9 Life Hacks We Can Pick Up From Our Grannies
Niharika has a passion for all things art, music, and travel and has over 4 years of experience in writing for social media. During her spare time, she likes experimenting in the kitchen, playing vide... read full bio
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Let’s face the facts— sometimes our grannies’ old wive’s tales might actually have some truth to them. No, we’re not telling you to believe your granny when she tells you superstitious things like, “If you cry during the evening, a demon will visit you at night”. But there are a lot of things that your granny tells you that are super sensible and can be quite useful in day to day life. Over the years through her experiences in life she has picked up ways to make simple activities in and around the kitchen a lot easier. While some of them may seem obvious, others will make you think, “Huh, why didn’t I think of that?”. Here are nine life hacks that can make you feel like you have your grannies’ years of knowledge in a list (we’re just kidding, gran):
1. Use Nail Polish Remover To Dilute Nail Polish
Ugh, if there is one thing that can ruin your day, it’s finding out that all your nail paints have dried up. Well, if you haven’t figured this hack out already, you can add a few drops of nail polish remover into your dried nail paints and try to shake them around and revive them. Just make sure you don’t go overboard and add too much remover or else your nail paints may get too watery.
2. Roses Stay Fresh Longer With Aspirin
Aspirin is great for preventing water from getting spoiled quicker, and it’s always a good way to keep flowers like carnations, roses, gladioli and chrysanthemums stay fresh. If you have daffodils, it’s better to just add a sprinkle of salt. For dahlias, vinegar works best. Since the flowers were dead the moment they were picked up from the plant, you don’t have to worry about anything happening to them.
3. Sprinkle Salt On Clothes To Absorb Grease
Got a nasty grease stain on your favorite top and need to get it off stat? Well, don’t wait till it soaks in! Grab some salt and rub it into the grease mark. A small stain will vanish but a larger stain might require a little rinse with water and some time under a hairdryer. Hey, we didn’t say this was easy!
4. Hot Chicken Soup Actually Helps Soothe The Symptoms Of A Cold
Hot chicken soup can help clear up that pesky nasal blockage we all face during a bad cold. In fact, it has a mild anti-inflammatory effect and the chicken gives you much needed protein. The chicken soup and heat emanating from it help to thin out the mucus from the nasal passages.
5. Boil Salt Water To Clean A Greasy Pan
There’s nothing more annoying than walking to your sink and having to scrub down that dreaded greasy pan you let sit around too long. Well, we have a granny hack for you that will bring down your cleaning time by a huge amount. All you have to do is add a few tablespoons of salt into your pan along with some water and boil it for 15 to 20 minutes or so.
6. Lemon Juice Can Get Red Beet Coloring Of Your Hand
Don’t you hate it when you stain your fingers with food color? Rather than fretting over the color of your fingers, you should use lemon juice to rub off any or all colors that might have stained your fingers. You can simply chop off a slice of lemon and rub your fingers with it.
7. Salt Water Can Prevent Boiled Eggs From Running
Although salt will not prevent your eggs from cracking, it will prevent the egg whites from leaking into the surrounding water and turning your boiled eggs into mush. This is the best way to preserve the natural taste and texture of a boiled egg.
8. Dip The Knife In Boiling Water To Prevent Bread Crumbling
To ensure that your bread doesn’t fall apart when you cut it, dip the knife into boiling hot water, wipe the blade quickly and then chop off the pieces of the bread that you want. This is the best way to prevent your bread from crumbling to pieces and messing up your plate.
9. Potato Slices Can Give Relief To An Inflamed Insect Bite
No, we don’t mean that you should grab a pack of chips and tie it to the inflamed area. To help relieve the burning and itching symptoms of an inflamed insect bite, all you really need to do is clean a fresh potato, slice it in half and tie it to your bite with some masking tape or gauze. Potatoes are great for reducing inflammation due to their anti-inflammatory properties. This also helps increase the healing speed.
At the end of the day, we must keep in mind that some of the things our grannies tell us are actually pretty helpful in day to day life. They may say superstitious nonsense sometimes but some of their hacks are quite useful. Do let us know which of these grannies hacks you already knew about and which new ones you learned in the comment section below.
