Are there any household gadgets you found unexpectedly useful after you'd gotten them?
I was thinking about how I missed having an indoor thermometer that measures humidity. It’s such a small specific thing, one I’d never think of getting unless pushed to it (which I was by one particularly dry winter). But I like having one now.
What are your small, “random” or “junk drawer” type of gadgets that you actually use or like having around?
I have a few motion activated lights in my house and really love how convenient those are. One is an in wall light switch and another is a screw in one in a ceiling light socket.
I also use my pour over coffee set daily. And my coffee grinder.
I bought a cheap little wire cutter and keep it in my junk drawer. Great for cutting zip ties and twist ties on packaging.
I keep a water bottle in the fridge. Always have cold water and hardly use glasses. Bring it to the table when you eat.
Lazy Susan on the dining room table for salt, pepper, toothpicks, pencils, sticky notes, etc.
Long plastic dollar store shoehorn by the door.
I get big packs of 3M clean removal hooks from Costco and use them all over the house to hang keys, pants, hats, string lights, jackets, etc.
I have a few motion activated lights in my house and really love how convenient those are.
I thought about installing a few of these, and then I realized that I don’t always want lights to come on when I’m in a room, especially in the evening. How do you deal with that? I did install one in my wife’s closet though, and she loves it. The light comes on as soon as she opens the door, and she feels oh so fancy with that feature.
Lots of other great ideas in your list too. About the cheap wire cutters, I had the same for years. I needed to cut something really rigid for a custom job on my truck and bought a good, American-made set a few weeks ago. They’re sooo much better than the cheapos I was using. I recommend splurging and getting a good set of cutters, even if you don’t need anything heavy duty. They’ll perform for any job, last a lifetime, and be more of a pleasure to use.
My motion switch in the main floor bath also senses light so it does not turn on when it is sunny.
My motion switches in the basement laundry and garage might also be light sensitive but it is always dark there so I always want them to turn on.
I think to do what I think you want, I would investigate X10 or other home automation hardware. That stuff lets you program switches so you could set it to never come on during certain times (for example). X10.com
X10 used to be much cheaper than most other home automation hardware/software.
I agree that spending more gets better quality tools but I don't want or need great quality in my junk drawer. Nor do I want to use expensive tools on packaging. The expensive tools go in my tool bag to get used and abused on "real" work.
Microwave plate cover. Don’t have to clean the microwave as often. No wasting saran wrap or trying to use a plate as a cover. I was living with my parents a long time ago when I first heard about these and had to get one. My Dad made fun of it at first but he then admitted how useful it was.
Halogen oven: I live alone, and even though it’s relatively small, it’s big enough for me (unless I want to cook a pizza). It preheats much faster than a regular oven, so meals take much less time to make if I’m just throwing something in it too cook.
Headphone stand: I got a stand that you can hang headphones on, and it’s so much nicer than just tossing it on the table or whatever.
Battery powered lamp with a flexible “spine”. I have an adjustable lamp which charges via usb and has a flexible neck. It saves the hassle of trying to prop up a phone or something with the torch turned on.
Did you know you can get toilet roll holders that have a little shelf for you to put a phone on? If you browse on the can, they’re rather handy.
Extension cables: If you have a desktop or tv, you can just grab some USB, hdmi or audio extensions and swap things using that instead of leaning behind the device.
Egg cooker thingy: I have a thingie that you put a certain amount of water in and it boils an egg using the steam and turns off when done. Saves the effort of setting a timer or boiling a full pan of water.
Kettles: Apparently not a thing in the US? I don’t know how you live without them.
Extension cables: If you have a desktop or tv, you can just grab some USB, hdmi or audio extensions and swap things using that instead of leaning behind the device.
This is what my receiver is for, with regard to the TV. But yeah, even in that case I have a spare HDMI that hangs out near the front of the TV for laptops.
Kettles
Lots of Americans have ones that sit on the stove. I have one that plugs in.
Part of the issue is that most outlets in American houses only provide 120v power, only special outlets provide 240v. So even though an electric kettle will boil faster than one on the stove, it’s not significantly faster like it is in other places.
Laser thermometer. It makes cooking things at really specific temperatures a lot easier.
Some long-handle sundae spoons. They’re incredibly useful for getting to the bottom of a deep jar or yogurt tub.
Collapsible screw-together travel chopsticks. They take up virtually no space, come with their own holder so they stay clean, and you’ve always got some nice chopsticks to eat with.
Blue painter’s tape. You can label anything (especially stuff that’s going into the freezer), and it’ll peel off again without leaving any residue.
Beaded reusable cable ties. It’s always nice to be able to tie up a power cord.
A nice headlamp. It’s really nice to be able to put on a headlamp and have your hands free when you’re doing stuff outside at night. Fair warning: you may fall down a nice flashlight rabbit hole.
A quality knife sharpening system. It’ll change your life. Keep your knives razor sharp at all times with minimal effort, and all of your cutting experiences will be far better.
Ideally both, but I meant an actual sharpening system. Either a series of progressively finer stones, some crock sticks, diamond rods, or whatever works best for the individual.
Explain please. I use a work sharp electric sharpener which has basically sandpaper bands. I guess I have one of those metal rods with grooves but i don’t use it.
Nice! That’s a great system. I have one too, but I only use it if a knife is really bad, or I have a lot of knives to sharpen. I usually use their diamond rod system. As you use your knife the edge gets folded over and malformed at a microscopic level. The honing steel doesn’t actually sharpen (remove metal), but it re-aligns the edge so that it is straight again and cuts better. Ideally you should pass your kitchen knives over the honing rod before each use, which will get you more life in-between sharpenings, and provide better cutting performance.
