Bra with Faulty Underwire Revived

There was this bra which was fine except for faulty underwires. I managed to extract the underwires using a pair of pliers without damaging the fabric.











The bra can now be worn again, as a non-underwired bra. :-)




Many years ago, I saw an old Australian man in a toy repair shop, sewing up a damaged doll fervently. The odd thing was, the shop was located in a premium district, right in the heart of Brisbane. On closer observation, I noticed that the shop was quite old, meaning it had been around for a long time. Now, how on earth does this gentleman manage to earn anything??? Surely, nowadays, it would be much cheaper to buy a doll off the shelves instead of repairing it?

On my train ride home, I pondered about it.....and finally, I realised something. Those dolls, toys or whatever, may be antiques or they may carry some sentimental value. In other words, in the eyes of their owners, the dolls were unique and irreplaceable. In the case of a doll bearing sentimental value, even if you manage to obtain a similar doll and offered it to the owner, she wouldn't take up your offer - she would still stick to her old ragged doll.

The doll owners weren't simply engaging the old man for his sewing or repair skills - he was definitely providing something much more than that.

This is something which evil and inhuman $in-gaporean reptilians will never understand.

DIY USB Fan

Materials

1. Laptop CPU suction fan salvaged from a spoilt acer laptop which didn't belong to me.
Cost: Free

2. USB socket with wire, salvaged from a spoilt pair of speakers for which I got a full refund.
Cost: Free

3. Some of the excess PTFE Teflon tape left over when I replaced an old leaking tap a year ago.
Cost: Free/negligible

Total cost: $0










Wires twisted into place.












Soldering done to secure the wires.











PTFE Teflon tape added.


I placed this beneath my "Thai Girl HSDPA/3G/UMTS modem" (which usually runs very hot) and it felt really cool to the touch.









Priceless! There are some things in life that money can't buy - like free things. If you buy them with money, then they wouldn't be free anymore. :P

Homemade Fabric Softener

Commercial fabric softeners can be harmful to your health.

This is an excellent safe homemade fabric softener recipe!


Related:

Does Fabric Softener Break Down Clothing?

Good alternatives to fabric softener

Simple and Free DIY Microwave Radiation Detector

Here's a free and easy way to tell if your microwave oven is leaking, without buying an expensive microwave oven leakage detector.

1. Place a working cellular phone in your microwave oven and close the door, but do NOT turn the microwave oven on.

2. Now, use any phone to call the cellular phone in the microwave oven.

If the phone rings, it means that your microwave is leaking microwave radiation. If it doesn't, then your microwave oven is fine.

Related:

Microwave Oven Radiation Dangers & Safety

Are Microwave Ovens A Source of Danger?

Free Indoor Lighting!

Here's how you can use a 2-liter bottle as a 50 watt incandescent light bulb!



Related:

CFL Shades for Free!

More CFL Shades for Free!

DIY Lip Gloss Without Using Beeswax

Lip gloss can be terribly expensive but here's a way to help you save loads of money.

Check out wikiHOW for some really good instructions on how to make your own lip gloss without using beewax!


Related: How To Make Lip Gloss

More CFL Shades for Free!

This is a follow-up to CFL Shades for Free!

These are modifications of my original idea:















Because of the way the mini milk bottle is positioned, I had to cut a vent at the top of the milk bottle (hot air rises) to provide ventilation for the CFL. I also used some easily-removable Blu-Tack to secure the bottle to the light fitting.

Help save the environment and use this idea for your table lamps or whatever you can think up of - at zero cost! :-)


Related:


DIY Shades for Glaring Compact Fluorescent Lamps

DIY - Making a Japanese Lantern on The Cheap

CFL Shades for Free!

This is dedicated to all the poor people of this world - CFL shades for free in less than 5 minutes!

To the best of my knowledge, this is a world's first. Not "world's first, world class" in the $in-gapore context, of course. You see, $in-gaporeans are the sort who would have called melamine-laced milk "world's first and world class", had it been made by them.

This CFL shade works perfectly, though it isn't quite as good as my DIY Japanese Lantern in terms of light diffusion. Making this is child's play. The materials and tools required are easily obtainable and they cost next to nothing. It's very bright and provides sufficient ventilation for the CFL. If it comes loose and falls on your head, you'll still be able to laugh about it - it's safe.


Materials:

1. Empty plastic milk bottle, preferably one that is not too thin and has a slightly rough surface, as this will enhance the light diffusion.

2. Some strings.

3. Cable holders - Those that come with nails. I would advise against using those that are self-adhesive, as they may come off easily.








Tools:

1. A pair of scissors

2. Something sharp to make holes in the plastic milk bottle. In my case, I used a compass.

3. Hammer.

4. A chair, or a ladder if you're as short as a $in-gapore girl... 1.50m or so. However, petite Hong Kong girls need neither, cos people like me with long arms will do it for them. :-)


Steps:

1. Cut out the bottom of a milk bottle.

2. Make one hole each, on two sides of the bottle. In this instance, the two holes that I'd made were too small for the string to go through, so I used an electrical test pen to widen them.

