It’s never too late to teach an old dog new tricks. And the same goes for all of us! Just because your mom taught you one way to do laundry decades ago or you’ve never seen someone come up with an innovative way of folding fitted sheets does not mean that there is no room for improvement.
Redditors have been discussing the things that they were doing the hard way their entire lives until they suddenly realized that there was an alternative solution. We’ve gathered their best life hacks down below, so enjoy scrolling through, and be sure to upvote the ones that blow your mind!
#1
I never knew you can take the basket out of the dishwasher that holds the utensils and carry it to the drawer to unload.
Image credits: Brontosaurusus86
#2
I used to stand in the shower and suffer that first blast of cold water. Did not consider any alternatives until I saw my partner patiently waiting outside the shower for a few minutes until the water warmed up. Life changing!
Image credits: diamondskindx
#3
I wear my socks inside out on purpose. The seam is on the inside, and it puts a lot of fuzz on your toes and you can feel it against your toenail.
Flip those bad boys inside out and you’ve got yourself a smooth, smooth sock. And (with ankle socks) no one will ever know the difference.
Image credits: MacAtack3
#4
Conditioner first then shampoo.
I have long hair and it never feels like I’ve completely washed it out after conditioning. One of my friendgirls recommended that I try shampoo after conditioner instead of before, and I’ve never gone back. All the benefits of conditioning with none of the greasy, un-washable feeling after a shower.
Image credits: JefeElJefe
#5
Literally just learned about the snipping tool on Windows today. Up to this point I had done a screenshot, then paste into paint, then crop my selection from there. I’m a second year grad student.
Image credits: mt0622
#6
Reheating pizza in a frying pan
SOOOOOOOO much better than the microwave
Edit: some instructions (may vary depending on the type of pizza crust)
Lightly grease the bottom of the pan. Cooking spray is fine.
Place pizza in pan, cover, and set to medium-high heat
occasionally slide the pizza in the pan to prevent sticking.
Heat until the cheese is melty, and the crust is crispy.
Image credits: Razorray21
#7
I have a heavy, thick beard. For about a decade, I served in the US military, and as such, was required to shave every day. I probably spent thousands on Gilette Sensor Excel blades, I’d use one for about a week before my beard growth mangled it.
At the risk of sounding like a f*****g hipster, I now use a safety razor. My wife bought it for me about 3 years ago, and it’s one of the best gifts I’ve ever been given. Had I known of these years ago, I would have saved incredible amounts of money. I spend pennies to the dollar on blades, and they last longer.
Sometimes, the old ways are the best.
Image credits: TheGoodJudgeHolden
#8
Peeling boiled eggs. Always peeled off part of the egg white with the shell until my neice, who was 14 at the time, told me I need to roll it around on the counter to seperate the shell from the egg. A 14 year old taught me such a simple trick.
Image credits: Nymeria85
#9
I found out that I’ve been holding a pencil wrong my entire life when I write and draw, before I learned to hold a pencil correctly a few months ago I used to hold it like how an Italian would hold it.
Image credits: Jlm6745
#10
Knees up whilst pooping. Get a stool and elevate your legs and works like a charm.
Fewer hemorrhoid problems, less straining and much cleaner.
Image credits: Kitcat1987
#11
I learned how to eat a kiwi correctly. About a year ago I was peeling a kiwi like I always have and my aunt gave me a funny look and said: “why don’t you just cut it in half and eat it with a spoon?” It had never occurred to me to eat it that way. I felt so dumb.
Image credits: Kodi_Jo
#12
Cooking bacon. Apparently cooking it in the oven is the best way to cook it.
Goodbye bacon grease splatters! My arms are no longer under siege whenever I want some bacon. All hail whoever figured that out.
Image credits: degraffendore
#13
I am two handed. Been using the scissor in my left hand for 20 years.. Always struggled in shcool projects.. Then, my gf made me put it in my right hand. Turns out I am a god-tier scissor user.
Image credits: anon
#14
Your microwave has power levels, and they’re super useful.
Tired of having half your food on fire and the rest frozen? Hit that power level button. It cycles the microwave emitter on and off for a percentage of the cook time that you choose. This gives the heat time to diffuse throughout the food. Just remember to increase how long you cook it for and voila! Trust me, your leftovers will thank me.
Image credits: MacAtack3
#15
Laundry. I had always been taught that you need to wash a shirt, pants, or whatever else after wearing it only once. So I have been doing this for years and years. Going through tons of laundry every week. Finally a friend mentioned to me that he only does laundry maybe once a month tops. I asked how that was possible and he explained the logic of wearing things a few times before washing them (so long as there’s not stains on them from the first wear). Can’t believe I didn’t figure this out sooner.
Image credits: autumnreader
#16
I did not use my headphones correctly. I put them in the wrong ears. And then I saw that they were signed. I’m probably stupid (.
