I use a mosquito repellent to kill ants.

What other products do you use for what purposes?

  • taxon@lemmy.world
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    3 hours ago

    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.

    • potoo22@programming.dev
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      23 hours ago

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

  • Krudler@lemmy.world
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    19 hours 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.

  • Etterra@discuss.online
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    17 hours ago

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

  • BigDaddySlim@lemmy.world
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    17 hours 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.

    • Allero@lemmy.today
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      20 hours ago

      Instance name checks out

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

    • Thrawne@lemmy.world
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      17 hours 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

    • Rai@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      21 hours ago

      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!

      • vivalapivo@lemmy.today
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        21 hours ago

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

        • Rai@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          19 hours 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.

  • Øπ3ŕ@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    1 day ago

    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.

  • Usernameblankface@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    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.

    • palordrolap@fedia.io
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      23 hours ago

      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!

      • surewhynotlem@lemmy.world
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        23 hours ago

        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.

        • palordrolap@fedia.io
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          21 hours ago

          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.

          • surewhynotlem@lemmy.world
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            20 hours ago

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

    • _stranger_@lemmy.world
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      20 hours ago

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

      Which on reflection makes me like it more.

  • parmesan@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

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

    • Øπ3ŕ@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      1 day 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. 🤢

    • ianhclark510@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      1 day 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

  • RBWells@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    I use plastic produce bags to cover rising sourdough.

    Always use the peels of the pineapple to make tepache!