There are a number of useful tips and hacks that you can use in your daily life to help overcome some common issues you may run into.
18 useful tips to use in your daily life
1. What to do when your eyes water while eating spicy food
If the food you eat is spicy enough to make you tear up, drinking water will not help. Rather, it sharpens the spiciness. The best way is to drink milk, which can ease the hotness.
2. How to make tofu more solid
Tofu’s softness makes it easy to break up. If you want to keep it whole, soak it in salt water for about 30 minutes before cooking. This helps the tofu keep its shape better.
3. What to do when you make your soup too salty
Salty soup can be saved by adding a whole potato to it, which serves to absorb the excess salt. Cook for a few minutes more after adding the potato. Take the potato out when you serve the soup and the soup will not taste as salty.
4. How to avoid itchiness from cutting taro
Skinning or cutting taro can make the hands feel itchy. Simply soak your hands in vinegar before you start the preparation. The vinegar coating helps neutralize then itchiness.
5. Useful tips for getting rid of the wax on apples
If you love eating whole apples, you can either put them in hot water (as hot as your hand can bear is good enough) and the wax will melt away after being wiped with a cloth, or smear toothpaste on the apple as a cleaner to scrub the wax off.
6. Useful tips for apples
An apple works wonders in helping other fruits and vegetables. Putting an apple among potatoes in the refrigerator can restrain them from sprouting. Putting an apple with raw papaya or kiwi fruit can ripen them quickly. Putting an apple with astringent persimmons for a week can sweeten them.
7. How to make rice sweet and aromatic
After rinsing, adding a few drops of lemon juice to the rice before cooking can make it sweet and fragrant. A few drops of oil can do the same.
8. How to keep biscuits crunchy
When you store the biscuits, put a sugar cube in the container as well. The sugar cube will absorb the moisture and keep the biscuits crunchy.
9. Useful tips to treat clothes that are marked with ink
Use cooked rice or glue paste with a bit of detergent to rub repeatedly on the dirty spot. The ink should come off. Then soak the clothes in water and detergent for a while before normal cleaning.
10. How to deal with stinky shoes
Long boots, sneakers, or any frequently worn smelly shoes can be treated with baking soda. Simply put a small amount of baking soda into the shoes and the moisture and odor will be removed quickly. Shake the baking soda out before wearing them again!
11. How to get rid of the yellow stains on collars and armpits of clothing
Brush shampoo or rub shaving cream onto the stained area. Let it sit for a few minutes before washing. The stain should come out easily.
12. How to keep flowers fresh
Adding some beer to the vase holding the flowers can keep them fresh for longer. The beer serves not only to disinfect the cut stems, but also to provide nutrients in the form of simple sugars to the plant.
13. How to make scissors sharp
Aluminum foil can do the job. Put two to three foil sheets together and cut them with a pair of scissors. You will be amazed by how sharp the scissors become almost immediately.
14. How to remove labels with ease
Labels can easily be removed with a blow dryer. The heat will melt the glue and the stickers can be neatly removed without a trace.
15. What can you do with beer?
Like milk, beer is good for cleaning foliage plants. Wet a cotton pad with beer and clean the leaf’s surface. It not only removes dirt and dust and keeps the surface shiny, but also can keep ants away.
16. What to do if the toilet bowl is blocked
In general, we hurry to get a bottle of corrosive hydrochloric acid or plunger when we have that problem. However, there is a far more simple, economical, and safer way to deal with it — prepare a bucket of about 1 kg of crushed ice, throw it down the bowl and flush. The water and ice impact can break the blockade without causing any pollution.
17. How to get rid of cockroaches
Dry a large bunch of basil. Put it in an unwanted stocking or sock and place in corners or other locations that the cockroaches frequent. They will disappear shortly.
18. How to get rid of ants
Garlic is the most effective way to get rid of ants. Placing a cut-off glove of garlic on the ants’ path will drive them away. An alternative is to place cut-off garlic in water and clean the floor with it. The ants will be dispelled effectively.
We hope you find these useful tips worthwhile.
Translation by Cecilia and edited by Helen
