Car Manufacturers Helping Us One Arrow at a Time
Have you ever actually stopped and noticed the little things in life? The dimples on a golf ball, the lines on a Solo cup, or the ridges on a coin are more than just nice details; they each serve a specific purpose. However, people get so used to everyday items that they probably forget to look at these little details or give a thought as to why on earth they’re there in the first place.
The people who invented some of the most commonly used items in your home didn’t add all those little details for nothing; in fact, often times, a lot of thought went into seemingly pointless “innovations” on small items. It’s time to finally find out what these hidden secrets are when it comes to learning little-known facts about common household items…
Basically everyone’s had that moment when we pull into a gas station and have a few seconds in which we’re trying to remember which side our gas cap is on. Most people have also had the moment when they guess incorrectly and look like a fool when they step out of the car only to realize that the tank is on the other side of the vehicle….
The Great Invention from the Navy
This is something you might not know that could help you in the future to avoid this type of situation. Car manufacturers are helping people one arrow at a time. In most cars that have been made since 2010, they will have an arrow near the gas gauge that points to the left or right. Depending on which way it points, this is the side your gas cap is on.
There’s nothing like a good quality shirt hanging in your closest. But, have you ever noticed that there’s sometimes a loop in the middle of the back of your shirts? If you’ve spotted it, you probably wonder what purpose it serves. This function was actually first put in place by the Navy. Why did they need random loops in their shirts?
The Reason Behind Your Toothpaste
This was because of the lack of space out at sea. You can imagine that with a whole squad of Navy Seals onboard, there can’t be that much cupboard space to share between everyone. To solve this, a loop was attached to their shirts so they could hang them on a simple hook to save space and keep their uniforms looking spick and span.
Toothpaste is a household item that people use morning and night, and if you look closely enough, you’ll spot a colored block at the bottom of the tube. There are some myths that need to be dispelled about this feature. This color is not an indicator of what chemicals have been used to create the toothpaste, nor are they just an added aesthetic on the tube….
Now Your Jeans Will Last a Long Time
This colored block serves its purpose in the manufacturing stage. They have a name, and they’re called eye marks. These little blocks are actually communicating to the machines making them, telling them precisely where the packaging should be cut and then folded. If this small block didn’t exist, the toothpaste tubes would remain attached together; two for the price of one, maybe?
Back in the 1800s, jeans were first becoming a thing; the miners who were wearing them were frequently complaining about how quickly they would wear through their jeans. Mining is a hard job, but their clothes should be keeping up with them. This is where Levi Strauss came in and came up with the solution that’s keeping your favorite pair of jeans around a lot longer….
The Greatest Cooking Hack Ever
From this challenge, the rivet was born, and it’s something that Levi Strauss owns the patent for. These are the extra little buttons you may have noticed on your jeans, and you’ll usually see them around the pocket areas. They’re very carefully placed on your pants to help them from getting worn out so quickly or ripping at the seams.
When you’re frying up some tastiness in your kitchen, take a look at your pots and pans (specifically their handles). You’ll notice that there’s a hole at the end of the hand. There are a couple of reasons as to why the designs have these holes. The number one reason is that it makes it easier to hang the pots to dry or to store them….
Learning About the Lace Lock
The other reason that you probably haven’t thought of before is something that experienced chefs absolutely love to use it for. If you don’t have a place to put your cooking utensils down on while you’re cooking, you can use the hole for just that. You can place the stirring spoon in the hole at the end of the handle to prop it up until you need to use it again. This is a great cooking hack.
This is something you’ve seen but probably have no idea what the purpose of it is. Yes, it’s all about that extra hole in the top of your sneakers. This was not put there for design purposes, but actually for a far more practical reason. Do you feel like your shoes could fit a lot better, or are your feet moving around inside the shoes?
The Alarming Holes in Airplane Windows
This is how you solve that problem thanks to the extra hole: place your shoelaces into those extra holes, but do it in the opposite direction. The reason for this is so that you can create a loop on each side. This then lets you cross your laces inside each circle. When you pull the laces down, it will create a tighter lock, and then you can tie your laces like you usually would. It even has a unique name: the lace lock.
