this post was submitted on 04 Jul 2025
61 points (93.0% liked)

Ask Lemmy

33238 readers
1501 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions


Rules: (interactive)


1) Be nice and; have funDoxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them


2) All posts must end with a '?'This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?


3) No spamPlease do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.


4) NSFW is okay, within reasonJust remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either [email protected] or [email protected]. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].


5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email [email protected]. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.


6) No US Politics.
Please don't post about current US Politics. If you need to do this, try [email protected] or [email protected]


Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.

Partnered Communities:

Tech Support

No Stupid Questions

You Should Know

Reddit

Jokes

Ask Ouija


Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu


founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

I use a mosquito repellent to kill ants.

What other products do you use for what purposes?

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 days ago (1 children)

I use citric acid to prevent water spots in the dishwasher. Don't bother using rinse aids, as they are often just citric acid at 2-10 times the price.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

I need more information. Rinse aid costs a fortune, but I also hate spots.

Do you buy a particular brand of citric?

Also rinse aid feels quite oily to the touch, like dish soap, is it really just citric?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 days ago

My chromosomes. The X and Y work together in semi-functional unison to make me the man I am today.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 days ago

Carburetor cleaner kills wasps on contact, since we always had old cars growing up and lived in the sticks we also always got wasp nests. I still keep some around just in case. I don't even own a car with a carburetor anymore. They get a good distance of spray too for added safety when dealing with them.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

Borax as insect repellant/ murderer.

Every apartment block has roaches, I'm not naive. But to get rid of the ones in mine I put a teaspoon of borax near the dishwasher kick plate and blew it under with compressed air. Sprinkled some around the perimeter of the cabinet beneath the kitchen sink.

Have not seen a roach in 10 months.

Edit: don't try to bait food with borax, they won't eat it, just get it on the walking paths. You want them tracking it into the hive where they all clean it up like cats and die because to an insect it's like eating knives.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 6 days ago (2 children)

I use a usb mug warmer to heat microscope slides.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 days ago

I use a mug warmer to maintain viscosity of a certain epoxy for molding. I did have to remove the safety switch because of weight. They work well

[–] [email protected] 5 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)

Instance name checks out

Also, hello there, fellow labrat! Are you a microbiologist?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

No, I'm a beekeeper, and did a course in microscopy earlier this year. I make slides of pollen and bits of bee. I have another microscope for dissecting bees. It is beyond thrilling to have my own wee lab, with bottles of chemicals and petrie dishes and dissecting tools.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Hehe, I dream of having my own lab at some point too! But in my case it would be worth $200.000 on the low end.

And overall, nice!

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 week ago (4 children)

The boring one I do most often is shopping bags (non-reusable) for trash can liners.

One I've heard of but not done is wasp spray as pepper spray /people repellant.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

that might actually be a war crime because I think wasp spray is a neurotoxin

Which on reflection makes me like it more.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Is there another common household spray that would be effective but not permanently damaging to a person?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 days ago

not really. The neurotoxins work really well.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 days ago

Hmm, that does make me rethink how willing I'd be to use it given the situation called for some self defense.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago

I just did the shipping bags as trash can liners part

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago

Don't Increase your k/d ratio

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I like to use the plastic wrappers that toilet rolls are sold in for waste bin liners. I don't know about other places, or even manufacturers, but the ones I buy come in a wrapper that doesn't have any holes except the one I tear to get at the rolls in the first place. All I need to do is widen that a bit once the rolls have run out and it's ready for any bin or bucket I might be using.

I'm also using an old shredder bin as a waste bin because the shredder part died. Decided I might as well hang on to the lower part. Perfectly usable receptacle.

It's rubbish, but that only makes it more apt!

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Who Gives A Crap.

I'm not being snarky. That's a bamboo sourced toilet paper that doesn't use plastic and ships right to your door. I like to bring them up a lot because I like the product and the service and the environmental impact.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 week ago (1 children)

In principle, I'm all for that. In practice, I'm on a shoestring budget and when serviceable toilet paper can be had for half the price of a bamboo roll, I have to take the cheaper option.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 days ago

Ahhh, that's a different story. In that case, steal gas station TP until you can save up for a bidet attachment.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago

I use plastic produce bags to cover rising sourdough.

Always use the peels of the pineapple to make tepache!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Vinegar, baking soda, and lemon juice all make good cleaning agents.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Just not at the same time. If you use vinegar and baking soda together, you'll effectively neutralize both.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 days ago

Surprisingly the combo of citric acid & baking soda makes a reasonable rust remover. I believe it is a chelating agent.
...and yes, it does fizz everywhere when mixing.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago

Its good as you don't corrode or destroy any layers while cleaning

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Book holder as an ipad stand.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 week ago

I bought one of those kits for a Kindle Fire hat had the charging stand with the case with the magnets so you could drop the tablet on and charge it,

the tablet died long ago but I still use the charging stand (unpowered) as a phone and book stand XD

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Dawn dish soap is good for: Killing ground burrowing insects Hand cleaner Bubble stuff

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago

It’s also good for stain removal and cleaning eyeglasses :D

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

FYI: Simple Green is a cleaner and melts bugs in real-time (ngl, kinda morbid, watching them contort in obvious agony) — with the added bonus of it being prohibitive to the same returning to the area anytime soon. (Pro-tip, I've found it to still be super effective at dilutions of 1:5-10, and a 5gal jug goes for ~$30.)

Oh, and PSA: many common ant species found in homes are "opportunistic" nesters that will split off from the main community when it suffers sufficient losses... Thereby multiplying the fronts on which your battle is fought as well as streamlining their troop production & resistance. 😶 Just sayin'. Do your research FIRST.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

I'm in Kerala and I won't import any chemicals. May search for a regional alternative....

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago

FWIW, it's about as close to "all natural" as US corps feasibly get (see link), but I totally hear ya. 🤓

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 week ago (2 children)

I use sarcasm to kill my friendships

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago

I'm pretty sure that's the intended use of sarcasm.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Those sound like acquaintanceships and are literally supposed to be practice for the real thing. Keep firing, choom.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I use chapstick to heal acne scars, since all it actually does for lips is make them worse at retaining moisture

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 week ago

Just, don't use it on active acne! Those flare-ups are often infected and that candy-flavored wax stick immediately becomes a conveniently-capped petri dish of your epidermal flora chaos, ready for deployment on new battlegrounds. 🤢

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 week ago (2 children)

I use daily contacts for weeks

I use microwave as a kettle

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 week ago (1 children)

My mate used daily contacts for weeks until one ripped in half when he tried to take it out and got stuck in his eye and he couldn’t see so he asked me to help take it out but I couldn’t.

Luckily, my partner could.

Be careful!

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I have been doing it for like.. 13 years already? First because I was broke then it has become a habit

[–] [email protected] 6 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

Oh yah it only happened once to him in like a decade.

…it didn’t stop him from doing that, and it never happened again! I was just scary.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 week ago (1 children)

You don't just put a mug on the stove like a normal person?

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 week ago

Sometimes. When I don't wear my contacts

[–] [email protected] 40 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I use advertisements to tell me which products and brands to avoid

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 week ago

Being the most financially successful product *could* mean they excel at ripping people off the most. See HP and their printers.

load more comments
view more: next ›