In complicated scenarios, the most efficient solution would often be a simple one. This applies to numerous practical tips from the 1900s, which are effective in fixing various household problems and easy to apply. Surprisingly, these vintage life hacks are still relevant today and can assist with modern-day issues. This article showcases various types of vintage life hacks for you to enjoy.
The Butter Smell
At home, butter is frequently utilized for multiple purposes, but obtaining authentic butter for cooking has become increasingly difficult in today’s society. Margarine is often blended with low-cost butter, leading to unfavorable outcomes during meal preparation.
A useful and old-fashioned trick to determine the purity of butter is by rubbing a small amount on a piece of paper and burning it. A pleasant and pleasing aroma indicates that the butter is genuine, while an unpleasant smell suggests the inclusion of margarine.
The Cracked Egg
When boiling a cracked egg, the problem arises where the contents can spill out of the crack and create an unpleasant situation. However, a life hack from the 1900s can assist in tackling this issue.
Adding vinegar to the water before boiling the egg with a crack will prevent the spilling of its contents during the process and ensure its complete cooking. It’s amazing how effective the traditional methods can be!
Protecting the Vase
Valuable beauty vases can be easily damaged by accidental collisions, which is a concern. However, to fully appreciate their artistic value, it is recommended to display them openly rather than keeping them stored away. The question is how to showcase the vases while also protecting them from potential damage.
A useful and easy vintage beauty tip involves filling the vase with sand to a significant level. This will increase the weight and stability of the vase, ultimately reducing the risk of breakage if it collides with something.
Picking Up the Pieces
Every day, there are numerous accidents that occur at home, and it is important to have different methods to tidy up the mess. When it comes to broken glass, it can be challenging to clean up the tiny fragments, which often lead to injuries on feet and palms, even though it is not difficult to remove bigger pieces.
By following a simple trick, the issue can be solved easily. Find a disposable rag and moisten it with cold water. Use the damp rag to wipe the floor, and it will capture the small bits, which can be discarded along with the rag.
Removing Ink Stains
Ink stains can pose a challenge for office workers and school kids, as they may struggle to remove them without damaging the fabric. If a piece of cloth becomes stained, how can the stain be effectively eliminated while preserving the quality of the material?
There is a straightforward way to address a specific issue related to aesthetics. You can use a piece of cloth and immerse it in a container filled with milk, with a particular focus on the affected area. Upon leaving it for some time, the ink is eliminated entirely while the fabric obtains a pleasant aroma when it is washed. This is a useful beauty hack that guarantees desirable outcomes.
Cleaning the Bottle
At home, there are several ways to clean kitchen utensils, and while some may be more difficult to clean than others, achieving a spotless outcome is still achievable. Utilizing various classic cleaning techniques can be beneficial, and being familiar with which technique to use for specific circumstances is highly advantageous.
Cleaning the interior of a bottle is a simple illustration. Once you pour water into the bottle, add a small amount of sand and shake it vigorously, this will result in a clean interior of the bottle. It is a simple and effortless process.
Detecting Gas Leaks
At home, one of the potential hazards is gas leaks, which can be challenging to get a professional inspector to respond to immediately. However, gas leaks must be taken seriously as emergencies. Therefore, how can one identify gas leaks at home without the risk of causing a fire accident?
It’s a simple process! First, prepare a concentrated mixture of soap and apply it generously over the area of the pipe where a possible leak is suspected. The point of leakage will cause the soap to froth noticeably. Once that’s done, the soap solution can be easily wiped off, and the appropriate measures taken to plug the leak.
The New Squeaky Boots
When you wear new boots, you may find that they produce irritating squeaking sounds while walking. Although this issue goes away on its own eventually, some people may find it bothersome and lack the patience to wait. In case you wish to eliminate the squeaking noise, there are two methods available.
There are a couple of methods to stop the squeaking noise of the sole. One is to hammer some brads into the center of the sole, or you can put the sole in a bowl filled with oil and elevate the back to make sure it is fully submerged. Once the sole has absorbed enough oil, the squeak will disappear.
The Candle and the Candlestick
Organizing an intimate dinner with your partner requires extensive planning and effort. However, the smallest details can ruin the atmosphere, such as using a candle that is too thick for the candlestick. What should be done in this situation?
This clever old-school trick offers an easy remedy. Dip the bottom of the candle in hot water for several minutes until the wax becomes soft. Then, you can smoothly insert the candle into the candle holder without any risk of breaking it.
How to Preserve Eggs
It is optimal to consume eggs that are fresh. If eggs are not stored correctly, they can become unusable and produce an unpleasant odor that lingers for days. Therefore, what methods can be used to maintain the freshness and prolong the preservation of eggs?