Do you remember your first trip on an airplane? It was definitely a little scary, and another scary thing that you may have noticed was a tiny hole in the window you were seated next to. Your first thought was probably to alert the air hostess and tell her there’s no way this plane is taking off, since there’s an obvious issue. But, there really is no need to worry; everything serves a purpose on a flight….
Beers Are Best With a Long Neck
This is known as a breather hole. It helps the cabin remain at a comfortable pressure level when the airplane starts to climb. The air pressure will drop outside, and this helps keep it balanced inside for you and other passengers. There are two panes of glass to deal with this pressure difference. Even if one pane is compromised, the plane is still able to manage, and you’ll make it to your destination.
There’s nothing quite as refreshing as a cold beer at the end of the long day…as long as you’re above the drinking age, that is. So, you clearly want your drink to stay as cold as possible for the longest time possible, right? That’s where the design of the bottle comes into play. This is why these types of containers are created with a long-neck design….
No One Likes Flat Soda
This allows the bottle to distribute heat evenly throughout the container, which helps it to stay cold even with your warm hand on it. This design also makes the bottle more comfortable to hold for extended amounts of time. On some beers, they will have the long-neck design with a relatively bulky neck as well to help filter out the particles and sediment of unfiltered beers.
When you’ve opened a bottle of soda at some your life, you’ve probably looked at the cap and have seen a little plastic or paper-like disc. You’ve also probably pulled it out, examined it, and maybe played with this item when you were a child. Little did you know that it served a fundamental purpose in terms of keeping your drink something you enjoy sipping on….
Relaxing With a Plate of Takeout
What does this plastic disc do? It helps to keep the drink’s carbonation inside. Most people aren’t sure of the exact science behind this disc, but it seems to be able to trap the carbon dioxide within the bottle so that over time, the soda doesn’t lose its fizz (and then what would have been the point of buying it?). No one likes a flat drink.
The real bonus of takeout food is that it’s a lot less hassle for you, and this technique should include the cleanup process too. But, for example, when you order Chinese takeout, you end up putting the food into bowls and onto plates anyway. This literally contradicts why you got takeout in the first place, and you might need someone to tell you that you’ve been doing it wrong this whole time….
The Computer Skills You Need to Learn
When you entirely unfold a takeout box, it ends up flat. These boxes have been designed to serve as plates. Carefully unfold the box and take the sides down; set it flat on the surface you’re eating on. It’s a great and easy way to avoid doing the dishes all while being able to enjoy a really relaxing and chore-free evening.
Computers are becoming a necessary part of life, and that means you’re probably really good at typing things really fast. You may have even taken a class back in school that taught you how to type correctly. You may also know the reason behind the little bumps on the F and J keys on your computer’s keyboard, but if you don’t….
More to a Padlock Than You Imagined
These little bumps are ways of helping a person feel orientated on their computer’s keyboard. If you know how to type correctly, you will know that your left pointer finger should sit on the F key when in “neutral,” and your right pointer finger should sit on the J key. The raised bumps are a way of indicating where you are without having to look at the keyboard, which helps with skills such as touch typing.
Padlocks are a part of life that most people have definitely used at one point or another. But, if you have a closer look at a padlock, you’ll see that there is a small hole, and sometimes even two of them, at the base of the lock. This feature has two principal reasons for being there. The first reason has to do with water and when it gets inside the lock….
The Safety Feature of a Ballpoint Pen
It would be terrible if you tried to unlock a padlock, but it had been compromised by the rain getting inside it. This hole allows the water to drain out of it so that it doesn’t end up freezing the lock and then expanding the contraption. The second reason for the holes is that it will help you to pour oil or WD-40 in, just in case the lock won’t open or gets stuck.
When you buy a ballpoint pen, you probably look at it and notice the hole in the cap. At this point, you’re thinking that the manufacturing company is really clever in their selling strategy, as this feature will lead to your pen drying out quicker, and ultimately, you’ll need to buy more and more of their product. This isn’t the reason for the hole, though….
