Post your "Life Hacks" here!

To find small containers of food in the fridge such as a jar of capers, place all containers on one tray.

Ants hate talcum powder.

 

(1) Quick rust preventative. Just paint on some linseed oil.
(2) Window, hard surface and chrome cleaner. Using a spray bottle spray on some vinegar. On hot days, dampen the cloth first if it evaporates too quickly. To wash many dirty windows add 1/2 cup of vinegar and 1/2 cup of ammonia to 3.8L of warm water.
(3) If vinegar will not clean a hard surface, then try bi-carbonate of soda on a damp cloth. Better still take an empty jam jar and remove the lid. Place a short off cut of wood in a vice that the lid will sit on comfortably. Hammer in many small nail holes. Fill the jar with bi-carbonate of soda and replace the lid. Using a spray bottle filled with water lightly spray the surface to be cleaned and sprinkle with bi-carb using the jam jar shaker and wipe.
(4) To polish stainless-steel. Use methylated spirits.
(5) Concrete base for the compressor unit of a split system air-conditioner. Buy a couple of 16" square concrete pads from a pre-cast concrete supplier. The trade name for these pads is "sole plates". They are used for re-stumping old houses and for demountable buildings.

(6) To remove grease or oil on natural fabrics. Turps removes mineral based stains; methylated spirits removes organic stains. I have used methylated spirits on polyester cotton successfully, however both turps and methylated spirits can react with synthetic substances.