A useful life hack from the past century involves burying eggs in a container filled with salt and sealing it to prevent air exposure. This simple method has been proven to effectively preserve eggs for a longer period than usual.
Tanning the White Buckskin Shoe
There are many tips and tricks to revitalize the appearance of old clothing items, and one of them is particularly useful for white buckskin shoes. With the passage of time, these shoes may require tanning in order to maintain their attractive qualities and preserve their beauty.
To restore the beauty of a buckskin shoe, you can use a mixture of saffron (ten drops) and salad oil (three teaspoons), which should be applied to clean the shoe. Finally, polish the shoe to achieve the desired result.
Removing the Ring
If someone wears an elegant ring for an extended period, they may begin to experience discomfort and face difficulties in taking it off. Fortunately, two old-fashioned tricks can assist in removing the ring without causing harm.
One way to make ring removal less painful is to coat it with soap. You can then lift the finger for a short while, which helps to decrease blood flow and make the process smoother. Combining these techniques can further facilitate the removal process.
Keeping the Brush Handle Clean
Creating your own painting can be an enjoyable and instinctive experience. However, as a beginner in the field, it can also bring anxiety due to minor mishaps. A common rookie mistake is struggling to keep the paintbrush spotless when it is idle.
If you simply drop the paintbrush, it may come into contact with sand or even stain other items in your home. To avoid this, you can create a solution by cutting a card and making a hole in the center. This allows you to insert the brush and prevent any unwanted stains from occurring, thus allowing you to continue painting whenever you need to.
Preventing Color Ruins
Washing clothes is an essential aspect of maintaining a clean home, and it can be enjoyable if done correctly. Handling white fabric during laundry is less complicated than washing colored clothing. Combining colored attire often leads to the transfer of dye from one piece to another, resulting in stains.
When you wash clothes with different colors, how can you avoid color stains? The clothes need to be soaked in a saltwater solution prior to washing. The recommended ratio is two handfuls of salt in one liter of water. This method is particularly effective when washing dyed fabrics.
How to Revive Cut Flowers
Cut flowers have the potential to enhance the appearance of both homes and workplaces with their elegance. However, similar to other elements of natural beauty, flowers are fragile and prone to fading during transportation from farms. Is there a way to rejuvenate cut flowers?
The stem of the flowers should be plunged in hot water. Keep in hot water till the water cools down. By that time, the fade would have disappeared, leaving nothing but fresh flowers. The stem inserted in hot water should be cut off, and the rest is kept in cold water for normal preservation.
How to Remove Splinters
When picking up small glass particles, or wood shaving, if one is not careful, small splinters can be embedded in the skin. And removing splinters is as hard as painful. When not removed properly, one could further push it into the skin.
Some vintage life hacks are still brilliant today, one of which can help remove the fragments. Fill a wide-mouthed bottle with hot water almost to the brim, press the affected area tightly on the bottle. It creates a suction that pulls the skin, and heat draws the splinter.
Removing Sea Stains from Brown Shoes
The occasional trip to the beach for relaxation is not such a bad idea. But one of the problems with the seaside is stains on brown shoes from saltwater. The stains are hard to remove, and most times, a simple polish does not do the trick
One simple camping hacks can help combat the issue. Baking soda of small size should be dissolved in hot milk. The mixture is then used to clean the shoe. After drying the shoe, general polishing should be done. This is enough to restore the sparkling qualities of the shoes
Dry and Floury Potatoes
The different methods used when cooking allows for various options and recipes. This means that one preference can be achieved with the right approach. Some vintage life hacks could apply when boiling potatoes to make it dry and floury as opposed to the soft and mashy style.
A pinch of salt and sugar should be added to the boiling water. After boiling, the water should be discarded. The saucepan should be placed on fire with the potatoes and should be shaken regularly for equal dryness.
Lighting a Match in a Wind
Camping and bonfires come to mind when talking about lighting a match in the open. And it can be difficult for folks on a windy night. Well, there is an easy way to overcome this particular obstacle. A bit of creativity is needed in this situation.
How? Small, thin shavings should be cut on the matchsticks. The shavings are not cut out completely and they are towards the striking end. On lighting the match, the shavings light up, giving one a more significant fire with better chances against the wind.
How to Pack Flowers
Some flower types are rarer than others, and they might not be found in a particular area. Sending this type of flowers to these areas might take more than a week, and therefore, one needs to find a way to preserve the flowers throughout the journey.
Or perhaps one wants to send homemade flowers to a loved one. A beautiful way to preserve the bloom is to insert the end of the stalks in freshly cut raw potatoes. This method is very effective, keeping the flowers fresh for more than a week.
