r/lifehacks

Hello! I've had an awful issue with my shoes for a while now. I need every. single. hack. to remove stench.

I have a pair of Converse, so they're canvas material, and they absolutely STINK. they're the only shoes I own that smell, including other converse and fabric shoes. They smell pretty similar to cat pee, which is strange because they started smelling before I went home to see my cats (I was in college, not around any animals for months. they started smelling out of nowhere and it's strange that it's so similar to cat pee). I assume it was bacteria build up since I was often walking in incredibly wet or snowy areas, so my shoes were often soaked and probably caused massive bacteria growth when I was wearing them. Again, these are the ONLY pair that smells at all though. New and old shoes smell fine, leather or fabric or canvas. These are the only ones that stink.

I have tried

1. washing multiple times with heavy duty detergent, the kind that has oxy clean in it as well. I wash them by themselves, on heavy soil wash settings, and air dry them in the window or in front of a fan if it's too cold for the window to be open. I don't wear them until they're fully dry

2. Soaking in baking soda and detergent. Didn't immediately get the smell out but I ended up washing them after and it was slightly better?

3. Baking soda paste. I made a very thick paste and completely smothered my shoes in it, inside and out. left it on for over a day, then washed with the same heavy duty detergent.

4. Vinegar bath. about 1-1 ratio of white distilled vinegar and water. Did not help at all ALTHOUGH I was told to usyt let the vinegar dry out afterwards, so I haven't washed with detergent yet. they are completely bone dry but now they just stink like pee and vinegar.

The only thing that somewhat helped was the baking soda paste. the vinegar made it infinitely worse. These are the only shoes I can comfortably drive in, and I don't want to replace them since they're a custom pair. Please give ANY HACKS POSSIBLE! I'll try everything.

Any other quick tips?

a few years ago i started collecting posters and now i want to move them to another room, but i glued some of them with double sided tape and can't get it out without ripping them off or damaging the wall, i already tried heating it with a blowdryer but it didn't work

I finally found a simple solution to overactive windchimes. Mine are the large metal ones, a low sort of sound, but on a very windy day not as relaxing.

I've tried several things, but what finally worked was moving the middle sail out of the way and then attaching a wooden clothes pin to the bottom of each tube.

Been windy all day, and I think I actually silenced it!

For any windchime haters out there, be kind, please. My neighborhood has huge lots, frequent traffic, and barky dogs. The chimes are actually a calm, welcoming noise. Just needed a way to keep it a bit more mellow on windy days, but I may try out tips I've read to help muffle the sound a bit more on non-windy days.

So I was at Walmart tonight and bought a new ps5 controller. It was originally $199.99. I found it listed online at Walmart.com for $149.99. Which they price matched. Once I got home I had a little bit of buyers remorse and decided I was going to go return it and buy one that was $71.99. Then I got to thinking. If I go back with no receipt to return it they’ll still accept it and refund me the original $199.99 price plus tax. Yes it will be store credit but I shop there from time to time anyway. I’ll end up making about $65. Would never do this to an independently owned ma and pa store. But it’s Wally World. They can afford it.

I can only wash my hair once a week (at least) due to it being so dry & brittle. However I have to maintain my 6mm buzzcut more than once a week, so to remove the needle like hair clippings on my body & scalp post buzz I just go over my scalp, face & neck with a reusable lint remover brush.. Works a dream. A lint roller is also great.

As a bonus, the lint brush is actually beneficial to the hair & scalp.

I live in VA and its gotten really hot recently, during the day and even night my room gets up to 90f and its hard to cool down, especially w my PC adding heat too. It is insanely hot and i don't know how to solve it so what would be the best way to cool it down without spending an insane amount of money, I don't want it to be a unit that you would have to plug a hose to and dont want it to be more than 200 dollars ish but im more flexible on budget, bringing it down 10f is about enough, please help

so this trick, I got to know from my mom. what you do it, attach a rubberband/hairtie to a safety pin and pin it to your bag. now, when you place your bottle, attach the rubberband to it. the bottle will be upright no matter what.

literally wet your hands in water, get your hands in some dirt and watch the dirt soak all the fat away in seconds, it doesnt take longer than 10 seconds and with soap you gotta wash your hands for 2 minutes and do the process at least 2 times to make sure the fat is gone.

Hey guys,

I have a jacket that I like and my sister keeps ‘borrowing’ it without asking. I’ve tried talking to her, but it keeps happening.

I’m open to tech solutions or just clever DIY hacks. What’s your best ‘sibling-war’ advice for this?

Thanks!

I have mobility issues and use a cane, which basically leaves me one handed. One thing I've done to make that more manageable is that I've cut a length of paracord and tied it together into a 3 foot loop. You can make yours longer if desired.

I carry the cord in an unused back pocket.

When I need to carry a laundry basket of clothes upstairs, I simply thread the loop across the basket through the side holes and it becomes much easier to carry with my one, free hand.

This loop is really handy for carrying boxes that don't fit into a bag or if no bag is available.

A pretty simple solution that no one really thinks about. A short piece of rope or cord can be mighty handy and it isn't any bother to carry around with you.

I put a scoop of Ghirardelli chocolate whey protein on a big plate of watermelon. The moisture turned leftover protein into a liquified-spreadable-chocolate-sauce. I’ve unlocked a quick-hitting-new2me natural gains mechanism.

Thanks for your time.

Ik vergeet de hele tijd van alles van mijn vrienden, collega's en kennissen. Dingen als dat ze hun huis aan het verbouwen zijn, hobbies, gewoon van alles van wat ze mij vertellen. Nu dacht ik, elke keer als ik op feestje ben geweest zou ik van iedereen die ik gesproken heb (en de moeite waard vind) een korte notitie ergens moeten maken. Zodat de volgende keer als ik weet dat ik ze weer zie nog wat ter herrinering op kan roepen. Mijn vrouw lachte mij uit, het idee is misschien ook wat vreemd, maar wie doet dit?

I used a regular amount of toothpaste for each section of my skin that was stained with red hair dye and used the toothbrush like normal. It took surprisingly little effort and time to go from “crap, I have to go to bed and I forgot to use the Vaseline around my hairline and now I don’t know what to do” to “my face is totally clean and there is no sign that I ever had it dripping down my temple”.

Instead of telling your trainer that you have no questions, ask them to listen as you repeat your understanding of their instructions. This way, they will have the opportunity to correct any missteps or misunderstandings on your end, and you will have the opportunity to check your understanding and clear up anything you might be vague about. This is much preferable to messing up later due to a miscommunication you never cleared up.

Example: "To make a pizza, you need to weigh the dough, stretch the dough, spread a couple scoops of sauce, then add toppings and cheese, any questions?"

"Actually yes, can you just check this really quick: so I weigh the dough, stretch the dough, spread two scoops of sauce, then add toppings, then add cheese?"

"Oh, no, I usually add closer to 2.5 or 3 scoops of sauce and I put cheese down before the toppings."