(7) To remove the black stain from floor boards in old houses. This was called Japan Black. It was usually used as a boarder with a centre carpet. Use commercial grill plate cleaner and then neutralize with vinegar.
(8) To remove frost from a freezer. Wearing a kitchen glove, carefully use a hairdryer to melt the frost and ice away.
(9) To keep buildings cool in summer. Over the years there has been much hot air regarding insulation with the impression that simply insulating your ceiling will fix everything in terms of comfortable temperatures. If any thing doing so will only make things worse in summer if you have windows - especially large ones on the north side (southern hemisphere) and west side of the house. ( In the northern hemisphere south facing and west facing windows.) This is known as "The Oven Effect". Any kind of window covering is better than none. Even pulling the curtains together can help. The outside type of covering types are generally better than the internal types as they stop the sun before it gets to the window. The old fashioned type of Venetian blind will reflect some sun back out the window. Timber or vinyl window shutters are ideal and look good, but are cost money.
A quick solution is to tape a section of builder's insulation foil (also known as sarking) to a roller of a Holland blind that has had the fabric torn. If you do not have a roller then use a section of dowel. Attach with ducting or wide insulation tape. You can usually only buy a complete roll. If you do not want to buy a complete roll ask a builder if you just buy a few sections. Hang the blind with the shiny side towards the window.
Another solution is to hang up shade-cloth on the outside. Note there are different grades of shadecloth availible as well as different colours. Even hanging up an old bed sheet on the inside will have some effect.
(10) Shade cloth frame. In hot areas some plants -especially seedlings - can get too much sun even if the seed packet says "full sun". Get hold of a piece of wire mesh. See if you can find pieces on the rubbish tip. Completely split open a potato sac. Bend into a curved arch. Attach the potato sac with clothes pegs.
(11) Drill press vice. For smaller bits of metal ( the most difficult to hold ) use vice grips.
(12) Plumb bob substitute. Use a piece of bricklayer's string and close the jaws of a pair of vice grips.
(13) Damaged wire to the Hills Hoist clothes drier? Fencing wire is a cheap solution.
(14) To prevent ants entering buildings. Smear automotive grease on a surface that the ants use to enter the building such as the underside of an ant-cap.
(15) Coffee. When making filter coffee, the finer the coffee grounds the better. A piece of unbleached kitchen paper can be substituted for a filter. The newer machines come with a re-usable filter.
(16) Saw horses substitute. Use oil drums. As long as they are of the same size it does not matter what size they are. However the 44 gallon drums are easier to use. CAUTION: some oil drums have had inflammable liquids poured in them, so if in doubt use choose another drum.
(17) Make a white board out of an off cut of white masonite (hard board). Ask at a cabinet makers shop. Use a proper white board marker (from the news agent). If you cover the board with clear con-tac, it will rub off a bit easier and does not make such an irritating sound writing it.
(18) Difficulty in welding thinner steel with an arc welder? This will can work on all but the very thinnest steel (i.e. gal sheet). For lap welds, if the welder has only two settings set for the 3.25mm setting and use a 4mm rod. The only thing is that you will have to strike the rod about eight or nine times. When welding a T section of RHS can cause problems when welding along the shoulder as it is slightly rounded and leaves a gap easily leading to burning. First the cut end must be a clean straight cut. This just about impossible with a hand held angle grinder. If you do not have the equipment ask the steel supplier to do the cuts for you. Buy 4mm thick oblong sections of steel plate that are the same width times twice the width of the RHS. For instance for 50mm RHS, steel plate sections of 50mm X 100mm X 4mm.Using some thing heavy such as a brick, push the section of plate up against the end of section of RHS. Using a 2.5mm rod with 80amps setting, weld straight down as opposed to small circles and weld more on the side of the plate. Then turn over and weld the other side. You can then clamp the two sections together and push the welding rod in when welding the shoulder side of the RHS.
(19) Legs fallen off a toaster oven? Remove the remaining ones and place the toaster oven on a cake cooling wire. Or wrap a couple of bricks in foil and place the toaster oven on top.
(20)Sharpening knives. Never use an angle grinders or the grinding wheels of a bench grinder to sharpen knives. They are far too rough and inaccurate. A stationary belt sander can be used with a fine grit belt. If used a bucket of cold water should be kept handy to dip the blade of the knife into to prevent heat build up. However using a stationary belt sander wears the blade quickly. It is best for grinding down a knife that has a chipped blade or broken off point. Otherwise, a silicone carbide sharpening stone is the best solution. When using a sharpening stone never use vegetable oil. Although it will lubricate, it will in time dry out and become sticky and render the sharpening stone useless. If vegetable oil has been used it would than be best to soak in methylated spirits .Leather strops are used to make knives are used to make knives even sharper than can be achieved with a sharpening stone alone. However it is no use trying to sharpen a completely blunt knife with one, a sharpening stone must first be used. In my experience, a leather strop is easier and safer to use than a sharpening steel and cheaper to make than buying a sharpening steel. You can buy a leather strop, but it is quite easy to make one. See point (1) of Concordance (file:///F:/My%20Documents/mywebpage/concordance.htm) If you already have a bench grinder and would like to have a stationary belt sander, a "Multi-tool" attachment is widely available. There are particular models for different size bench grinders. Note it is possible to sharpen old silver plated and bone handled table knives that have Sheffield stamped on them.
(21) Do you need to make a paint alignment mark? Use a marking pen for the job.Typwriter correction fluid also works good.Sold under the brand of "Liquid Paper". See Other Items Worth Buying (file:///F:/My%20Documents/mywebpage/other_items_worth_buying.htm)
(22) When drilling metal a drop of oil helps to keep the drill bit sharper by keeping it cooler. Drilling dry creates more friction and therefore more heat and so de-tempers the steel that the drill bit is made from.
(23)Does the two handle halves of your stanley knife not close properly at the above the blade end and blade rides into the gap in use?Try taking the two handle halves apart and shave a bit of metal from the middle section of one of the handle halves.A fine grit belt from a stationary belt sander works good.
(24) Do you need to drill a pilot hole in a piece of sheet metal but you have broken the drill bit? Providing it is not stainless -steel you could start a hole with a button screw for use on metal ( they have a small spade on the end ) with a phillips screw driver or you could start a hole with a tek screw for use on metal.
(25) Plasterboard screws and tek screws come in various lengths. They are both much easier ways of joining two pieces of wood together than using nails.For tek screws discard the neoprene washers. These are for waterproofing corrugated roofing iron.Even though these screws are "self-drilling" it is easier to drill a pilot hole first. If any difficulty is experience in driving the screw in then a bit of grease or linseed oil on the screw helps.If the surface is going to be painted then linseed is probably a better option as the paint might not take to a greasy surface.
(26) The old fashioned type painters putty is to mix whiting with linseed oil. However you can also mix whiting with water base paint and it will dry to the colour of the paint.This is a useful way of using up the last bit of paint left in a tin.
(27) Do you need to take a break when painting? For oil based paints place brushes or paint roller in water. Leaving a brush in water for too long without being suspended will distort the bristles. For water based paints wrap the brush or roller in glad wrap (cling film) and leave out of the sun.
(28) On a tin of paint that has been part used, a skin can form on top the paint. To prevent this place a piece of glad wrap on the paint. Wipe the rim of the paint tin and hammer back on. Alternatively, place a piece of newspaper on the lid and stand on it. Cover the rim with foil before using.Alternatively, decant a part used tin pf paint into empty jam jars.
(29) When applying gap filler from a caulking gun, wipe to a smooth edge with a damp cloth. Have a bucket of water handy to dip the cloth in
(30)Gyprock (plasterboard)aka drywall : any edges that you have cut yourself should be fitted at the bottom,top or corners of the wall i.e only butt factory formed edges together.
(31)If a ball point pen still has ink in it but will not write, try touching the point in a flame and scribble immediately on a pad.
(32) If the top of a permanent marking pen has been left off over night, try dipping the point in some turps.