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**READER'S DIGEST**: EXTRAORDINARY USES FOR ORDINARY THINGS 5 Things To Do with Coins

1630Boston1630Boston Posts: 13,772 ✭✭✭✭✭

_I loved the Readers Digest as a 'kid' many moons ago :smile: _

READER'S DIGEST: EXTRAORDINARY USES FOR ORDINARY THINGS
5 Things To Do with Coins

Use Coins to Fluff a Carpet
When you move a sofa, armchair, table or bed, you can’t help noticing the deep ­indentations in your carpet made by the legs. To fluff the carpet up again, simply hold a coin on its edge and scrape it against the flattened pile. If that ­doesn’t pop it back up, hold a steam iron about five centimetres above the affected spot. When the area is damp, try fluffing again with the coin.

Use Coins to Keep Cut Flowers Fresh
Your posies and other cut flowers will stay fresh longer if you add an old copper penny and a cube of sugar to the water.

Use Coins to Test Tire Tread
Let Her Majesty tell you if it’s time to replace the tires on your car. Insert a five-cent piece into the tread. If you can’t cover the top of the Queen’s head inside the tread, it’s time to head for the tire shop. Check your tires regularly and you might just avoid the danger and inconvenience of a flat tire on a busy road.

Use Coins to Hang Doors Perfectly
Next time you hang an entry door, five-and-ten it to ensure proper clearance between the outside of the door and the inside of the frame. When the door is closed, the gap at the top should be the thickness of a nickel, and the gap at the sides should be that of a dime. If you do it properly, you’ll keep the door from ­binding and it won’t let in drafts.

Use Coins to Make Instant Measurements
If you need to measure something but you don’t have a ruler or measuring tape handy, just reach into your pocket and pull out a loonie. Knowing that a loonie measures exactly 26.5 millimetres in diameter, you can line them up to measure the length of a small object.

A link to article with pics :smile:http://www.readersdigest.ca/home-garden/tips/5-things-do-coins/view-all/

PS I know this is a silly post :smile:

Successful transactions with : MICHAELDIXON, Manorcourtman, Bochiman, bolivarshagnasty, AUandAG, onlyroosies, chumley, Weiss, jdimmick, BAJJERFAN, gene1978, TJM965, Smittys, GRANDAM, JTHawaii, mainejoe, softparade, derryb

Bad transactions with : nobody to date

Comments

  • Insider2Insider2 Posts: 14,452 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I read that and also enjoy Readers Digest. I don't remember the exact issue but one of the ANACS graders had a comment published about packing a good bottle of wine on a trip.

  • 1630Boston1630Boston Posts: 13,772 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Insider2 said:
    I read that and also enjoy Readers Digest. I don't remember the exact issue but one of the ANACS graders had a comment published about packing a good bottle of wine on a trip.

    That and Popular Mechanics [most issues 10 years older than I at the time, stored in the attic, on the dairy farm] made good reading between chores and milkings :smile:

    Successful transactions with : MICHAELDIXON, Manorcourtman, Bochiman, bolivarshagnasty, AUandAG, onlyroosies, chumley, Weiss, jdimmick, BAJJERFAN, gene1978, TJM965, Smittys, GRANDAM, JTHawaii, mainejoe, softparade, derryb

    Bad transactions with : nobody to date

  • SeattleSlammerSeattleSlammer Posts: 9,953 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Pretty sure that’s how Bochi, Lakes and Swamp keep their posies fresh.

  • 1630Boston1630Boston Posts: 13,772 ✭✭✭✭✭

    We could check with @Bochiman :smile:

    Successful transactions with : MICHAELDIXON, Manorcourtman, Bochiman, bolivarshagnasty, AUandAG, onlyroosies, chumley, Weiss, jdimmick, BAJJERFAN, gene1978, TJM965, Smittys, GRANDAM, JTHawaii, mainejoe, softparade, derryb

    Bad transactions with : nobody to date

  • mustangmanbobmustangmanbob Posts: 1,890 ✭✭✭✭✭

    1) Copper cent = great fuse

    2) Copper cent drilled through the center makes a great crush washer for a Ford 9" rear end. The Ford washers are around 18 cents.

    3) Weld backers. When welding or brazing a steel patch on a small rust hole in a car, take a copper penny, tack it on the backside of the hole, fill with steel, and grind smooth. The copper brazes at a lower temperature, so it does not cause the steel hole to "run" bigger.

    4) Old Mexican pesos: Great for filling rust holes in cars, you can string a lot of them together.

    5) Leveling furniture, glass, etc.

  • 1630Boston1630Boston Posts: 13,772 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Great advice concerning automotive facets @mustangmanbob :smile:
    From a car parts and repair expert :smile:

    Successful transactions with : MICHAELDIXON, Manorcourtman, Bochiman, bolivarshagnasty, AUandAG, onlyroosies, chumley, Weiss, jdimmick, BAJJERFAN, gene1978, TJM965, Smittys, GRANDAM, JTHawaii, mainejoe, softparade, derryb

    Bad transactions with : nobody to date

  • SmudgeSmudge Posts: 9,208 ✭✭✭✭✭

    My grandmother told me they used a silver dime to keep a quart of milk fresh longer before referigeration. Some of you probably have heard similar scenarios about silver as a preservative.

