Strange Life Hacks

You know how some people come up with amazing and useful ideas for products that are already out there for another use and you wonder, "Why didn't I think of using it for that?" It happens to me all the time. Items I use every day have the potential to be life changing if I'd just stop and think about how else to use them. It dawned on me last night that I've come up with a few of my own that might be helpful for others, so I thought I'd jot them down and share them here. 

This stuff 

is not just for what the bottle indicates. Honestly, I don't have problems with what most people use this for, but I have had another problem it has completely eradicated from my life (as long as I'm consistent about its use). In the summer (mostly) I tend to get heat rashes. Whether it's in my armpits, under my breasts, in creases of skin, etc. - doesn't matter. (TMI? Sorry!) This beats those heat rashes into submission. Just make sure you've washed yourself well and dried off the affected area. Shake your bottle of MoM up, and apply it to the rash. It doesn't take much - just enough to cover the problem area. Voila! Let it dry, get dressed, go about your bizness. Overuse of water tends to dry out my skin, so I usually shower every other day and apply it when I get out. It does the job for 48 hours (it has for me, anyway), and I don't have to deal with the stupid heat rashes that itch and hurt and bother and annoy. It's been a lifesaver for me. No more misery! And it lasts a lot longer than hydrocortisone cream, which only masks the symptoms anyway.

This stuff

is not just for dandruff, people. Dandruff is not an issue for me, but I do tend to have a rather sensitive head when using certain shampoos and hair products. (It just plain itches!) Head and Shoulders was my go-to once a week ritual to get rid of the build up of products in my hair and level out the ph so my head didn't itch. 

But then, I developed a problem with a stinky belly button. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get it (or keep it) dry enough to keep the stench away. It wasn't obvious to other people (at least nobody said anything ...), but it was terribly bothersome to me. I did some research online (the internet knows everything, right?) and found out that it's something about the zinc in this product that can prevent a lot of things if you use it as a body wash. For several weeks, I tried it, and lo! It works! I just use it on my loofah like a regular body wash. I actually buy both the 2-in-1 and the regular (without conditioner). The 2-in-1 I use on my hair and as body wash. It really helps keep my skin from drying out and itching. Plus, you can get it in other scents (the apple is kind of fun, especially as a body wash). The regular kind, without conditioner, I use on my face, and it has helped reduce face acne. Weird, right? Totally a life hack that has solved annoying problems. 

Two other things that work great together are Q-tips and rubbing alcohol. Do you ever get swimmer's ear? Did you know that putting rubbing alcohol on the end of a Q-tip and placing it gently in your ear canal creates a "vacuum" effect on the water and sucks it out? I tilt my head to whichever side I'm cleaning out, and it works like a charm. Since it worked on my ears, I thought it would probably work for the wet belly button issue as well. The alcohol would suck the water out and dry it up - and I was right! After washing with Head and Shoulders, just dry out the belly button as good as possible, use some alcohol on a Q-tip, and then use the dry end of the Q-tip to dry out whatever fluid is left. It's legit, cheap, and totally works. 

Mom and I have both been battling warts on our fingers. Well, hers is on her index finger, and mine is on my thumb. Hers is worse than mine, and she's had hers for ages. She even went to the dermatologist (three times?) because it was growing from under her fingernail, and they shot her finger full of stuff to "kill" the wart, but it still hasn't worked. What it did give her was a lot of pain and money out of her pocket. One day, I found this: 

We've both been using it, and I think it's pretty much killed my wart dead (or it's on the way to death anyway). Mom's seems to be taking longer, but hers was also bigger than mine. We keep putting it on regularly (until it hurts too bad and the skin has peeled off) and I think it's been a relief to know we're at least helping the problem. And all of it is done without extra fees to visit a dermatologist. 

When we use the wart stick, we use these bandages: 

These are amazing! They let no water in, which basically lets the wart stick suffocate the wart. Brilliant! They're my go-to bandage for almost every owie. And I like that they come in the variety of sizes because sometimes you have a small cut and don't want to wear a HUGE bandage so that it's obvious. Plus, since they're clear, the only part you see is the bandage itself, and it's more of a flesh color which makes it not so obvious. 

Lest you think that's all these bandages are good for, allow me to share a life hack. Several weeks ago I was having a really bad bout of insomnia. And I mean really bad. There was one night I only slept for an hour. That's ONE hour. I had to call in to work the next day and take a sick day because I was too afraid to drive the 60 miles to work for fear I'd kill myself or someone else. It was bad. And I couldn't figure out how the problem started because I've always been a pretty good sleeper. I like sleep! Sleep likes me! 

Finally, one night I was lying in bed and just as I dozed off I woke up again. I realized it was because of a light that flickered on the air freshener in my room. I immediately got up and moved the air freshener to another part of the room, and it helped. I slept okay that night. But I've noticed since then that if I'm turned toward the air freshener at all and see the light (or my closed eyes detect it) it wakes me up. It doesn't matter how soundly I'm asleep, if it's detected by my eyes it wakes me. Rude! 

We've moved a lot of stuff around at our house recently, so I had no idea where the electrical tape was (another life hack that dimmed the little lights on my white noise fan), and I was desperate to find another solution that would help. As I was showering one night, it dawned on me that I could use a small Nexcare bandage over the light and probably prevent it from bothering me, and it also meant I didn't have to dig through unmarked boxes to find the electrical tape. So I tried it. And it worked! I couldn't believe I hadn't thought of it sooner, but those bandages are MUCH more than bandages. They are sleep savers! Bless you Nexcare. 

The laundry hack I rely on most is this: 

This has literally saved too many of my clothes to count. Did you get grease on you? Treat it with this, let it sit for a few days, wash it. Problem solved. Did you get something oily (peanut butter) on you? Same thing. Did you spill curry sauce? Treat it with Dawn and let it sit for a couple of days. Then, treat it with a little liquid laundry detergent and let it sit for a few days. Wash it. The color is gone and so is the grease. Problem solved! It's rare that I go a laundry day without using Dawn to help me out. And it gets out grease stains that have been washed and dried, too. You have to let it sit a little longer and be sure to scrub it in with an old toothbrush or something, but it does work. It also doesn't add any more bubbly to your laundry water, which means you don't have to use an extra rinse because you've used it. Just wash it like normal and you're good to go. This one is a clothing saver. 

I'll have to recognize and document more of the life hacks I use and share them. Maybe they're helpful, maybe they're not. I just figure if they worked for me maybe they'll work for someone else. And if it's any help, I've used the generic in some of these items (except for the Q-tips, wart stick, Nexcare bandages, and Dawn). The MoM, Head and Shoulders, and rubbing alcohol don't have to be any name brand as long as they're comparable to the original. The Walmart or other pharmacy brands work just as well. Plus, buying them in generic is cheaper, and using shampoo instead of body wash is cheaper, too. 

I love it when a product invented to do a certain thing ends up doing more than that. I bet there are millions of things we could find to do with products that already exist and we don't even know it yet. Kudos to inventors of products that end up being multi-use and multi-purpose. You were inspired!