TIPS AND TRICKS
FROM MAKER TO MAKER

Who doesn’t appreciate a really good tip now and then? Especially the kind, as one reader put it, “that changes your life.” Whether it’s something as practical as revealing a way to remove scratches from glass, or something more creative, like how to make an origami envelope, we all rely on our friends and neighbors to tip us off to the new and the good. —Arwen O’Reilly

Tip Your Glass Inner Tube Tie-Downs

Tom Bridge saves you from embarassment: “When What won’t MAKE columnist Saul Griffith ever be you’re knocking back a pint at the local bar, you found without? Far more useful than a bungee cord, look like an absolute idiot when that little cocktail he uses bicycle inner tubes for everything, from napkin is stuck to the bottom of your glass. Grab strapping broken parts together when something the salt shaker from the guy next to you and dash fails away from the workshop, to lashing kitesurfing out a bit on your napkin. It will soak up beer and gear to the back of his bike, to fixing the fan belt of condensation, but not stick to your glass. Now you a broken-down Chinatown bus. Most bicycle repair can drink a beer without looking like an unwashed shops throw out used tubes and will be happy to cretin.” (That’s why some of us drink at home.) pass them along to you.

No More Scratches!

Scratched CRT monitor? Can’t see through your glasses? Rather than replace the glass or buy an expensive scratch-removal product, just use a little bit of toothpaste (make sure it’s paste, not gel, and one with baking powder is best). Rub over the scratch with some lint-free cloth “in a small circular motion with moderate pressure for a minute or two” and wipe off, says MAKE reader Paul Short.

Better Shoelace Tying

James Arlen wants to make sure you never trip over
your shoelaces again. Tie your shoes the normal way,
but after you make the first loop, wrap twice around
the first loop before pushing through the second
loop. “Yes, it’s that simple,” he says. “The knot won’t
come undone, there is no need to ‘double knot,’ and
you can still undo the laces just by pulling the free
ends. This works with bike shoes (notorious for com-
ing undone), running shoes, dress shoes, boots, and
especially little kids’ shoes!”