doesnt even need to be very sharp) to score a grid and just squeeze the flesh out.

Better tea: For if your kettle doesn't have a tea temperature option. Put your tea bag in and put just a tiny amount of cold water into the cup before you pour freshly boiled water in. It stops the tea from being burnt and taste bitter. You'll notice the difference in the taste!

Quickly cooling a hot parked car: Open the passenger window all the way and slam the driver door a couple of times.

 

I'm an obsessive person when it comes to organizing and donating unused items, so here are a few ways I keep clutter out of my house:

-when you clean your closet, turn everything backwards. Flip shoes backwards, hang everything from the wrong side, etc. when you wear something and return it to the closet, turn it the right way. In six months or a year, donate anything that's still backwards because you don't use it, and someone else could. The only exceptions would be special event clothing or specific weather related things.

-if you're unsure about selling or donating something, put it away out of sight for a few months. If you don't miss it or think about it, let it go. (Excluding things like heirlooms or holiday items and such)

-when you're shopping, consider purchases before buying. Will you really use it or are you only buying it because of the price? Will it still be useful in a month? A year? Five years? Will the use or enjoyment you get from it justify the cost and space it will take?

-buy things that will last for a long time and are good quality rather than cheap and disposable. It's better for the environment, and in the long run, quality products will cost less since you won't need to replace them regularly.



This last one might be silly, but when I take food to work, I take a baby fork. Mine is cute and has Pluto on it, from my childhood. XD but I take it because it easily fits in my checkbook wallet, I don't have to waste money or plastic on disposeable forks, and the tines are smoother and not pointy, so they won't damage anything in my purse.

 

Speaking of allergies, whenever I get sneezing fits from hugging my cats I always wash my face and change my shirt. That way, I don't keep reacting to the dust or dander I got on me. Saline spray helps in a pinch and, of course, just giving the kitties a damp towel rubdown. As long as you make it seem like you're grooming them, they'll love it.

For flights, always have some bubblegum ready. You can chew on them during take-off and landing to minimize the pressure in your eardrums. Saline spray helps too as it keeps your nose from getting dry. Remember that really bad sniffles and blocked noses = pain during flights! So a decongestant just in time to take effect during take-off or landing is a good thing.

 

Sucking a boiled sweet/candy helps with air pressure too on flights. Air NZ used to actually hand out sweets before landing, I don't think they do anymore. It was always the best bit of the flight lol.

Carrots are amazing for nausea. Forget ginger and toast, carrots. You have to chew them which in itself helps, and they're very gentle on the stomach. Also, they come back up much the same way they went down unlike toast which becomes... well.. yeah.. not good.
I ate SO many carrots while pregnant omg, it was the only thing that helped ease morning sickness and I still will eat one if I am feeling queasy.
Another tip for nausea is breath in through your nose, out through your mouth and keep concentrating on this circular breathing. It helps with motion sickness as well, but only a little bit. Basically it distracts your brain so delays the actual puking bit.
useful in a moving vehical.

Wet wipes/baby wipes are amazing. Take them everywhere, even if you don't have kids. there's no use a baby wipe cannot be handy for.

antihistimes stop chicken pox from itching. Yeah... how did we never know this when I was a kid!?? Calomine lotion does noooothing, forget that stuff, get some antihistimes for kids and the whole ordeal is so much less horrific.

Lipstick can be used as blusher. Put a teensy bit on your finger, then rub into cheeks and wherever else you want a bit of blush. Because it's long stay, it'll stay in place for a whole night even with sweat too. bwhahahah.

 

Regarding flights, I have faulty Eustachian tubes (the tubes which lead from middle ear to throat to equalise pressure) and my ENT told me that while chewing is good, sucking can make things worse, as it can actually make them collapse more. I find rubbing my neck just behind and below the ear gives relief where nothing else does. I've actually taught stranger's children how to do it on flights and stopped them crying with this method!

 

I grate carrot into spaghetti sauce to tone down acidity, I got tired of dumping loads and loads of sugar into my sauce.

 

Spaghetti sauce jar lids can sometimes be difficult to open. I hit the lids where the rim of the jar meets the metal lid with a wooden spoon a few times, and they're much easier to open after.

A piece of sliced bread can soften hardened brown sugar. Just put it in the container on top of the brown sugar for a day.

Hardened bread can be softened by wrapping it lightly in a damp (not soaked) paper towel and putting it in a warm oven for a few minutes.

 

I just encountered something online that made me want to rant:

Pants sizing (most of the following are true for guys and gals):

A lot of people are puzzled by pants sizing, and it's for a good reason...

There are 3 measurements for pants sizing which are often confused:

1) waist size (the number on the label--how US pants are sized, in Europe I think it's still written on the label; no idea for anyone else: sorry): This is meant to correspond to your actual waist measurement, which is usually the narrowest part of you, above your belly button

2) waistband length (if you take a measuring tape and physically measure the length of the waistband of your pants)

3) high hip (generally where your pants waistband actually sits)

Your hip is the widest part of you, usually across your butt.

Pants work this way because it makes it easier to buy pants with different waistlines: high waisted and low waisted jeans of the same size are meant to fit the same idealized person, so you don't have two different measurements and two different sizes for these pants. It also kind of works like vanity sizing, because your waist is smaller than your high hip (generally).

But this leads to very confusing scenarios: here's an example.