Prevent Eyeglasses from Fogging Up
On a cold Monday, on the way to work, one could find that their eyeglasses are fogging up or steaming up. Removing it and wiping it every time can be stressful, to say the least.
There is a simple vintage life hack from the 1900s that can help to prevent this from happening. When cleaning the eyeglasses at home before leaving for work, use soap to wipe and clean the soap. The regular use of soap leaves an invisible layer of soap on the glass that prevents steaming.
Cleaning a White Straw Hat
Maintaining a white straw hat can be quite challenging. Here’s a vintage hack used hundreds of years ago that is still quite effective today.
Brush the hat properly and gently with a soft bristle brush to get rid of dust, cut a lemon in two, and then rub the hat with the inner part of the lemon. This will effectively clean the straw.
Recycling Coal Dust
Coal dust or ash can still be used as fuel. Yes! by recycling coal dust, one can not only save costs but also protect water and air. This is achieved by turning the coal dust into bricks.
Mix about a shovel full of coal dust and a handful of salt with water, make sure to stir till it becomes a stiff paste. Mold into brick shapes using an old box or pan and leave to dry.
Cleaning a Clock
Hanging a clock up against a wall or setting it on a shelf for a long time can leave the time telling piece dusty and unpleasant to sight. Here’s a very easy way to go about it.
Soak a piece of cotton wool in coal oil and then place it below the works of the clock. Allow for the fumes of the oil to rise. This will loosen the particles of dust present in the clock, which will fall off, leaving the clock quite clean
Cleaning New Boots
Polishing new boots can be a daunting task. But thanks to a vintage hack used for hundreds of years, there is an easier way to go about this is by simply using a lemon.
Simply cut the lemon in half, rub the boots with one half of the lemon, then allow them to dry. Once dried, the boots will be much easier to polish.
Mending a Broken China
Accidents can happen at home, and sometimes that beautiful and highly valued piece of china can get broken. When this happens, use this brilliant vintage home hack that is still brilliant today.
Heat an alum until it melts, then apply the melted substance to the open edge of the broken pieces, hold both pieces together in the right position long enough for them to stick back together. Make sure to keep them perfectly set and stable until the alum cools down.
Prevent Lamp Glass from Cracking
A lamp with cracked glass is almost as good as useless. So how can one prevent a lamp glass from cracking? This vintage home hack will help lower the possibilities of having a cracked lamp glass.
Place the glass into cold water and then boil. After boiling, allow the water to cool down with the glass still in it. Simply polish the glass with a rag when ready for use. This will strengthen the lamp glass increasing its chance of surviving a long time
Make Cork Airtight
Corks are used to preserve the contents in a bottle, but they can lose this ability if they are not airtight and watertight.
To achieve this, place a couple of paraffin wax in a pot and boil. Once the paraffin wax begins to boil, simply dip the entire cork into the boiling paraffin wax. This will make the cork regain its airtight as well as its watertight abilities.
Duplicating Fretwork Patterns
Everyone would most probably agree that duplicating is easier than redesigning a beautiful fretwork pattern. This can be achieved by simply making use of this vintage home hack which involves the use of some sheets of paper.
To duplicate the fretwork patterns, evenly ink the pattern using probably a printer’s ink. Then, place a sheet of paper on the inked fret, after which one is required to roll the sheet of paper over the inked pattern.
Clean the Oil Painting
Oil paintings have to be kept clean to maintain art and alluring beauty. But cleaning oil paintings presents its problems and most times it requires special cleaning aids. But how does one clean with a simple vintage cleaning hack?
The painting should be first dusted, then cleaned with a thin slice of potato. As the potato slice gets dirty, new slices should be cut to continue the cleaning. The small pieces of potato left on the potato can be wiped off with a clean rag.
Trimming a Lamp Wick
A lamp wick with charred edges can be quite annoying. Most people will easily conclude that picking up a pair of scissors and chopping off the charred edge of the wick is the best solution, but this will only deplete the wick faster.
Rather than cutting off the charred edge, simply pinch or rub off the charred edge. This should be enough to fix the problem. Only cut off when this doesn’t work.
Killing a Tree Stump
Taking out an unwanted tree isn’t as easy as many would like it to be. Even after cutting down a tress, if the tree stump is not removed from the ground, this will result in the tree sprouting once again. To prevent this from happening here’s what needs to be done.
Boreholes in the top of the stump as well as its sides. After that make a mixture of solignum and salt and then pour the mixture into the holes. This will soak into the stump, eventually killing the tree.