The Ingenuity of the iPhone
The hole is designed as a safety feature. Chewing on a pen cap is one of the worst habits many people have picked up in their lives, but it can be seriously dangerous to your health. If you swallow a pen cap by accident, you could choke and even die. But, thanks to this little hole in the pen cap, you’ll have a small breathing space until help arrives.
If you’re an iPhone user, you’ve definitely done a thorough inspection of your phone to see all the fancy features that Apple has added on. You’ll notice the excellent camera, fantastic touch screen, and then a tiny hole right next to your camera lens. What on earth could this be? It’s not a secret camera, and it’s not an extra flash….
Middle School Mystery Solved
This little hole is actually a microphone. Your iPhone has three microphones, in fact. You’ll find them under the speaker grill, on the bottom edge of the phone, and like you’ve just found out, there’s one next to your camera lens. This helps to pick up the sound so that no matter how you’re holding your phone, the person on the other end will be able to hear you. It also helps with shooting video sound on your phone.
When you were in school and made use of an eraser every day, you would have seen that your eraser generally was divided up into two colors. This was also probably before the time of Google, so it was just another mystery that kids never managed to solve. The rumor going around was that the blue side could get rid of your pen ink on the page….
The Red Solo Cup Drinking Prevention
This, sadly, is not really true. What the blue part is for is actually for a different type of paper. This paper is generally thicker and stronger than what you would have found in your school notebook. This is more for artists, as they do their work on much thicker paper that requires a different strength eraser. The pink side is perfect for general usage.
The good old red Solo cup is often a symbol of those nights when you’ve had too much to drink or a fun night out with friends. While drinking from one, you probably paid more attention to the contents of the cup rather than the design of it. Next time you use one, check out the horizontal lines that are on the container. They actually serve a great purpose….
The Loophole of the Grocery Cart
These lines will help you to measure just how much alcohol you’ve poured into the cup. The first line at the bottom measures out one ounce. If you’re wondering, that’s basically one shot of liquor. The next line above that is for five ounces, which is equivalent to a glass of wine. The very top edge is twelve ounces and is a standard beer size.
It’s time to do your weekly grocery shopping, and you know you can fit a whole load of stuff into the actual grocery cart. But whoever designed the grocery cart came up with additional ways to carry things on your cart. If you look along the frame of the fold-out section, you’ll see this great addition to the structure of the cart….
The Reason for Golf Ball Dimples
You can hang plastic bags here for more breakable items like eggs or even ones you don’t want to get squashed underneath things in the cart, like bread or donuts. You can also hang your handbags here or even your reusable bags so they don’t get lost in the chaos of your items. Lots of people are obsessed with this function.
If you’re an avid golfer, this is an interesting fact you may be very interested in learning. As you’ve probably noticed, your golf ball has dozens of dimples all around it. These weren’t always there, as the dimples are a more recent addition to the ball. This addition was thanks to other golfers who noticed something about the balls they used in games….
Beware the Electromagnetic Waves
They noticed that their older balls that had imperfections would travel further when they hit them. These dimples help create turbulence and reduce the drag of the ball. Producers then added this to the design of golf balls, which has helped modern golfers achieve even more lift and enables them to hit golf balls a lot further than their predecessors.
When you’re busy warming up your food in your microwave, you probably always try and get a look inside at how your food is doing. But you can never see it correctly because of the black grating on the inside of the door. It can be a pretty annoying feature of the microwave, but it actually serves a very important purpose for your health….
Winter Hat Pom-Poms Are Practical, Not Fashionable
This is called a Faraday shield. This shield is there to make sure the electromagnetic fields stay within the microwave and don’t get out and harm the people waiting for their delicious food. Without this feature, the microwave wouldn’t cook your food effectively, and you would be very hungry (and most likely very unhealthy too from the electromagnetic waves).
You’ve most likely always thought that the pom-pom on top of your beanie is there just for fashion reasons. These days, that isn’t an incorrect assumption, but this fashion trend goes all the way back to Scandinavia, where this was not just for fashion. And no, the pom-poms do not generate extra heat. They were there because of the way in which winter hats were created….
