12 Everyday Products You’ve Been Using Completely Wrong

In our everyday lives, we make use of many of the same products over and over again in very specific ways, completely oblivious to the fact that there are alternative uses for them, many of which are actually better than how we’re using them now.

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For many of us these products are so cheap and common that even misusing them isn’t really a big deal, and perhaps that is exactly why there is little thinking outside the box when it comes to using them. However if you’re living in one of Top 15 Most Expensive Countries in the World – 2014, or are simply curious about how to maximize your use of some everyday items, then this is the list for you.

We’ve gathered 12 common products you’ve been using completely wrong, and showed you the right way to do so, or the added uses for them you’ve never considered. Perhaps you were aware of some of the following methods, but we’re sure there are a few that will make the light bulb above your head light up with understanding (we don’t actually know how to make a light bulb hover over your head and light up when you discover new things though, so don’t expect the method for that in the following list).

Now then, prepare yourself to be amazed at some of the common products you’ve been using completely wrong, and how you’ve been missing out.

12. Olive Oil

You’ve surely used olive oil in its traditional way, for cooking, but did you ever stop and think about how a little bit in your cat’s food can help prevent it from getting fur-balls? No, you didn’t did you? Shame on you. Well it can, so do it.

Of course, the real reason for this listing is that every great article needs a picture of a cute cat in it, so check!

11. Newspaper

As they need to be able to absorb the news-delivering ink doused on their pages, newspaper is some of the most absorbent material you can find. Rather than chucking it in the recycling box after reading it, consider putting a rolled-up ball in your wet boots, or lining the vegetable drawer of your fridge with yesterday’s news.

10. Toothpaste

This one is not so much a trick per se, but the fact is that most of us use far too much toothpaste when we brush our teeth, often layering a thick gob along the entire length of the toothbrush. The reality is that you need only a little smattering on the edge (think of the amount you would apply to an electric toothbrush with a small head) to keep those pearly whites clean.

9. Banana

The majority of us peel a banana like they were meant to be peeled: from the stem. Or do we? Since we often justify things as natural or not based on whether animals do it, or how they do it, then we can look to monkeys to see the “natural” way to peel a banana. And monkeys, as it turns out, do it from the “bottom”. By pinching the end, the bottom easily splits open and folds away, and the banana is likewise more convenient to hold from the curved stem as a result. Monkey see, monkey do.

8. Aluminum Foil/Cling Wrap

We’ve all struggled with ripping off a piece of these materials (especially that annoying cling wrap, whoever thought that up was an evil genius), as the stupid roll just never wants to stay in place. What none of us knew is that the packaging those rolls comes in usually has tabs on the side that you can push in to hold the roll in place and make it infinitely easier to tear off a strip without the whole roll wanting to come out of the package. Genius (without the evil)!

7. Curling Iron

Instead of starting from the tips of your hair and curling the iron in your hand to wrap your hair around it, you should be starting from the roots and wrapping your hair around the iron from there. This will give your hair a much more natural look instead of that barrel curl look when you do it completely wrong, and your curls will also last longer. Unless you were going for that barrel curl look, in which case curl away.

6. Alka Seltzer

You know you can put it in some water and drink it to help soothe your stomach or relieve pain, but did you know you can dump it in some other water, toilet water to be exact, to help relieve the pain of a dirty toilet bowl? Yep, just drop a couple in your bowl, come back in ten minutes, and it’ll be as easy as wiping something really easy off an easy-to-wipe off of surface. Easy!

5. Ziploc Bags

You’ve stored lots of stuff in Ziploc bags, and probably not just food. After all, with their sealable tops, they’re convenient for storing all sorts of household objects in as well. But did you ever think to store liquids in them, and in particular, soups? Ha! Didn’t think of that did you? Not only can fill them with soups, if you lay them flat in the freezer and let them freeze like that, you can easily stack more than one such Ziploc bag of your favorite soup on top of each other for future thawing and slurping.

4. Pasta

Pasta is the one thing just about all of us can cook; even the most inept bachelor (don’t think I speak from experience you vile readers) knows how to boil some water and toss some pasta in it. In fact most of us think we’re bonafide pasta-cooking experts. The truth is our pasta is usually soggy and mushy, because we’re not doing it right. And by right, I mean using a large pot of cold, heavily salted water to cook it in, not that little soup heating pot you’ve been filling to the brim with penne and rigatoni. Bachelors rejoice!

3. Perfume

The art of perfume application is done completely wrong by many women, who cover themselves head to toe in a misty cloud of the substance. In fact this is one area where women should take a hint from men, who are not over-generous with the application of their cologne; they dab a little on their wrist area, a little on their neck, and off they go. Women should apply to the same areas, in addition to a little dab behind the ears, in the crooks of their arms and knees, and on their ankles. These are the areas of the body where the blood vessels are closest to the skin, and act as pumps for the perfume.

2. Toilet Plunger

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Most of us take our plunger for granted; it just kind of comes with the apartment or house after all, right? No one actually buys toilet plungers do they? The fact is, because of that apathy towards plungers, most of us are using archaic plungers that aren’t even actually meant for toilets, they’re meant for sinks. You need what’s called a flange plunger (left) and not a cup plunger (right) that many of us have had no choice but to use on our clogged toilets, often with middling results and lots of cursing and praying.

1. Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola has so many better uses than swallowing it. The toxic, sugary drink is a major contributor to the obesity epidemic afflicting many nations, yet the acidic drink does have uses beyond just adding pounds to your rump. It’s so acidic and toxic that it can actually remove rust from cars, and get blood stains out of clothing. Sounds like something better out than in, if you know what I mean.