Thin Slices of Bread
Many vintage life hacks are still brilliant today. And one of them comes in handy when having breakfast. Getting a thin slice of bread has proved difficult, but with a simple hack, one can make it happen.
The trick is to place the bread knife in hot water. When the steel is hot, one should remove the knife and clean the water. Hot knife cuts loaves of bread nicely, getting the desired thin slices.
Tightening a Fountain Pen Cap
Using a fountain pen comes with its perks. The pleasurable experience that comes with using one can easily become an agonizing one if the pen’s cap gets loose.
The annoying experience of the loose pen’s cap can be ameliorated by holding the pen’s cap over a flame for a few seconds which will soften the pen’s cap. After this, squeeze the pen’s cap into a smaller oval pipe, then replace the cap with to pen. The pen cap should fit in perfectly without falling off.
Making Corks Fit
Sometimes corks might not fit in properly in a bottle as they may be too big. Rather than damage the cork by cutting some part of it just to make it fit in, here’s a simple home hack to easily achieve this.
Put the cork on a hard surface, applying pressure, steadily roll the cork under the sole of afoot. This will reduce the size of the cork without causing any unnecessary damage to the cork.
Saving Cooking Gas
Preparing a variety of dishes can sometimes be discouraging if one thinks about the amount of cooking gas that would be burnt. But here’s good news!
Simply get an iron sheet large enough to sit properly on the gas stove. This will diffuse heat across the surface of the iron sheet, which means one can simultaneously prepare different dishes by placing those that require the most heat on the areas with the most heat intensity.
Curing Chilblains
Having chilblains comes with a painful experience, Here’s a simple remedy you can easily apply from the comfort of one’s home to help get rid of the irritation.
All that is needed is for this remedy is salt and apple juice. Cut a slice of Apple, dip it into salt, then gently rub the slice of apple on the affected area.
Preserving Autumn Leaves
Autumn is accompanied by an array of beautiful colors. This is the reason why many look for ways to preserve the beautiful autumn leaves. So how can one successfully preserve these leaves?
Dip leaves in melted spermaceti when it is warm, make sure the entire leaf is coated lightly, then place the leaves on a smooth surface for them to dry.
Preserving Paint Brushes
Not everyone wants to spend on a brush now and then. This hack will enhance the longevity of a brush.
After painting, make sure to clear off every ounce of paint from the brush, then squeeze the brush between a cloth. After which the brush should be kept in a container filled with water enough to cover the hairs of the brush.
Cleaning a Mackintosh
Here’s one vintage hack that will help with the cleaning of a stained mackintosh. All that is required is a knife and potato.
Get a raw peeled potato, then use it to rub the stained part of the coat. This will take out the stains and marks from the mackintosh.
Keeping a Saucepan Lid Raised
Keeping a saucepan sealed white cooking can result in an ugly spillage. So how can this be avoided? Here’s a vintage home hack in use for hundreds of years which is still relevant even today.
All that is required to keep a saucepan lid open can be made out of a simple peg for clothes. Fix the peg over the top edge of the saucepan like one would normally do with a clothing line. Then, drive a tack into the top part of the peg. The lid of the saucepan will rest on the tack driven into the peg, keeping the saucepan open.
Separate the Glass
When cleaning the dishes, one realizes that two glass cups are stuck inside each other. Trying to force a separation might lead to breakage or, worse, injuries.
But with this simple and easy vintage home hack, one would be able to separate the glass cups easily. Place both cups over a bowl of hot water and fill the upper cup with cold water. The two glass cups would separate easily after that.
Treat the Ankle Sprain
A jump too high or a fall off the bike from kids could lead to an ankle sprain. An ankle sprain is so painful and continues to swell up with time if it is not cared for properly. So how does one do it? Wrap the ankle with a piece of cloth soaked in cold water.
This will reduce the swelling. A piece of cloth should also be put in a jug of cold water placed above the wound and another end of the fabric placed on the wrap. This will keep the wrap cold continuously.
Cooling Wine Without Ice
Sipping a cold glass of wine can be soothing to the soul. But sometimes, circumstances make it difficult or almost impossible to get a bucket of ice. Do not worry, here’s a vintage hack that can.
Simply wrap the bottle in a piece of soft woolen cloth, then place it under a running tap for about 10 minutes and a bottle of cool wine is ready to be served.
Stop a Runaway Horse
We’re adding this one as a little bonus. This is because a lot of people have moved onto cars since this car was made. But still, there are people out there who ride horses and this vintage hack might be handy for those of us who know how to handle such a huge creature.
We’ll let the text in the card do the talking, but the key to doing this safely is to obviously not run in front of the horse.
