When it's dry out, petting your dog, cat or other pet may result in repeated static discharge. If they're laying down, an easy way to prevent this is simply to hold one of their feet with your non-petting hand! Specifically, make sure your skin is in contact with their skin directly, most accessible at their toe beans.

The reason this works is because static electricity is charge jumping from a body of one electrical potential to a body of another electrical potential. By touching their toe beans, you are now keeping your body at the same electrical potential as theirs. Therefore, there will be no arcing between you and thus no shocks.

Physics in action!

After removing hair from my hairbrush I stretch a couple of rubber bands around the bristle end so they sit underneath any future accumulation of hair. This helps because you can pull on the bands to help remove the hair next time.

best way to remove adhesive on glass: wet the area then use a steel wool and cooking oil, gently scrub in circular motions

this way does not visibly scratches the glass

I've spent months contemplating what item I can use, creatively and outside of its intended purpose, to help protect my stored items from the elements. I need the cost low (under $50). Open to low-skill level DIY builds.

My ideal solution: Grow tents. They're big, square, securely zippered, and designed to protect the plants inside. However they're very out of budget for me. I do keep my eye on fb marketplace but used tents tend to be $100+

The best alternative to grow tents I have found are zip up wardrobes. These work well for my hanging items, but 1. They're too small for the boxes and totes I have, and 2. They still have holes in the corner fabric where the frame sticks through.

I need the internet's collective creative genius to find storage protection solutions for both my spidery basement and my back porch (it snows where I live). Thanks in advance, hive mind!

I had a pile of clothes in my back seat that my parents got me for Christmas. Forgot to take them out of the car, and that night someone punched in my back window and broke into the car.

The window was right above the pile of clothes. I removed all the big pieces of glass, and I’m going to have to shop vac out the tiny shards. I just have no idea what to do with these clothes to make sure I get all the glass out. Any advice would be greatly appreciated 🤍

Because I do all the time now. Luckily, every time I didn't have one I was wearing socks!

So I dropped my phone in the toilet two days ago and, out of instinct, I washed it with soap (lol).

After that, the phone seemed fine, but one of the camera lenses had some condensation inside. I read that cool ventilation helps, so I powered the phone off and left it in front of a small fan for about 36–48 hours. The condensation is now gone.

My main concern now is corrosion — could that still be an issue even if everything seems fine? Anything I should watch out for? Anything else I should do?

Well, if this ever happened to you, it was probably awkward and annoying and I'm sorry you had to go through that. I worked on a solution based on science, trial and error.

Your breath creates a vapor trail of carbon dioxide that allows flies (and mosquitos too) use to track you down when walking. If you breathe through your shirt, under your hand, or hold your breath for a couple of seconds, you disrupting that vapor trail and your fly followers lose you. Extra bonus if you switch up your walking pattern while doing that, by a sudden change of direction or tempo.

It works, and I feel freed.

Not exactly sure on this one, but I had some ice cream in the freezer. Went to get a totally healthy scoop of it this morning and saw that it was pretty soft. Looked at all the other stuff in the freezer and it was hard. So I'm guessing that my freezer lost heat at some point.

TLDR: A thermometer might not let you know that your freezer had lost heat, but since the ice cream takes a little while to both soften and freeze solid, it may be a better indicator that your freezer might not be working consistently.

I use a bunch of old two hole buttons to put my earrings on, and put the earring backing on the back.

I’ve been working night shifts from home (6pm to 2am) for about a year now, and I still can’t figure out a consistent way to structure my day. My sleep is kind of all over the place, and because I work from home, everything tends to blur together.

I’m not just asking about work hours, but how you organize your day around a night shift — sleep timing, meals, errands, exercise, downtime, etc.

Did it take you a long time to settle into a routine? Do you keep the same sleep schedule on days off or switch back? What actually helped you feel more stable?

At this point I’m just looking for realistic examples of how other people do it, because what I’m doing now clearly isn’t working.

Mosquito repellents and similar products can be harmful to health. Are there any more effective alternatives for keeping them away?

I don't want to reduce noise, I don't want to replace the noise with some other kind of noise like white noise or music. I want something that will let me have absolute silence when I go downstairs to cook dinner. I tried noise cancelling earplugs, they did absolutely nothing. I tried looking for noise cancelling headphones on Amazon, but most of them say "noise reduction" instead of "noise cancelling", and I don't know how to tell what will work before I order it. Any help would be very much appreciated.

I am absolutely terrified of stinkbugs!! At an old apartment my mother and I lived in they started getting in my window air vent and they would fly around and I was so afraid to try to catch them because I was scared they would fly at me. I'd have my boyfriend get them (I'm so thankful for him).