3. For each hole, insert one end of the string into the hole and tie a knot at the end that has been inserted.








4. Hammer the cable holders onto the ceiling.

5. Attach the strings to the cable holders, making sure that the plastic milk bottle does not come into direct contact with the CFL. Leave a gap between the ceiling and the lamp shade, for ventilation of the CFL.

6. Enjoy. Proudly made in China (Hong Kong SAR) - so is that Osram bulb. :-) I'd kept it running for 3 consecutive hours without running into any problems.









I would like to thank all the British electrical engineers and electricians who taught me electrical circuitry 101. Without them, I might not have been able to install the light socket for this CFL (and a couple of others) seven months ago.

It is my hope that if this CFL lamp shade is the first of its kind, then many poor people might stand to benefit from this idea.


Related:

DIY Shades for Glaring Compact Fluorescent Lamps

DIY - Making a Japanese Lantern on The Cheap

DIY Shades for Glaring Compact Fluorescent Lamps

sjolly writes:

"We recently installed new compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) in our workspace. They use less energy and last longer, but they're painfully bright...so I adapted Dan's Instructable for CFLs using heat resistant photo gels. This custom build attaches directly onto the end of the bulb so no extra materials are needed.

A lot of offices have been replacing silver tipped incandescent bulbs with CFLs w/o taking into the account the harsh effect the bare bulb has. This idea hopefully solves that. Oh yeah and its all open source. So steal this idea and make it better!"

I won't "steal" this (bad) idea for a couple of good reasons:

1. From the photos and the video, it seems that a lot of light is lost. I'm under the impression that this is not an energy-efficient way of diffusing light. I don't mean to nitpick, but I couldn't help but notice that the person who was screwing in the CFL (whoever he is) was holding on to the glass portion, rather than the plastic base. The CFL could have shattered because of this incorrect technique. I wonder if he knew what he was doing.

2. The materials and tools needed aren't easily obtainable.

3. The CFL will become too hot after prolonged use without adequate ventilation. This will significantly reduce the lifespan of the CFL. Anyone with a basic understanding of CFLs ought to know this.

4. It's terribly ugly......

Thanks, but I'll stick to making my DIY Japanese Lantern, which is safe, cheap and easy to make, offers adequate ventilation to the CFL, and is light enough to be adapted as a shade for ceiling CFLs. It is also a proven method of light diffusion that has been used by the Chinese and Japanese for thousands of years.


Related: DIY - Making a Japanese Lantern on The Cheap

The Great Escape

Electric lighting. A railroad. An air ventilation system. Against incredible odds, the Allied airmen imprisoned at the Nazi POW camp Stalag Luft III secretly engineered these and other technological marvels 30 feet underground in the three escape tunnels they named "Tom," "Dick," and "Harry." They used only tools that they could manufacture themselves out of tin cans, and they scavenged building materials at great risk. When they were done, the airmen carried out one of the greatest mass escapes of all time. Through this interactive map, drawn after the war by one of the POWs, Ley Kenyon, explore the remarkable story of Harry, the 300-foot tunnel that 76 men snuck through during their infamous getaway on the night of March 24-25, 1944.

12 Volt Battery Hack!

This easy hack gives you 8 button battery cells for about half the price of one!

DIY - Making a Japanese Lantern on The Cheap

It makes no sense to pay US$50 or more for a Japanese lantern, so I made one myself (on the cheap) with some paper and bamboo skewers today. Excluding the sewing thread, super glue, electrical parts and CFL, it cost me a mere US$2.30 - and I'm still left with plenty of paper and bamboo skewers.

Of course, it's not as rugged as those retail Japanese lanterns, but then, I'm not bringing mine to a gun battle. :P

I think this one looks pretty good, considering that this is my first time making one. ;-)

DIY Environmental-friendly Laundry Detergent with Soap Nuts

Soap Nuts contain saponin (a natural soap-like substance) which can be used to clean clothes (and just about anything else). They are an environmental-friendly alternative to artificial chemical detergents . Soap Nuts are safe for washing silk, woollens and other delicate fabrics.

As Soap Nuts are completely chemical-free, they are suitable for even the most sensitive skins.

Also, when you use Soap Nuts for your laundry, the rinse cycle is optional, as any residual saponin will simply add body and softness to your clothes. With Soap Nuts, there is no need for fabric softeners.

Instructions:

Put 16-18 Soap Nuts into a pot with 1.5 litres (1.5 quarts) of water, bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes. When the solution has cooled, remove the Soap Nuts and store the solution in an airtight container.

The liquid you now have is a concentrated, chemical free detergent. Use 45 ml (4 tablespoons) of this detergent with each laundry wash. This will last you approximately 60 laundry washes!

Make An iPod Video Projector

Project video and pictures on a screen using your iPod!




Detailed steps on how to make an iPod video projector.

Camera Stabilizer for Less Than A Dollar!

The following video will show you how to make a camera stabilizer that is small, portable and costs under a dollar!