  • DMWJRDMWJR Posts: 5,974 ✭✭✭✭✭

    In college we used to penny each other's door shut :D

    Doug
  • CoinstartledCoinstartled Posts: 10,135 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @SeattleSlammer said:
    Pretty sure that’s how Bochi, Lakes and Swamp keep their posies fresh.

    Heh

  • Timbuk3Timbuk3 Posts: 11,658 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Interesting information, thank you for sharing !!! :)

    Timbuk3
  • zippcityzippcity Posts: 881 ✭✭✭✭
    edited August 31, 2018 4:06AM

    delete/duplicate

    Save our Country. Positive BST: Collectorcoins- Mariner020648- profharoldhill- coppertoning- agentjim007- cucamongacoin- ElKevo- mercurydimeguy- Utahcoin-AJAAN-AUandAG- surfinxhi- ZoidMeister- TwoSides2acoin-
  • zippcityzippcity Posts: 881 ✭✭✭✭
    edited August 31, 2018 4:03AM

    Use coins to fluff a carpet. Not something i would recommend. If used aggressively this procedure could distort or blossom the fibers and will give a distorted appearance in that area. Better to use the suction from a vacuum cleaner to help lift the fibers back up. Provided there it is a good quality padding (6lb-8lb rebond ) installed under the carpet it will eventually relax and return to it's normal thickness. (within a couple of days usually). As far as the iron goes, wow, unless this is something you have perfected in the past, be prepared to call a professional to patch the burn or melted spot. Better to use a white cotton towel soaked with water , lay this over the affected area and then apply the steam iron for ONLY 5-10 seconds, remove iron and fluff carpet with your hand. If needed let the carpet cool down and repeat process one more time only as to avoid damaging the carpet. These methods work well on cut pile carpeting, If you have olefin or polyester carpet (man made plastic fibers) , these methods work to a much lessor degree due to the low melting point. It is always recommend to try out new procedures on a spare piece of carpet or somewhere in the back of a closet where not noticeable in the event of discoloration or damage. Sorry for the long drawn out response and i can't do a paragraph on this damn pc. Hope this saves someone some heartache

    Save our Country. Positive BST: Collectorcoins- Mariner020648- profharoldhill- coppertoning- agentjim007- cucamongacoin- ElKevo- mercurydimeguy- Utahcoin-AJAAN-AUandAG- surfinxhi- ZoidMeister- TwoSides2acoin-
  • SaorAlbaSaorAlba Posts: 7,466 ✭✭✭✭✭

    "Use Coins to Test Tire Tread
    Let Her Majesty tell you if it’s time to replace the tires on your car. Insert a five-cent piece into the tread. If you can’t cover the top of the Queen’s head inside the tread, it’s time to head for the tire shop. Check your tires regularly and you might just avoid the danger and inconvenience of a flat tire on a busy road."

    Obviously a Canadian thing, here in the USofA we use Lincoln instead.

    In memory of my kitty Seryozha 14.2.1996 ~ 13.9.2016 and Shadow 3.4.2015 - 16.4.21
  • rickoricko Posts: 98,724 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I like to spend coins... Well, not collectible coins...but I have fun counting out a bunch of coins to pay for a purchase and then watching the young clerks try to check the coins to ensure the right amount is there.... some just put them in the slots by appearance though...I put this activity under the heading 'Things retired folks do for amusement'...there are quite a few. :D:D Cheers, RickO

  • messydeskmessydesk Posts: 19,642 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @1630Boston said:

    ...
    Use Coins to Make Instant Measurements
    If you need to measure something but you don’t have a ruler or measuring tape handy, just reach into your pocket and pull out a loonie. Knowing that a loonie measures exactly 26.5 millimetres in diameter, you can line them up to measure the length of a small object.

    Umm... Besides having to calculate multiples of 26.5 to see if my catch is legal or I have to throw it back, loonies have polygonal edges, so "diameter" doesn't really refer to what you might think it does.

  • DentuckDentuck Posts: 3,812 ✭✭✭
    edited August 31, 2018 6:48AM

    Save yourself a trip to the hardware store!

    If you're doing some carpentry and run out of washers, simply pound a nail through a twenty-cent piece for a makeshift but perfectly serviceable replacement.

  • YQQYQQ Posts: 3,264 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Large Canadian cents have exactly 25.4 mm which is exactly 1 Inch
    also way back, when Farmers did not each steel washers to fix the loose knobs on kitchen cabinets, they used their own homemade square nails and a hammer to hole large one cent cents and similar tokens to make washers.
    Hence you find the odd token or Cent with square holes.

    Today is the first day of the rest of my life

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