The Reason for the Condiment Cups
Scandinavia is cold all year round, so having a winter hat is essential to life. The reason for the pom-pom was because it was a way for the creators of these hats to pull together all the seams before knitting became an everyday thing. It has since transcended this practical reason and has now become a fashion choice for those in colder climates.
When you’re out at a takeout restaurant and you end up eating there, you’ll be given some tiny paper condiment cups. If you’re a ketchup lover, this can be quite frustrating, as you’ll find it difficult to dip your food items like chicken fingers into these small cups. It ruins your eating experience, and you’ll have to fill it up a million times….
Knocking on Wood
They work just like takeout boxes, and you’ve been using them wrong your whole life. You’re meant to unfold these small cups, and they’ll become a little plate on which you can place your ketchup and other condiments you may be a fan of. This will eliminate the issue of finding it difficult to dip your food. Good luck and happy dipping, everyone!
Take a look inside your wardrobe. You’ll find that you’ve collected an assortment of hangers over the years. Some will be plastic, some wooden, and some may even be made out of fabric. The wooden coat hangers definitely look very fancy, and people usually love owning them. They serve more than just an aesthetic purpose in your home, however….
Grab Yourself a Can of Soda
Did you know that those wooden coat hangers were explicitly designed to help keep moths and other insects away from clothing that they may damage? Coats and items made out of wool are a very tasty treat for these types of insects. If the hangers are made from cedar wood, though, the smell is great for people but actually useful in repelling moths and bugs.
Yes, it’s the myth and legend about the soda can tab. This addition to the can is one that regularly causes great frustration; you know, when the tab falls into the drink you’re trying to enjoy and then ruins it for you because you can’t fish it out. Well, here’s some news for you: you just haven’t been using this feature correctly. Grab a can of soda and try this….
Brass Against Bacteria
When you open your can of soda, you should flip your tab over again, and it can then be used as a holder for your straw. This was the original design intent set out by the creators of cans. But these days, people are trying to discourage the use of straws to help the environment, so this design feature has become a bit useless. However, they have also made the can mouth wider to compensate for drinking purposes.
Door handles are something that people don’t pay much attention to during their day. They use it on a regular basis, but they don’t sit there and inspect the handle often. The exciting thing about door handles is that they’re generally made from brass. Despite what color they may appear, this is the underlying metal they’re made from….
Now This Is a Real Life-Saving Hack
There’s an essential reason for this, and it relates to your health. Did you know that items made from brass are ultimately more resistant to the buildup of bacteria? This is a beneficial way to make doorknobs a germ-free zone, since they are touched so often by a variety of people. Thanks to this discovery, doorknobs are often free from germs, and you don’t have to worry about them too much when avoiding the flu.
This one is not just a piece of new information, but actually, an incredible life hack that could end up saving your life or someone else’s one day. In a car, the headrests are able to actually come out of the seat. You’ll also notice, then, that they slide into the back of the chair with the metal parts that can be adjusted up or down according to the passenger….
Saving the Juice from Toddlers
If you’re ever in an emergency, you can use this feature of the car to help you out. When you pull the headrest out of the seat, you can use the long metal bars to break the window so that you can get out of the vehicle. This was not a design flaw, but rather a safety mechanism that was put into the car for that very reason.
Even as adults, people still love a juice box. It really brings you back to your childhood. Not only that, but people have to question what the cumbersome flaps on the top of the box are for. These flaps can actually be folded outwards, and this makes the juice box a lot easier for a child to hold. This is taking into consideration the age range of people this product is designed for….
The Best and Cheapest Air Purifier Around
The age range for a juice box is considered to be for children ages 2 to 10. Kids of this age have smaller hands, and their grip is weaker. These flaps then make it easier for their hands to be able to grip onto the juice box without dropping it and creating a big mess for their moms and dads. But there’s no shame in drinking some juice boxes as a grown-up too.
Have you ever been stuck with a nasty odor in your home and not known how to get rid of it? That’s where charcoal comes in. If you’re in a pinch, you can use your ordinary BBQ charcoal, but activated bamboo charcoal is the way to go. It can be used instead of baking soda and also instead of air purifiers and is a much cheaper option at the end of the day….
