Best and worst ideas for life hacks from social media

[LuvOrlando]

Everyday I see new life hacks all over the place and wonder which ones actually work & which are laughably wrong.

I recently saw someone share that a food colander is the best hair diffuser. So me being me, I tested a giant one and that person was absolutely correct so I now have a giant colander in my bathroom.

I also discovered that metal wine bottle holders are amazing for safely holding hair curlers and straighteners as they cool.

I once saw an irate man using a hip coin dispenser like the ice cream man has at a movie arguing his point of view for freebies and would argue that this was not a great life hack for credibility... so that happened

 

[CdnCarrie]

So you put a colander on your head and then blow dry it?

 

[SandyinMonterey]

My BIL said he tried shredding chicken in the blender after watching a video. He said it worked great, I haven't tried it. He's a big foodie, likes to cook.

 

[tzolkin]

So you put a colander on your head and then blow dry it?

I would assume you flip your hair upside down into the colander and move the blow dryer around it. Now I'm going to have to try it. My diffuser is almost as big as my head anyway.

 

[LuvOrlando]

So you put a colander on your head and then blow dry it?

I have a lot of hair so I bend over and capture all my hair in the bowl and blow up from the bottom, it spreads the hot air so that it doesn't cause fly away frizz as the curls and waves dry.

A regular diffuser requires a lot more maneuvering.

 

[barkley]

saw the worst the other day-video on how to make fresh pasta. started out with someone putting dry packaged spaghetti into a blender to 'create the base'. seriously? 'fresh' is not taking a packaged processed product and deconstructing it to then reconstruct it.

one of the best (though i can't employ it due to the sheer volume of spices i have) is to save counter/drawer space by using the magnetic spice container you can adhere to your fridge. i think back to my younger days and it would have been great to free up one of the few drawers my small apartment kitchen had.

 

[LuvOrlando]

My BIL said he tried shredding chicken in the blender after watching a video. He said it worked great, I haven't tried it. He's a big foodie, likes to cook.

I did that too! There is a fantastic sandwich shop in NJ called Great Wazu DH used to rave about with the chicken salad being super smooth and I never quite got it right. One day I had too much boiled chicken on hand for chicken soup, you know how it starts to dry out and all, so I figured it might work. I dropped the chicken in the blender with some broth to loosen it up, celery and mayo, turns out the results were outstanding.

I keep meaning to try this for tuna salad but keep forgetting, maybe this Friday I'll try it, thanks for reminding me!

 

[LuvOrlando]

saw the worst the other day-video on how to make fresh pasta. started out with someone putting dry packaged spaghetti into a blender to 'create the base'. seriously? 'fresh' is not taking a packaged processed product and deconstructing it to then reconstruct it.

one of the best (though i can't employ it due to the sheer volume of spices i have) is to save counter/drawer space by using the magnetic spice container you can adhere to your fridge. i think back to my younger days and it would have been great to free up one of the few drawers my small apartment kitchen had.

My goodness, that's funny with the pasta, why wouldn't this person just use flour and avoid the chemicals?

I do usually admire all the cool looking kitchen stuff like this & suspect it looks great as a decoration but I also have a ridiculous amount of spices and imagine it would be a bad idea for me to even attempt. The spices would fly everywhere, I just know it.

Reminds me, whenever I see the nice knives displayed in a clear holder on a counter or fixed to the splash boards with magnetic strips I think they look so great but then I think how many I have and contemplate how it gives me an eerie Dexter vibe and I'm like, nope.

 

[RogueX]

saw the worst the other day-video on how to make fresh pasta. started out with someone putting dry packaged spaghetti into a blender to 'create the base'. seriously? 'fresh' is not taking a packaged processed product and deconstructing it to then reconstruct it.

one of the best (though i can't employ it due to the sheer volume of spices i have) is to save counter/drawer space by using the magnetic spice container you can adhere to your fridge. i think back to my younger days and it would have been great to free up one of the few drawers my small apartment kitchen had.

I had little magnetic spice containers when my husband and I first moved in together. They fell off the fridge constantly. It was more of a hassle than worth saving a little bit of space.

 

[barkley]

I do usually admire all the cool looking kitchen stuff like this & suspect it looks great as a decoration but I also have a ridiculous amount of spices and imagine it would be a bad idea for me to even attempt. The spices would fly everywhere, I just know it.

i've got tons in large part b/c of 2 factors-

large costco/amazon containers that are cost effective to fill the ones on my muti tier counter top carousel, and

multiple back up containers due to my cost savings hack-when you go to bed bath and beyond, jc penny or any place that sells kitchen stuff check the clearance section for pre-filled spice racks that are missing a jar or the rack is broken. i've gotten upwards of 30 full bottles of spices for anywhere as low as $20.

I had little magnetic spice containers when my husband and I first moved in together. They fell off the fridge constantly. It was more of a hassle than worth saving a little bit of space.

that's a bummer to learn.

 

[kyton]

Using a fork to assist in stripping out the tendon from a raw chicken tenderloin.

 

[GreatLakes]

That whole eating Tide Pods thing was a pretty bad idea. I'm still not sure what they were trying to hack with that one other than a decent portion of their life off.

 

[Forevermarypoppins]

I saw one on folding in the corners of a cereal box and tried it, it worked. Have I done it since, NO! But I should do it again because it was a good thing: simple and free.

 

[DLgal]

My favorite one is instead of pouring the pasta into the strainer after cooking, place the bowl of the strainer into the pot and pour out the water, while the pasta stays in the pot.

 

[UnderneathAMagicMoon]

If you can’t open a 2 liter bottle (every so often I swear there’s a glitch and they’re not perforated the way they should be) wrap a rubber band or two around it and try again. Magic! (Probably not a new trick as in hindsight I recall us having some kind of rubbery disc for that purpose when I was growing up, but since I don’t see those in stores anymore the rubber bands are a great rediscovered hack.)

 

[Genie+]

rubbery disc for that purpose

Rubber husband! Lol

One time I learned how to fold a shirt in one move. Practiced till I got the hang of it… then never did it again

 

[Dan Murphy]

I keep meaning to try this for tuna salad but keep forgetting, maybe this Friday I'll try it,

Like the Bass-O-Matic, you'll have a Tuna-O-Matic, LO.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

I remember I saw where you can easily peel a banana by pinching the end w/o the stem. It really works well. I don't really like bananas, but I was eating them for a while just so I could do that.

 

[DLgal]

I remember I saw where you can easily peel a banana by pinching the end w/o the stem. It really works well. I don't really like bananas, but I was eating them for a while just so I could do that.

I eat a banana every day. I have never found that way easier than pulling from the stem end.

 

[TheIncredibles!]

I tried the trick of stabbing the onion with a fork and using the peeler to get thin slices. I just managed to spray onion juice all in my eyes.