Hints for hobbyists
- Painting doors
Never forget this before painting a door: Rub all the metal parts with vaseline before starting your painting job. Vaseline repels the paint. Then you won't have to spend much time on cleaning later.
- Drilling holes in tiles
Drilling holes in tiles isn't easy because the drill can slip off on the smooth surface. Mark the spot carefully with a sharp nail and a small hammer . The drill will stay on the point and won't slip away.
- Glueing wood the right way
When you have to glue wood you should make sure that the surfaces are free from grease. Rub the parts you want to glue together with vinegar. That'll work.
- Cat litter against Oil spots
Oil stains on the garage floor are ugly. They look dirty and can ruin the floor. It's very easy to care of this problem: strew some cat litter on the oil spot. It will soak up the oil and you'll only have to sweep after a while.
- Cola for your car
Cola isn't only good against thirst. When you rub the clamps of your car battery with cola they won't oxidize. Cola also works on rusty metal if you don't have any anticorrosive agent in reach.
- Laying a carpet
When you're laying a carpet you should make sure the seams aren't parallel to the window. If they are in the other direction you won't recognize them at all.
- Descaling an immersion heater
Do you own an immersion heater? They get covered with lime very soon. Place the immersion heater into water in which you added ample of vinegar. Turn on the heater. When the water is boiling the lime will be gone.
- Easier sawing
Even if you're not a big hobbyist you'll have to saw something from time to time. The result you get depends on the technique. Most of the saws work "on push". If you take care of the right movement you'll saw straight and with less efforts.
- Hairdryer on cold carburetor
You may not believe this but in most of the cases this trick will work: When your car doesn't want to start on a cold day use a hair dryer and blow some warm air on the carburetor. The heat will help to inflame the gas.
- Flax oil against tar spots
Tar spots on your care can be a big problem because most of the cleaning agents are rough on the surface. It's better to try it this way: Moisten a soft cloth with flax oil an use it to soak the tar. Take another cloth you moistened with flax oil to polish.
- Sharpen scissors with emery paper
All the scissors in your house are blunt? What can you do? Here's a very simple trick: You just have to cut some fine emery paper and your scissors will be sharp again.
- Seaweed in fish tank
Do you have fish in a tank? You won't have to clean your tank from seaweeds as often if you place a piece of granite or slate on the ground.
- Holding small screws with glue
If you have to drill in small screws it sometimes can drive you crazy. They're too small to grip and you also can't get them into the hole. Put a bit glue on the tip of your finger then this won't be a problem anymore.
© 1997 Michael Bouska