Image credits: devyroom
#17
Working at a psych hospital, I had to document ECT a lot for when patients with for ECT treatment…..I realized a few months ago instead of etc, I would write ect. I was mortified when I made the connection and noticed it in texts and emails I had sent out. I guess I was just in the habit of spelling that word and kept f*****g it up.
Image credits: justanotherday3366
#18
I just learned at 25 that you’re supposed to wash rice.
Image credits: Seohnstaob
#19
Whenever I got the washing from the line I used to take the pegs down too and put them in a basket. When I got married, I found my husband would always leave them sitting pegged on the line. At first it would irritate me but then I thought about it. You don’t have to always be reaching up and down and up and down. The pegs are already waiting on the line for you. It changed my world.
Image credits: onionrings4eva
#20
Mixing natural peanut butter. Took me years to realize that if you store the jar in the pantry upside down, the the oil rises to the bottom of the jar, making it a breeze to stir.
Image credits: laurakeet1209
#21
For years, washing laundry with liquid laundry detergent, and the old soap sludge on & around the little cap/cup used to measure the detergent would build up and get nasty and get on everything. Then, I realized I could just toss the cup into the washer too.
#22
This sounds so f*****g stupid, but I was never told how to “flash” my lights whilst driving. For the first ~3-4 years of driving, I’d turn my full beams on and then off again really quickly. Then one time, I accidentally pulled it towards me, made it flash, and my life changed.
I noticed one of my friends doing my same old trick a few months ago, and when I pointed out the actual, correct way to do it, one of the girls in the back was like “NO F*****G WAY!” and the other one was like “Yeah that took me a while to figure out but was too embarrassed to say anything”
I’m not saying this is a widespread thing that people didn’t know, but I guess driving instructors in my town just don’t tell you that s**t.
#23
Opening bananas. Not the stem end, the other end. Push the end between your fingers. Opens right up, never have an issue and no more mashed ends at the stem.
Monkeys and apes do it this way or some s**t.
#24
It was at least 25 years before I realized it’s easier to sit down to pee in the middle of the night than it is to aim in the dark. Bonus: You can keep your eyes closed so you don’t fully wake up.
#25
I have mastered the art of opening Kraft Dinner boxes using the actual perforated tap on the side.
#26
Put the milk or cream into the cup **before** you pour in the coffee. That way you get about the same amount of cream every time, and rarely end up with an over-full cup.
#27
I just moved in with my girlfriend. Until now, I wasnt aware there was a wrong way to get margarine out of the tub.
#28
Doing sit ups for better abs. I used to do over 500 sit ups a day every day because I thought more was better. In reality I was just destroying my lower back.
I was told that doing a “proper plank” for 5 minutes is just as good. I don’t believe it though. I can hold a plank for 20 minutes no problem, but I used to be able to do 500 sit ups no problem before I destroyed my back… there has to be a ‘better’ way to work those muscles…
#29
Washing my hair and drying my hair. Not necessarily doing it wrong but my hair used to be constantly greasy even after showering despite scrubbing my hair as much as possible to remove grease. One day I was hungover and had a shower, shampooed my hair but forgot I did it and did it again before conditioning. My hair has never been cleaner. I even use half he normal amount so I’m not using too much shampoo and it works.
And I used to just put my hair up in a towel without actually trying to get water out of it (this was mostly when I was younger though).
#30
Apparently you don’t need to take your balls out when using a urinal. No idea why I ever did, and it’s not the sort of thing you’re taught to do. It’s also not the sort of thing someone else would notice and correct you on.
You can have that one for free.
#31
I’m sure there’s lots I’m not thinking of but one is cleaning. It used to be so hard and take so long to do just one thing. But at some point I realized that at least part of the reason is because I thought of cleaning as a negative thing, I’m not sure how to word that out, but cleaning was never fun and seemed like a drag. At some point I quit thinking of it as a bad thing, it’s good because it makes things look nice, smell fresh etc. That change makes cleaning way more positive and I get it done faster now.
#32
Lol
I’m a nurse. Before I was a nurse, I was a nurse assistant.
I s**t you not. I’ve been using bedpans 180* the wrong way for the better part of a decade like a moron.
I now no longer spill pee and poop as often as before I had the revelation.
#33
Sandwiches. I used to fold one bread slice in on itself instead of sandwiching two together like… Like you’re meant to.
#34
Eating pistachios
I’ve only recently learnt to use a shell to open the others without hurting my hands by wedging it open. Helps my salt addiction.
#35
I just found out a few days ago from my sister that I’ve been eating hot pockets wrong. I used to put it into the sleeve and just peel off the extra parts but I just found out that you’re supposed to fold the round end inwards and create a pocket. The name makes sense all of a sudden.
