Just when you think you’ve finally figured out the basics of being an adult, we’re here to tell you that your house is filled with stuff that you’ve been using all wrong. From kitchen gadgets to beauty products, you might not be using your things to their full potential.
Here are a few everyday items that can be used in ways you never expected.
This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? Log in.Your bobby pins are most likely upside down.
Your instinct is probably to slide a bobby pin into your hair with the smooth side facing down. However, the pins were actually designed to grip your hair by laying against your scalp with the grooved side down. If your bobby pins are always sliding out, try flipping them over for better hold.
That drawer at the bottom of your oven will keep your food warm.
Prepare to be astounded. You know that drawer at the bottom of your oven? It’s not actually meant to store cupcake trays and baking sheets.
Nope. It’s actually a warming drawer meant to keep hot foods at serving temperature. The next time you need to keep dinner warm or don’t want your delivery pizza getting cold while you pick a movie to watch, simply turn on the oven and pop your feast in the warming drawer.
The more detergent you use, the worse chance you'll get stains out.
More detergent means cleaner clothes, right? Not so much. According to Carolyn Forte, director of the Cleaning Lab at the Good Housekeeping Institute, using more than the recommended amount of detergent could actually be trapping stains by producing a volume of suds that cushions the dirt and prevents it from washing away.
Don’t sabotage your laundry and only add as much as the bottle tells you to.
Flip your peanut butter upside down.
You know how that all-natural peanut butter that you ground yourself at the health food store always separates into oily and solid portions after, like, a minute of sitting in your cupboard?
Turns out, you’re just storing it wrong. Simply keep the jar upside down and the oil will distribute more evenly.
A potato peeler is a versatile tool.
If you’re only using this kitchen tool to peel potatoes, you’ve been missing out.
Put your peeler to work shaving long, thin strips of parmesan cheese from the block, creating paper-thin carrots for salads, or even slicing an onion in record time.
Your pasta spoon is one serving.
You know how your pasta spoon has that hole in the middle? While it’s technically there to drain water, you can actually use that hole to measure out a single portion of spaghetti. You know. Just in case you ever want only one serving of pasta.
Tic Tac's package was designed that way for a reason.
Who amongst us doesn’t know the brain-melting frustration of trying to shake out a single Tic Tac? Instead of waving around the container like a maraca, simply turn the box on its side and allow a mint to slide out into the cleverly designed slot on the plastic top.
There is an art to loading a dishwasher.
You’ve probably been loading your dishwasher all wrong.
The dirtiest items should be in the middle of the bottom rack facing the spray arm. That includes heavily soiled plates, pots, and pans. Keep an eye on what items you’re placing over the detergent dispenser, too – blocking it with a large item could keep the soap from being distributed correctly.
You might be loading your blender incorrectly.
If you want the silkiest smoothies, there’s actually a correct way to add items to your blender.
Start with liquids like juice, milk, or oils. Add the solid components last. The motion created by the swirling liquids will suck the solid items down and keep the blades from simply tunneling through the middle of the solids.
Your sponges might be making your dishes dirtier.
If you’re not regularly sanitizing your sponges, you could just be wiping your dishes and counters with bacteria.
To properly sanitize your sponges, immerse them in boiling water for five minutes. Alternatively, soak a sponge in water and heat it on high in a microwave for one minute.
Use a staple remover to remove keys from your key-ring.
Never sacrifice a nail to your key-ring again. For a frustration-free way to add a new key to your ring, grab a staple remover and wedge its teeth between the coils. Create more space by pressing down.
Don't struggle with plastic wrap again.
This is one of those genius details that is a total game-changer. If you always struggle to tear off a useable piece of plastic wrap or cling film while the tube is knocking around in the box, simply punch in the two cardboard tabs on the ends of the box to keep it in place. The area near the tabs in question will usually read “secure roll.”
There’s a chance you might be using a sink plunger in your toilet.
There are actually two kinds of plungers. One is the standard kind with a simple, bowl-shaped rubber head. This is the kind that works best on flat surfaces like a sink or tub.
The other kind is called a toilet plunger and has a narrower, “protruding flange” attached the bowl-shaped bit. As you might have guessed from the name, this is the kind that works best on the unique shape of a toilet drain.
You're probably using too much toothpaste.
Toothpaste ads usually show a gorgeous dollop of toothpaste that runs along the entire length of the brush, but the truth is that you only need a pea-sized amount to get your teeth clean. The ads feature larger amounts for the sake of aesthetics and to encourage you to use up more product.
Be patient with your slow cooker.
Slow cookers work by trapping heat and using it to gradually cook food over an extended period of time. If you lift your cooker’s lid to check on its progress every few minutes, you’re definitely doing it wrong. Lifting the lid allows the heat to escape and can increase down your cooking time considerably, depending on how often you check.
There's a right way to shampoo your hair.
Shampoo gets your hair clean, but not all of your mane actually needs to be lathered up.
Start at the very top of your head when shampooing and focus on cleansing your scalp. That’s where the oils making your hair look greasy are produced and tend to linger. You can skip shampooing the length of your hair unless it’s really grimy, as the suds that drip down from your scalp are more than enough to cleanse that portion.
The same goes for conditioner.
Conversely, you should start at the bottom of your hair when it comes to applying conditioner.
The part of your hair that needs the added moisture and protection that conditioner provides is the dry, older section at the bottom. Applying the conditioner there first and then working your way up will leave you with just enough on your scalp to prevent frizz but not so much that your roots look oily.
You're making your mascara clumpy.
We’ve all heard (probably from our moms) that you should pump your mascara wand in and out of the bottle to evenly distribute the product and prevent flakes. This isn’t actually a good idea. It pushes air into the tube, which ends up drying out the mascara and leaving you with more flakes and clumps.
The "57" on a Heinz bottle has a purpose.
If you’ve spent your life smacking the bottom glass ketchup bottles in frustration, you’ll be thrilled to know that there’s an easier way to get the good stuff out.
According to Heinz, the best way to get ketchup out of their glass bottles is to tap the “57” on the neck of the bottle. This keeps the sauce moving through the neck rather than knocking around in the body of the bottle.
Peel bananas from the bottom, not the top.
Yes, bananas. You’ve been doing bananas wrong. The best way to peel these fellows is actually to start at the bottom, not the stem. This method goes with the “grain” of the banana and gets rid of those stringy bits. It’s actually the way that monkeys peel bananas.
Your takeout container doubles as a plate.
Those ubiquitous paper Chinese takeout containers actually unfold into flat plates. Even cooler? When you’re done, you can fold them right back up to keep your leftovers safe and sound.
Don't mix metal and non-stick pans.
Never use a metal utensil with your non-stick cookware. Though it might not be obvious, the metal actually degrades and strips away and non-stick coating on pans and pots. This means that your cookware won’t last as long, and even scarier, you’ll have that non-stick coating mixed in with your food.
You can use a straw in a soda can.
If you’re trying to use a plastic straw in a fizzy can of soda, you’re going to have a bad time. Unless, of course, you slide the straw through the top hole of the soda can tab. The tab will keep your straw from floating out of the can and you’ll look like a low-key genius.
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