The Rat Population Is Marginal Now
Charcoal has amazing properties that allow it to actually purify the air and not just remove the smell. This means that it’s able to remove the bacteria and allergens found in the air around you. The best way to use charcoal and avoid the mess is to place the activated material into mesh bags around your home. Once a month, put the charcoal bags in the sun to activate them.
Looking at your notebook, you’ve probably wondered to yourself what the point of the margins is these days. The margins also vary in different journals, and you’re probably wondering why this is; couldn’t that extra space be used in a more efficient way? This reason for margins dates back to many, many years ago, and they were very useful back then….
Stopping Your Calls from Being Interrupted
Back in the day when rats were frequent visitors in homes, they would love to have a munch on the paper in the house. The plan was that the rats would eat the edges of the paper, which included the margins, and thus would not compromise the person’s work. They also wouldn’t eat through the vital information then either.
Power cables are a central feature of nearly every part of our daily lives. We’ve become so dependent on power and being able to charge our electronic items. Have you noticed that there’s always a cylinder-shaped tube at the end of your power cord? Most people don’t know what purpose this serves, but it’s an important one for sure, and here’s why….
Carrying More When You Go Camping
This cylinder is called a choke or ferrite core. It’s made from magnetic iron oxide that helps to prevent a device from encountering any high-frequency electromagnetic interference. What could be considered as interference for this? You’ll have experienced it before with your cell phone being too close to a speaker; you get a strange noise that interrupts your conversation with someone on the other line.
Backpacks are one of the most convenient ways to move things from place to place. They store a lot of stuff inside them and are a lot better than a one-shoulder bag, which distributes the weight of the contents unevenly on your body. But, there’s another feature on your backpack that not only looks cool but serves a great purpose too….
Scream for Ice Cream
You’ll notice a square patch on your backpack that also resembles a pig snout. This serves more than just a fashion purpose. This helps you to carry even more stuff on your pack. There are holes, and your cords and strings will be able to go through these so you can hang extra items onto your bag, which is especially useful if you’re going camping.
I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream! Next time you go to your favorite ice cream parlor, watch the person who’s scooping your ice cream for you. You’ll see that each ice cream scoop has a different color. This helps the server to know exactly how much they should be scooping onto that delicious sugar cone you’ve just ordered….
The Dip in Wine Bottles
Ice cream scoops come in over twelve different sizes, and having them in different colors will help the server know how many of those scoops can go into a cup and also how many could fill up something like a 32-ounce container. The colors look great on the ice cream scoops, but they serve a financial purpose as well for the ice cream store.
Hello to all the wine lovers out there; you’ve definitely noticed this before. Yep, it’s time to talk about the dip at the bottom of your beautiful bottle. You probably think it’s taking away from space that more wine could have taken up. It actually has a lot of reasons it needs to be there, though. It also has a name; it’s known as a punt or a kick-up.…
Explaining the Mechanism of a Bobby Pin
It helps to make the bottle more stable; you don’t want a broken wine bottle on your hands, because what a waste that would be. This punt also helps to make the bottle stronger so that it can hold the pressure of the contents if it’s champagne or sparkling wine. Not only that, but the punt also helps to distribute steam when cleaning the bottle before the wine is put into it.
Bobby pins are a way of life if you’re a girl, and if you’re a guy reading this, then you’ve definitely found a lot of them lying around the house in your life thanks to the girls. You may have even picked one up and noticed that one side of the bobby pin is straight, and the other one is wavy. Does this serve a purpose?
A Bonus Safety Feature in Your Car
It sure does! You’re supposed to place the curved side facing the scalp, and this part then becomes invisible behind the hair it’s holding. The curved side is serving the purpose of keeping the pin in place without catching onto a significant amount of your hair. The particular design of this small item has served ladies over generations.
If you have your driver’s license, you’ll know that one of the most important things to do when you drive is to have a look in your rearview mirror frequently. Even though you probably do this every time you drive, you may not have noticed the small addition at the bottom of this mirror. If you’ve seen it, you’re probably wondering what purpose it serves….
