["Let Inga Tell You," La Jolla Light, published April 14, 2025] 2025
In the first two parts of this series, I explored the strange and amazing world of internet hacks - suggestions on how you can make life easier for yourself using what are allegedly items you already have in your own home. There are no lack of hacks to boil and peel hardboiled eggs, make insect repellent, unclog drains, clean stove tops, crush garlic, and chop vegetables.
I couldn't help but notice that by the time you used some of those ingredients you already had, you could have bought the commercial product for half the cost.
But I get it: the homemade version will likely not have as many chemicals and it harkens back to the days when homemade recipes for cleaning products were pretty much the norm.
All of this did not prevent me from trying all manner of hacks myself. My results:
As reported last week: Pots will boil over even with a wooden spoon across the top.
Putting a sponge with a scrubber side in your washing machine to collect pet hair and dirt didn't collect much of anything.
Barkeepers Friend did not remove the discoloration from my mother-in-law's Spode china. But it worked great on the bottom of my wok when the toothpaste and green dish soap hack failed. I guess you just have to be flexible.
Then there were the hacks I didn't try: I didn't rub toothpaste on my windshield wipers. I just got new ones. I was trying to figure out how I would explain to my insurance company after the accident why my windshield was obstructed with Crest.
I was equally nervous about rubbing a potato half on my car windows so there would be no water spots if it rained. (See "toothpaste", above.)
I also forewent using Coca-Cola to remove facial wrinkles. I kept remembering that hack for using Coke to remove grease from your oven hood vent.
Shaving cream failed both as a carpet spot cleaner and mattress stain remover. (Maybe need a different brand?)
There are definitely some hacks I do plan to try, however, when the fly season is upon us. Like putting cinnamon sticks or wine corks atop fruit in a bowl on your counter to keep flies away. Or putting cut-up orange peels in bowl with a teaspoon of sugar plus dish soap and water and setting it on counter. I will definitely report if any of those work.
In Part 1 of this series, I tried using a hack that involved little balls of aluminum foil plus silver coins in a bag of water that is hung up outside. I think this was meant to be an insect deterrent. But whatever it was supposed to do, I couldn't detect that it did anything besides look ridiculous.
I might have failed at many of the hacks, but have become completely hooked on gadgets. Like hacks, they don t always work in your home as well as they do in the video, but many of them do, and they're just totally fun to try. The internet is abuzz with lots of creative garlic mincers, food choppers, wine openers, magic cleaning cloths, sweater de-fuzzers, etc. Not surprisingly, I found them irresistible and seem to have Amazon showing up pretty much daily with a new one.
My home now sports a bathroom sink stopper with a basket, a teeny mushroom-shaped silicone funnel, a digitized tire pressure gauge, an amazing computer devices cleaning kit, a great sweater de-fuzzer, a magnetized clip that keeps the kitchen towel from falling off the stove handle, along with some over-hyped and not very good but fun to try skin creams. So many fun gadgets on Amazon. Truly addictive.
That said, there are some absolutely horrific (in my personal view) gadgets out there.
For example, re-usable machine-washable toilet paper sheets. (Comes in a pack of 25.) Saves paper! Not sure it saves the washing machine! This is definitely another one of those hacks/gadgets that pretty much guarantees you'll never have guests again. (See Part 1 column about using tampons to soak up grease while sauteing ground beef.)
There s also a pot on which you can cook food on your bed if you re too tired to get up. WTF??? How is this not incredibly dangerous?
How about a fast-food dipping sauce holder that attaches to your car air vent. No! You should not dip and drive!
Then there s a UV flashlight that detects blood spatter that someone has tried to wash off. Has someone been watching too much CSI? Still, if I saw one of these in my home, I'd want to re-evaluate my marriage.
You can also buy a step-in gadget that wraps your guests shoes in plastic wrap while they're still wearing them so they don't have to take off their shoes off when they come into your home. Seems... slippery?
Among my four conclusions are that, first, both hacks and gadgets are really fun to try, even if my success rate with the hacks is less than I might have desired. I really really want at least one of those fly repellent hacks to work come July.
Second: nothing is going to get the hard water deposits off my shower door except new shower doors. Sorry, hacks!
Third: Especially with hacks, do some people have too much time on their hands?
And finally: Is that person me?
Some of the cool gadgets I have acquired recently.
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