Just read a great Reddit thread: "What is a life hack that seems fake, but is a true lifesaver?"
Some gold ones 🧵
1/ "If your ring gets stuck on your finger, windex will slide it right off...you can also reduce the the size of your finger but chilling it in cold water."
2/ "You can do the Heimlich maneuver on yourself. Use a chair or countertop, press yourself against it (right under your rib cage), and press down hard. Should force air up and dislodge blockage."
3/ "Rubbing alcohol removes chewing gum and gets paint off of clothes"
4/ What to do if you're ever attacked by a dog...(also works for cats)
5/ "Put your onion in the freezer for 10 minutes before chopping it. It freezes the juices just enough to slow down the process of it turning into gas...gives you a few minutes to chop without tears."
6/ "Use shaving cream as anti-fog. I use it on the inside of my motorcycle visor. Smear it on, let it dry and then rinse it off. You can also use it on a bathroom mirror or car window."
(SIDE USE: A nursing home employee says shaving cream removes the smell of urine)
7/ "Vinegar in a plastic bag with rubber band ties around any faucet will make the faucet like-new. I'm talking decade old rust and stuff gone...and water flows like the first day."
(Also works on shower heads, just unscrew it)
8/ "Rubbing vegetable oil (or any cooking oil) on your hands after you cut up jalapenos or other hot peppers.
It gets rid of the awfulness that would normally be left on your hands from the peppers. I can remove my eye contacts after doing this!"
9/ "The cheapest, most effective and safest insecticide against roaches is a spray bottle of mostly water with just a little liquid dish soap in it.
Shake it a little bit to get a little foamy. The soap film suffocates them faster than any chemical."
11/ “If a man is in an accident (car, ladder fall), and he gets an erection, don’t move him. He has a spinal injury. It’s called a priapism and is associated with a mid-to-low back injury.”
[No image needed]
12/ "During pollen season, rinse your hair before bed. Otherwise you're just depositing pollen on your pillowcase every night and then rolling your face in it all night."
13 / "Crayons are flammable and will provide about an hour of light as a candle if you light the top."
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Went down a rabbit hole looking for cross-industry innovations (AKA one industry borrowing from another).
Found some good ones 🧵
1/ James Dyson created the Dyson vacuum design after seeing how sawmills use cyclone force to eject sawdust.
2/ The OG example: Henry Ford's car assembly line borrowed innovations from 3 industries:
• Watch (interchangeable parts)
• Canning (continuous flow manufacturing)
• Meatpacking (Ford reversed the "disassembly" part of the meatpacking process - AKA chopping up cows)
3/ BMW created its iDrive system -- a way to safely manage your control panel (e.g., keep your eyes on the road while driving) -- by borrowing from video game controllers.