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Lifehacker
The Get Rich Slowly blog rounds up 18 tips for buying used clothing, something that's becoming increasingly palatable to many looking to stretch their monthly budgets. Photo by brooklyn.
Faced with shelling out hundreds of extra dollars for a higher priced clothing wardrobe at IKEA, just to get the sliding pants rack he wanted, Instructables user Phantazn set about crafting his own. If you've ever looked at the wasted space beneath the hanging clothes in a wardrobe and thought that it might be better spent than as a shoebox graveyard, this project is for you. By purchasing some cheap pine dowels and wood, along with a $US5 set of drawer sliders, he was able to put together a perfectly serviceable sliding pants rack even nicer than the wire model in the more expensive wardrobe. For another closet-related hack, check out how to avoid over-wearing outfits with a left to right closet.
You may not wear the kind of clothing on a daily basis that requires the Dapper Dan look of a properly-folded handkerchief tucked in the breast pocket, but knowing how to fold and tuck one away will save you from looking like the chump that just shoved it in there and fished out a lump of silk. The writers at the tips and tricks blog TipNut dug up a vintage guide from the 1950s to help you fold and place your handkerchief like a proper modern gentleman. More worried about not being able to tie a tie than fold a handkerchief? Check out how to perfectly tie a tie and learn to tie a tie in under ten seconds. Have your own clothing trick or wish you had a Dapper Dan trick of your own? Sound off in the comments below.
If you have an itchy clothing label that you'd like to be rid of but you don't want to risk damaging the seam with scissors, or you want to keep the tag on but decrease the itch factor there is an excellent solution over at parenting blog Parent Hacks:
Why did I never think of this before hacking off a bunch of my daughter's shirt tags? (I inevitably break the thread of the neck and a hole is born.) I got a little piece of iron-on no-sew hemming tape and tacked the tag down. No itching and no chance to ruin the shirt with my over-zealous tag removal.
A tiny bit of no-sew tape, an iron, and no more scratchy tags wiggling about your shirts. Photo by Lin Pernille.
In a perfect world, it wouldn't matter what a genius JavaScript programmer or top-flight professional looked like. In this world, though, coming across as an unkempt schlub won't do anything good for your career, your social life, or your luck with that cute guy or gal from marketing. Luckily, it doesn't take a lifetime of primping practice to get good at looking decent. A few clever grooming hacks can give you a new and improved look, or help you prep when you've got almost no time before a meeting. Read on for our list of 10 low-fuss ways to upgrade your appearance. Photo by Jaako.
Having a washer and dryer in your home doesn't always translate to having an organised system for cleaning and storing clothes. When the piles start climbing out of their baskets, the Unclutterer blog recommends making a visit to your local laundromat—the one you probably wrote off as an artifact of the past. By doing all your laundry in one shot, and saving some serious time while you're at it:
Go once to the laundromat, get all of your clothes washed, and then get started on your new laundry routine at home with a clean slate. To complete the laundry bankruptcy plan you can do your laundry yourself, or you can use the Fluff-N-Fold service that most laundromats offer.
US-centric: Web site Shop It To Me scours the internet for sales on brands you love and sends an email digest of the latest deals. When you sign up, you tell the site exactly what to watch for. You... Read More »
New York Magazine online suggests that despite your innate ability to walk, years of walking in shoes has got you doing it all wrong. The result: more aches and pains in your body than you should naturally encounter. The article as a whole is a compelling read, making the case that despite the great lengths shoe manufacturers have taken to bring comfort to your step, most shoes are doing more harm than good. The author also highlights a shoe style called Vivo Barefoot made specifically to mimic the barefoot walking experience while providing some of the modern necessities of shoes (like, um, protecting you from broken glass). The article is persuasive—enough at least to pique my interest in some barefoot shoes—but if you have experience with the barefoot lifestyle of even barefoot shoes, share your thoughts in the comments. Photo by Nicholas_T.
Have you thought about tackling some of the niftier crafts projects we've posted at Lifehacker, but the thought of picking up a needle and thread brings phantom stabbing pains to your fingers? Instructables posts a pretty handy guide to the basics of putting thread through a needle and working with it, including a guide to what kind of equipment you'll need and an explanation of the most common terms used in how-to guides. It goes a little beyond the scope of, say, sewing a button back on, but it could help you down the path toward paint chip wallets, T-shirt laptop cases, and other DIY goodies. Hit the link to get your thread on.
The School of Fibre Science & Technology at the University of New South Wales has a simply-formatted chart that compiles some of the best stain-fighting wisdom around. Some of these ideas we've covered before, but here's a few no-purchase-necessary treatments from a source I'm inclined to trust:
- IRON RUST—Soak stain in lemon juice. Rinse and wash.
- TEA—Rinse immediately with cold water and wash according to fabric. For dried stain, damp with cold water and sprinkle with borax. Pour hot water through the stain. Rinse well and wash according to fabric.
- BLOOD—Soak in cold salted water (1 teaspoonful to 1 pint) for at least an hour. Wash in warm soapy water.