Person A:
waist: 27" (68.6cm)
high hip: 29" (73.7cm)
hip: 35" (88.9cm)
Sizing between clothing companies varies, but to get an idea, this person's size is roughly one size in a Big Four company size chart
wears size 24 pants (pants generally fit)

Person B:
waist: 25" (63.5cm)
high hip: 32" (81.3cm)
hip: 39" (99cm)
This person's measurements crosses 4 size categories in a Big Four pattern company size charts
wears anywhere from size 26 to size 30 pants depending on how stretchy the fabric is (choosing size based on thigh/hip measurement, and waistband is never small enough)

So even though Person A's waist is larger than Person B's waist, they wear a smaller pants size. Because most pants never come up to the hip, the waist size value on the tag doesn't actually matter (except when you want to order the pants again). Your best bet is to figure out where the pants are supposed to sit, measure yourself there, and then measure the physical waistband of the pants. Lets say that "supposed to sit" location is high hip. You are making that measurement knowing that if the company projected that a person with that high hip has a different hip or thigh size (bigger), it won't fit.

It's kind of stupid, but that's the system we have.

Since topstitching is annoying to fight. This is my alteration solution:

Spoiler: pocket darts

 

This is a great rule of thumb, but sadly it doesn't work for people like me who have really long, but very flat and, um, "empty" breasts. (I hate my boobs - I have always hated my boobs. I want them gone. I have wanted them gone ever since they developed. My insurance only covers mastectomy in cases of breast cancer or for transgender/body confirmation, and while my gender isn't binary, neither do I desire at this point to transition to male. So that's right out.) According to that measurement system, I'm easily into the DD or E sizes (easily), but in reality even a B cup is too large for me, and I only wear them because I have a lot of trouble finding A cups in my band size that also meet my bra-style requirements. So I usually just go with "snuggest sports bra I can find" and leave it at that. So I think it's important for people to also be aware of their own breast shape, and how that might impact fit.

 

Chalk (the kind of chalk used on chalk boards, like in schools back in the day, or bits of drywall) will also serve this purpose, as it absorbs moisture. I'm an amateur jeweler, and I use chalk to keep my metal stock from tarnishing/oxidizing too much.

 

@Kiyakotari

It could also just as well not be a cup size issue, but an immediate projection versus shallow/wide rooted issue. Bra size does not account for all variables in bra sizing. Certain companies have more immediate projection than others. For example, I have immediate projection, and Fantasie bras are far too shallow for me.

If it is a size issue, Here is a more advanced calculator which relies on averages for the bust measurement and accounts for tissue rigidity and projection.

Edit: I think the shallowness issue (when it isn't explained by bra size) is called the "orange in a glass" effect. If the bra has too much immediate projection and is like a glass, whereas your breast is more shallow, like an orange, the volume of the cup may be correct, but your breasts do not want to fit into each cup because they are the wrong shape.

Breasts shallower than bra:
The bra will look too big on the bottom (wrinkles, gaping), and when you go a cupsize, it will quadraboob on the top. This is the orange in a glass effect and means the bra has too much immediate projection for you. You may not fill out the very tip of each cup when you go down a cup size, but the top of the cup is still quadraboobing.

Breasts wider than the underwire (wide rooted):
The bra will look too big on the sides (in the center at the gore and near the strap), but when you size down a cupsize, it will quadraboob. This is also the orange in a glass effect.

In both cases, the calculation for the cup size is correct (bust - underbust gives you the right volume), but the size of the underwire and the pattern pieces for the bra are wrong for your breast shape.

For me, I get another orange in glass effect...

Breasts stick out too sharply than the silhouette of the bra (immediate projection):
The bra has wrinkles under the boob or the base of the cup sticks to the chest, but, again, when you go down a cup size, it will quadraboob. This means that the angle of the cup in profile as it comes out from the underwire is too shallow for the breast (this is sometimes called the "orange in a bowl effect," as the orange's depth is correct for the bowl, but the bowl--bra cup--is much too wide).

 

I keep my multivitamin next to the bed so that even if I spend 2 hours on my phone when I wake up, I can at least get some gummy nutrients into my body until I get up and have real food.

 

If you have a garment with zippers that keeps getting stuck in them— if the zippers keep catching— keep a number 2 pencil on you. When the zipper catches, rub the graphite of the pencil on the teeth next to the zipper pull, and gently tug it down.

You might have to carefully pull the stuck fabric out of the zipper pull, too, and maybe jiggle the pull back and forth, but this usually manages to unstick the zipper for me! I’ve done this with a mechanical pencil, too (HB lead!), but this is annoying because it’s thin lead that snaps off if you aren’t super careful about how you rub it on the zipper teeth. ><;;;

 

You've probably read a hundred ways to keep from "crying" when peeling/chopping an onion. Here's my method. The scientific reason onions make your eyes burn and water is because when cut, the onion gives off a fine mist of onion juice. The juice is attracted to any wet surface. So what I do is wet my knife blade before I cut into the onion, and the juice is attracted to the knife instead of my eyes.
Also, if you plan to cook the onion, you can freeze it first. I keep a baggie full of chopped onon in my freezer for whenever I need it for cooking. You can also do this with green onions. Chopped celery can be frozen ahead of time too. Don't thaw the celery before using, or it will go mushy.

I buy those big economy size packages of baby wipes refills. I use them for a lot of purposes. I put some in a zip-lok bag in my purse, for emergency hand cleansing. I use them for personal hygiene in public restrooms. Etc.

 

Got a stubborn pet that likes to run away, but always has messy ears and eye buggers?
Arm yourself with one baby wipe, capture your prisoner I mean loving companion and use the baby wipe to clean pet eyes and touch up ears in between deep cleanings. The wipes are so big that you can use different sections and sides of the cloth for each eye and ear without having to dash for more supplies and capture your pet again!