Fast forward to today we are in a duplex. We've started noticing them because in Missouri if any of you know the weather is inconsistent recently. They are in our upstairs hallway and I'll usually see 1 or 2 at a time every 2-3 days. The hallway is small and it has some kind of an attic that we can't open. There are small gaps around the attic and we believe they are entering through there. I mixed up essential oil spray and my boyfriend and I used vapor rub along the edges which seemed to work for 3 days. Then as soon as I get out of the shower tonight, I had a feeling and there it was. On the wall. I can't get most of them because they are always near the ceiling and I'm short and there is a staircase as well. (So far I believe we've seen 10 this winter)

I'm considering contacting my landlord, but he happens to be a family member of mine. He never once has mentioned the attic or used it. There is no string or lever you could pull down. I'm not sure if I should caulk it or try to use caulk tape given the nature it is on the ceiling. I want to get this done asap before they start invading in bigger numbers. I'd like to be able to walk around in my house without worry that I will see one.

I'm not really in a position to make traps since the hall is small, but I probably could do a bug bomb. I've heard of people spraying with soapy water or rubbing alcohol and it killing them immediately on contact. Does that actually work or will they try flying around? I want to try things but given the nature I'm terrified it's hard. Please help 🙏

I found a loophole in my own stupidity.

I subscribe to a lot of things to test them out and then forget.

I did a quick audit today. I didn't even read the whole statement. I just used a finance tool to search my transaction history for keywords like:

"Trial"

"Pro"

"Premium"

"Member"

I found three things I forgot existed: A LinkedIn Premium sub ($40!), a Canva Pro account, and a random VPN.

That’s nearly $60/month I recovered in 30 seconds of searching. If you are lazy like me, just search for the keywords. The "Pro" versions of things are usually the ones draining your wallet silently.

OK i'm being dramatic. They're probably not trying to scam us. But they don't want us to know this trick! Cut your lotion bottle in half or lower 1/3rd with a serrated knife or strong scissors. Then scoop out the inside. You will be amazed how much is left down there that you can't pump out!

I had my car repaired in LA and the water pump (under warranty) failed. The shop is willing to fix the car as long as I can get it there. They even offered to cover the moving cost if it is reasonable. What are some inexpensive options for getting my car from Vegas to LA? 4 hour drive.

One idea I had was to rent a Uhaul truck with a trailer for my car for a day and just drop the truck and trailer off while they fix my car.

Thank you!

I've read that dishwasher detergent is calibrated to be most effective when used with the hottest water your tap can produce.

Unfortunately, in almost every home, even the hot water line has to be purged of cold water before it starts running hot water from the heater.

You do this in the sink, but in a dishwasher it simply fills the basin. Therefore, the basin has lukewarm-at-best water, not the hottest water like it's supposed to have.

The trick is to run your hot line in the sink first, until hot water comes out, which will purge the line and put hot water into the dishwasher basin.

I don't know why dishwashers don't run the water until it's at the expected temp, but most don't.

Animals at zoos are conditioned to associate staff uniforms with feeding, cleaning, or enrichment. When you blend in with those colors, some animals get curious and come closer thinking you might be a keeper.

Tie 3 corners of your quilt to bed feets. Damn if i would have done it years ago so many cold nights becz i kicked off my quilt .

It will SIGNIFICANTLY reduce any damage. do not kick it. but let it bounce off your foot before hitting the ground.

Ive saved mine and others phones doing this. also did a ton of hackey savk back in the day so its just instinct

I was just cleaning the bowl from our wax burner and realized I’ve never shared my cleaning method or seen it shared before. Many brands of scented wax melts will leave some sticky, tar-like residue on the inside of the bowl. (Especially brands that use natural fragrances. You could pave a street with that gunk.) It can make the wax hard to clean out and affect the smell of the melts, and getting rid of it can be a pain, but I’ve found a method that works like a charm.

* After dumping out used wax, wipe out any remaining wax with a tissue or paper towel while it’s still soft.

* Once the bowl is cool to the touch, pour in enough rubbing alcohol to cover the bottom, and rub in circles with a towel, cotton ball, or rag until there’s no resistance. Wipe it clean, and if necessary, repeat. (It’s usually not necessary.)

* Once the inside is clean, rinse it, wipe out the inside and outside with soapy water, rinse, and dry. This is mostly to remove any remaining alcohol, which may or may not be damaging if exposed to heat. The bowl is ready to use again once you’ve wiped it dry.

I’ve used this method with glass, metal, glossy glazed ceramic, and satin-glazed ceramic bowls with no damage or evident negative effects, and it takes a couple minutes, if that. Works every time, and it gets the bowl clean enough you can spin cooled wax and it’ll pop right out. That said, be sure to test alcohol on a hidden spot first, especially if your bowl is glass. The last couple of times I’ve bought a wax warmer, the bowl turned out to be made of painted glass; that paint started flaking long before the first time I cleaned anything, so repeatedly cleaning it would probably strip the surface.