Built this janky smart lock for my shed using a Raspberry Pi and a servo motor - thought I was clever. Worked fine for about 2 weeks until a random thunderstorm hit last Tuesday. Found the whole thing smoking inside a plastic tub I used as a case. I just wanted to open the shed door from my couch without walking 20 feet. Has anyone else tried waterproofing a DIY project and had it backfire completely?
Picked the manual one because I thought the fancy one looked too complicated. Took me 15 minutes to separate 3 eggs and got yolk all over my counter. The fancy one was just a little plastic cup with a slit in it. Anyone else ever overthink a simple device and regret it?
Met this dude Dave at a flea market in Portland last summer. He had this weird setup with a heated hairbrush taped to a cutting board, claiming it irons socks flat in 10 seconds without burning them. I laughed at first, but after trying it on a wrinkled pair of my own socks, it actually worked way better than my actual iron. Has anyone else stumbled on a weird tool like that that just does its job perfectly?
I was packing for a weekend trip to Portland and my duffel bag zipper got stuck halfway. I spent a full 45 minutes wrestling with it, thinking I'd need to buy a new bag. Then I remembered reading about rubbing a candle stub along the teeth, and it worked in like 10 seconds after that. Has anyone else found a quick fix for something that took way too long to figure out?
I was drunk at 2am last Tuesday staring at cold pizza and my normal microwave just makes it rubbery. So I grabbed my roommate's flat iron from the bathroom and clamped a slice between the plates for like 30 seconds. It came out crispy on the bottom and the cheese melted perfect. But now I'm wondering if this is actually genius or just gross because that straightener has definitely touched hair product residue. My buddy says I'm a madman and I should just buy a toaster oven. But a toaster oven takes like 10 minutes and this took 30 seconds. Has anyone else tried weird kitchen hacks that sort of work but also feel wrong?
Last Tuesday I put two damp wool socks on my little 200-watt space heater in my apartment near Denver... thought it would be a quick fix. An hour later the room smelled like burnt chemicals and the socks had fused into the heater grille, leaving a melted mess. Turns out the heater gets way hotter than I guessed, maybe 300 degrees on the plastic parts. I learned you can't just toss fabric on a heating element and expect it to work like a dryer. Now I'm wondering if anyone has rigged up a safe, low-temp drying rack that clips to a radiator or something... or am I just overthinking this?
Was trying to solve the endless tumbleweed of golden retriever fur piling up in my apartment in Austin, so I rigged a box fan with a furnace filter and a metal mesh screen to burn off the collected fuzz, but after 8 hours of running unattended the motor started smoking and melted the plastic housing; has anyone else tried a safer way to zap animal hair without risking a grease fire?
I spent last weekend trying to keep my goldfish alive while I was away for 4 days, so I rigged up a hose with a timer but the water level kept going wonky. Ended up going with a float switch from Home Depot for $18 because I figured simpler is better, and it actually kept the pond within an inch of full the whole time I was gone. Has anyone else tried to automate something simple and had it backfire with the fancy option?
I was skeptical when he bolted a spinning plastic tube to a pole last month, but after 14 days the squirrels gave up and the finches moved in. Has anyone else found a cheap setup that actually keeps those little jerks off without breaking the bank?
Overheard a guy at the dental supply store last Tuesday claiming UV light kills 99.9% of germs on your brush, but my hygienist training says your brush dries faster and cleaner just sitting in a cup with open air, so why are we buying into plastic boxes that waste batteries and probably just break after 6 months?
Last Tuesday I dropped my phone three times because the front pocket on these new cargo pants I bought for $25 at Target is basically decorative. Then my house key slid out of the side pocket while I was loading groceries into the car at the Albertsons lot. I spent a good 10 minutes crawling around under the cart before I found it. Has anyone else dealt with pants that look like they have storage but really just eat your stuff?
I had this one restaurant table in Portland that would spill drinks every shift until I slid a bread clip under the short leg. Has anyone else found random household stuff that fixes furniture better than store-bought shims?
I was camping near Taos last July and thought I had it staked down good... wrong. A gust picked up my whole tent at 2 in the morning and it sailed maybe 50 feet into a creek. I ran out in my boxers chasing it, got soaked, and had to patch a tear with duct tape from my truck. The next day I bought tent stakes that screw into the ground like augers, cost me like $12 at a hardware store. Has anyone else had a tent take off on them like that? What did you do about it?
My roommate stuck one of those curved plastic things on the bathtub edge to stop water from leaking onto the floor. I said no way that cheap thing works, looks like a toy. After three weeks of zero puddles and no moldy grout, I grabbed one on my own from Home Depot. Anybody else get proven wrong by something dumb and cheap around the house?
I slapped a coat of mod podge on a custom painted phone case thinking it'd seal it like a pro finish but now it's tacky and attracts lint like crazy. Learned that stuff isn't meant for anything you actually touch daily, guess I shoulda used a proper spray sealant. Anyone know a way to strip mod podge off plastic without ruining the paint underneath?
My uncle is one of those guys who thinks WD-40 fixes everything from squeaky doors to rusty tools. He told me to spray it on my bike chain last summer after I complained about it grinding. I did it for like 3 weeks straight and the chain started slipping like crazy during my commute to work in Austin. Turns out WD-40 is a degreaser not a lube, so it actually stripped all the factory grease off. I had to replace the whole chain and cassette for like $60 after that. Took it to a shop and the mechanic laughed at me. Has anyone else gotten bad advice from a relative that cost you real money?
I had a toilet clog last Tuesday that was just refusing to budge. The plunger was doing nothing and I was about to call the landlord. Then I remembered a video I saw where a guy used a metal clothes hanger to break up the blockage. I straightened out a hanger, bent a tiny hook on one end, and shoved it down into the drain. After about 3 minutes of wiggling and pulling, I fished out a wad of hair and who knows what else. The toilet flushed right after like nothing happened. Has anyone else tried something this janky instead of calling the plumber?
I got tired of that dustpan always sliding off the top of the trash can or taking up floor space. So last week I glued a cheap magnet strip from a dollar store to the back of the plastic dustpan. Now it just clicks right onto the side of my fridge like it was made for it. I sweep way more often now since everything is right there. Has anyone else rigged up a weird home hack like that just because you were too lazy to buy the proper thing?
I got into building little electronics projects last month and needed to shrink some tubing on a cable. Everyone in the forums always says use a hair dryer, but I grabbed my dad's old heat gun from the garage instead. Cranked it on high and held it too close, melted a hole right through my plastic desk mat and bubbled the tubing in like 3 seconds. Handled it better after I backed off to 6 inches and used low setting, but honestly the hair dryer would've been way safer for that first try. Has anyone else wrecked something with a heat gun when a hair dryer would've been fine?
I watched 4 different tutorials last night and none of them mentioned that a cheap $20 creme brulee torch works faster and safer than their fancy $50 heat gun, and now I wonder if any of these people actually cook or just film for views, anyone else notice this trend?