Apple Helping Neat Freaks
You can use this small tab at the base of your rearview mirror to actually change the position of the mirror. Sure, you can do this manually by moving around the mirror, but this is specifically for when you’re being blinded by the headlights from the car driving behind you in traffic. It’s actually considered a safety feature and one that people should be more aware of.
Calling all Apple MacBook owners out there! Take a closer look at your charger. You’ll see now that there’s a little wing-like tab you can pull up on the side of your charger box. You were probably wondering why that was there when you first charged your computer and maybe even a little bit confused about what it might be used for….
Counting Your Pennies
People were all unsure at first; join the club. They do have a purpose, and that purpose is to leave your cables neat and tidy when you’re finished charging your computer. When you flip them up, you will be able to wrap your power cord around the power block in a much easier way. You don’t have to use them, which is why they can fold away, but for a neat freak, this is amazing.
Get out your wallet and pull out a quarter and a dime. Take a good look at them, and you’ll see that they have rough edges. When you take out a penny or a nickel, you’ll see that these coins don’t have the same sharp edges. Was this just an error the coin factory made? There’s an actual reason for this difference in the coins….
The Secret Panty Pouch
It goes back to when the coins were stamped in different weights, which helped to reflect the actual value of the currency in question. In order to prevent people from shaving off the edges of their coins and then melting them into new ones, the minters wised up. This was when they put the ridges on the currency that was made of precious metals. It was then easier to tell if the edges had been shaved off.
This one is for the ladies. Have a look at your pair of underwear that you decide to wear today. You’ve probably noticed it before and maybe even made use of it. You’ll see that there seems to be a pocket in your underwear. You may have also used this previously to store secret items such as tampons…but is that what it was initially intended for?
Plastic Lids Serving a Dual Purpose
No, it was not. This is actually just a design flaw from the manufacturers but one that sometimes comes in handy for ladies. It’s called a panty gusset, and it’s an extra piece of fabric that the manufacturers don’t stitch closed. It also eliminates an extra seam in the underwear that most likely makes it more comfortable to wear and gives girls a secret pouch to use.
If you’re a big takeout coffee person, this life hack could permanently change your life. Do you know the plastic lids that you put on top of your disposable cups? There’s another use for them, so you don’t have to consider them as a one-use plastic item anymore (and you can recycle them for just this purpose)….
Give It a Wash
You can actually use this plastic lid as a coaster for your coffee. Keep the top on when you’re moving or driving, but when you get the chance to sit down and drink your beverage, you can take the lid off and place it on the counter or table. These lids are actually designed with this purpose in mind, and you should definitely give it a try sometime.
When you buy an item of clothing, it often comes with an extra button, but sometimes it also comes with a tiny bag that has a patch of fabric inside it. The obvious thing you might think when seeing this is that it’s a great way to repair your item if it gets ripped. But how many of us could actually be bothered to sew it on and make it look halfway decent?
This Common Household Item Really Measures Up
The good news is that the clothing brand is not expecting that from you. The extra patch of fabric with your item actually is more of a tester patch. You’ll be able to use this to test out how this fabric washes. Instead of ruining the full piece of clothing, you can figure out the best way to clean it with that tiny little sample they provide.
If you’re someone who goes traveling or even camping a lot, you will probably have encountered a Jerry can before. It’s actually one of the essential pieces that you need for an adventure. It can hold up to five gallons of fuel in total, but there’s one part of it that may leave you feeling confused. Why are there three handles across the top of a Jerry can?
It’s all about making sure that the fuel inside the Jerry can is equally distributed when you’re busy carrying the can. This is especially useful if it’s a full can and requires two people to move it. If there are two people carrying it, the best way is to each take hold of the outside handles. But, if you’re doing it on your own, you should hold it by the middle handle only.
Measuring tapes are one of the most important things you need in your tool kit. You use them in so many things in life and have most likely noticed that there’s a small piece of metal at the very end of the measuring tape. This has a very important role to play that you probably have no idea about, but it will change the game entirely for you….
If there’s no one to help you measure something, you will find a small slot at the end that can be placed around a nail. This will help to hold the measuring tape in place for you. You’ll also be able to see that this metal edge is slightly serrated. This serves as a tool for marking wherever you have measured in case you don’t have access to a pencil.