I didn’t know there were “systems”, I use a Pyrénées slab that works like magic, but you do need some elbow grease. Is it a power tool you’re talking about ?
I’ve used many different systems and the one that works best for me are the diamond rods with an angle brace. This is the one that I use, but there are several different brands available. I also have the Worksharp electric belt sander system, and that works really well too, but it removes a lot of metal, so I only use it sparingly. I used to have off-brand crock sticks and those are pretty cool, but they take a lot of time and still have a margin for user error. I used nothing but stones when I was younger, and that’s a cool system that gives the user a lot of manual control, but good stones are expensive, you need several of them, they’re bulky to store, and there’s a lot of room for error. Any of these are good options, and there are more still that I didn’t mention. It just comes down to personal preference.
Seriously the most useful thing I ever bought for around the house is barely even a gadget. It’s literally just a screwdriver where you can flip the tips and the shaft so that it has four tip sizes; two Phillips and two flatheads. Oh and also a tape measure. That tape measure will save you literally all of the headaches when it comes to purchasing furniture. A good socket set of Allen wrenches for assembling set furniture too.
. A good socket set of Allen wrenches for assembling set furniture too.
I’ll push back and say that the 3-pack of imperial, metric, and SAE hex wrenches you can get these days are better than a socket set
Sure, ratcheting is nice, but the ability to rapidly service ANY hex item without dicking around with my sockets or having to memorize which exact size a specific screw has been amazing
Just grab the matching collection of wrenches (idk what to call them, Swiss army wrench?) for the size you’re working in, or all 3 if you’re unsure, and you’ll be done in no time!
These are nice for when you need to tighten something random and you have no idea what size it might be. They do not excel at being a dedicated tool for a larger job. Definitely a matter of preference, but if you find yourself being the go-to person for assembly, a dedicated tool of the correct size is like night and day. If you find yourself just needing something convenient that can jump from bed frame to electronics project and fit in your pocket, these are the way to go. Personally I’d have a hard time imagining not having both options in different tool boxes.
For me ratcheting is way more important. Trying to get one of those stupid little Allen wrenches to turn in the space you’ve got to maneuver is oftentimes a pain in the ass, and of course the thing gets tighter to turn with that silly little no leverage piece of crap as you drive it in.
I don’t think I’ve encountered one that’s hard to reach with my folding set, actually. Probably the one time I’d want to get my socket set, so fair enough if you encounter it more often
I bought several of those flippy screwdrivers and keep 1-2 on each level of the house and in the garage. I never have to leave the floor or often the room to fix something I notice is loose.
I bought a small rice cooker a while back. I have pancakes way more often now, which has really helped cut down my breakfast budget. I can snag a month of breakfast for like 5 dollars. Yeah sure, they’re extra thicc and not as nutritious as a full complex meal, but its a lot less of a hassle than actually heating up the skillet and cooking a meal while I’m half-asleep.
yep. Just drop a bit of butter in and let it melt while you put some coffee on and mix together the milk and pancake mix, drop it in for 2 cycles, and enjoy. It’s almost as easy as microwaving.
I am choosing to interpret the instructions as dumping a full bottle of pancake mix into the rice cooker, cook twice, then tip out the resulting pancake-cake and slice it up thinly like a pressed ham. I guess slice extra thinly for crepes?
Not bad! Though I used Bisquick, for better flavor, and for the work involved dirtying bowls and measuring cups I’d rather just use a pan.
In fact I made extra and made three pan sized pancakes in the time it took to make one big fluffy potcake.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great Idea and it totally works. If I were gonna do it again seriously, I’d get a dedicated pancake mix that uses just water, to maximize the simplicity, which is the goal I think.
It was fluffy and delicious, though I will say a lot of pancake flavor comes from the crispy edges and the thinness of the cake and you lose some of that with the thick potcake.
Aeropress coffee was always the best tasting. But I found I just didn’t have the patience for making it that way every morning, especially since I drink four cups at least.
Right? My friend talked me into getting a full pour-over setup, and it’s tasty, but I’m not doing all that shit in the morning when I need coffee. I went back to my drip machine after two days. He says that he loves the process in the morning, and that’s cool I guess, but that shit isn’t for me.
We have a pretty nice Cuisinart air fryer/toaster oven (model is TOA-70 I think), and it is the best. I basically use the “real” oven only for proper baking (very rare) and larger frozen stuff (still fairly rare). All leftovers and “heat and eat” stuff goes into the toaster oven. I also use it for toasting, just to keep the popup toaster off the counter, and as an air fryer I like the results from its tray-like basket much better than the icy-center foodballs that come from trying to get a reasonable amount into the deep but otherwise tiny baskets of cheaper air fryers.
For an actual junk drawer item, we have a 50-foot reel of twist tie (with a little guillotine cutter) that has proven invaluable for lost twist ties, torn garbage bag pulls, arts & crafts, and even the occasional picture hanging until we got a proper reel of that wire.
A good pair of titanium scissors. They aren’t very expensive, but cut things far better than cheap scissors. They last a lot longer, too; I’ve had mine for a few years, and they’re still sharp enough to cut my skin if I get a little carefree. I got a two-pack and keep a pair with my lunch box for foodstuffs I need to open at work. I even carried a pair around at work for a while when I needed them to cut zip ties, shrink wrap, and banding.
Alternatively, a good pair of hand-forged, high carbon, Japanese steel scissors. They are very expensive, but they cut like a dream and I feel like a bad-ass every time I cut something.
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