#36
Switched from my dominant hand to my non-dominant hand.
It’s almost like someone else is doing it.
#37
I used to squirt the shampoo directly onto my scalp. I did this until the first time I took a shower with another person and saw them just squirt it into their hands. It blew my mind.
#38
Taking off my shirt. the way i used to do it, i would put my arms in the shirt and then take it off.
#39
Opening jars. I used to try everything – running it under hot water, using a dry cloth, using a rubber band around the lid… literally every method I could find on google. After five years in food service and thousands of jars, I finally figured out what I needed to do.
Just hit the s**t out of the lid.
Take the lid of whatever jar you have to a hard surface, and forcefully tap around the lid in a small semicircle. The lid will practically fall off and still be able form a sanitary/protective seal when you put it back on. Never opened a jar another way since.
#40
I had a favorite sweater. And I always wore it on the wrong side.
#41
A coworker of mine just told me that he always would throw the car into neutral and turn away from the swerve in a snow storm, then he complained about how he almost hit that telephone pole. Why would you first eliminate your only method of regaining traction and then figure it’s a great idea to spin in circles instead of correcting the swerve?
#42
Shaving… if you wet your face with warm water before applying shaving cream and mix some warm water in with the cream it is so much better.
#43
Let’s be honest guys, eating with a spoon is way more efficient than eating with a fork or chopsticks.
#44
Not me but my buddy just discovered he was using deodorant wrong his whole life. He would use it longwise.
#45
Instead of paying a pro do it yourself within reason, changing oil in vehicles, fixing small dents or holes in walls etc is easy and a lot cheaper than hiring someone to do it for you.
#46
Cooking. Though ketchup was great. No. I was so wrong.
#47
Playing UNO. Does anyone else know you can only play the Draw 4 card if you have no other cards that you can put down. Example: if a blue 4 has been played and you have no blue and no 4 you can then only play it. If anyone thinks you’re lying you have to reveal your cards. If you actually don’t have a blue or a 4 then that person has to draw 6. Been playing it wrong all my life!
#48
Apparently, you’re supposed to close your eyes when you put eyeliner on.
#49
When in an unfamiliar car and I need gas, I would stick my head out the window trying to see which side the gas cap is on so I could pull into the gas station the right way. Then I realized there is a little arrow next to the fuel gauge that points left or right. I had no idea.
#50
Does using excel count? Used just the basic formulas since I first started using it, then had a project for work that I pretty much had to learn how to script macros…holy hell, excel is a lot more flexable then I ever gave it credit for!
#51
I’m not gonna say specifically what I did, but I will accept responsibility for Reeses Peanut Butter Cups ending their “no wrong way to eat a Reeses” campaign.
#52
I always right clicked, then opened a new tab. I just realized I can middle click on the mouse wheel and it does that for me.
#53
If you’re cooking taco shells, you should place them so they are upside down. (Tips of shells touching the hot surface.) Not on their sides. Baking them this way makes sure the shells don’t collapse on themselves. Was a wonderful revelation.
#54
I’ve been pronouncing “greasy” and “absurd” with a zzz sound instead of an sss sound. Kind of hard to break that habit after 30 years of saying it wrong.
#55
Writing out the letter y. ( in my name )
Used to always add a bit of curve to the bottom with 3-4 strokes. now its a simple y .Two strokes. Completely changed the way i write notes, my name etc. Just started doing this a few months ago really. feels like i’m cheating..
#56
Not wrong, just way f****n’ better: Using your bare hand when showing or bathing, over wearing some $5 exfoliating gloves that turn it into a gloriously spoiling experience.
#57
OXO cubes. I’d unwrap them and crush and sprinkle. I had no idea they unfolded and acted like a sachet.
#58
Cutting my nails properly. In my teens I bit and tore them. It is a shame I must live with.
#59
Ironing. I do it wrong every time and now I just send it to the dry cleaners to have it cleaned and ironed.
#60
Omg. Pomegranate. Once you learn the right way to do it in seconds you feel like you’ve lost so many years of your life not eating this delicious fruit.
#61
Folding towels.
#62
I did not correctly know some traffic signs and constantly violated the rules, and so for 5 years.
#63
Making grilled cheese sandwiches-gotta toast the bread first.
#64
To be honest, drinking water before and after bed. I used to just bring some soda or iced tea with me and drink similarly sugary beverages in the morning (I wake up at 5am and work 2 jobs getting home around 8:30). Drinking a quick glass of water especially before I leave the house greatly improved my mood going into work where I just wait to get our first break to get something in my stomach. Feels much better and I don’t wake up feeling like s**t or anything negative.
#65
Brush your teeth in the shower to save time.
#66
Cutting onions. I’ve always sliced the ends off before chopping. I recently discovered that if you leave the root intact the onion bleeds less which gives less cause for my eyes to water.