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What’s Your Favorite Household Tool?
What tool(s) couldn’t you be without? Hammer, screwdriver, power drill? I’m compiling a list.
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21 comments for “What’s Your Favorite Household Tool?”
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Power drill, though I’m not entirely proficient in its use yet. A close second would be the corkscrew, followed by a level.
Corkscrew is important. I’ve never used a power drill, only watched from afar.
My level. I actually have two, industrial size and pocket size. It’s the only way to make things that don’t want to do what I want them to do into submission. Years of therapy have taught me I can’t do that to actual people.
A screwdriver. No, not the one in a glass…
Pliers are endlessly useful! Also, duct tape and paperclips have surprising applications. And I’d be lost without a broccoli/asparagus rubber band for opening jar lids… and an arsenal of other tricks in case that fails.
Broccoli/asparagus rubber band???
My Hex key. You know all those impossibly small, impossible to keep track of monkey wrenches you get with everything from your garbage disposal to your furniture? Obsolete. Best $6 I ever spent.
Pliers, needle-nose specifically, are also gold, Ehm. From yanking hair out of a drain to removing brads to putting the hex key to good use (holding the bolt on the back side in place), pliers have a million and one uses.
I cannot emphasize enough how important it is for women to have at least a small tool kit. A hammer, a few screwdrivers (I have one with about 8 interchangeable heads), needle-nose pliers, channel-lock pliers, a level (or laser level, mine also has a stud/pipe/electrical finder, great tool), and a hex key should do it. All tolled you’re looking at $20-60, so it doesn’t even need to be expensive. I also have a small cordless drill for hanging pictures and shelves, that ran me about $40 including drill bits and a screwdriver set. It sucks to have to call friends/landlords for every little thing.
Oh, my SIL is also in love with her Dremmel tool. I’ve only needed one once, and I had a handyman doing other work, so I just used his. But she uses hers all the time, including to do her own acrylic nails!
I hadn’t heard of a Dremmel tool. I had to look it up.
In lieu of a rubber “jar opener” (one of those rubber grippy things you can use to open jars) you can use a wide rubber band, like the kind that come on bunches of asparagus or broccoli, to open jars. You just wrap it around the lid to get a good grip. I prefer to bang my jars on the counter, but I understand that many people are concerned about breaking a glass jar (I have never even come close to breaking one, but it could happen).
I would agree with JoDa for women to have a small tool kit. i have one and it comes in handy now that I have my own home. I even loaned my pliers to the guys who brought my dining room table and forgot their pliers. They were pleasantly surprised to hear me say “Hold on, I’ll get my tool bag.”
I also have a power drill with a rechargeable battery and it came in handy when I had to take down my shades in the dining room when I painted. Also helped to put a cover on my vent outside (birdies like to make nests in them so best to put grates over them).
Growing up in Wisconsin (back when it was a progressive state…sorry, I had to say it) I was required to take art, home economics, and shop. The shop class made me less fearful of tools and more at ease using them. I guess they were trying to make everybody more well rounded…I can cook, appreciate art, and use power tools.
You all are so fierce!
I always feel more self actualization when I am using a power drill.
Are you all telling me it’s time to get a power drill?!!
Timely post…thinking of getting my own cordless drill. Also finding that I need a wrench.
Not to divert the topic, but it reminds me that in the kitchen you need TWO kinds of measuring cups: one set that stacks inside each other for solid/powder measuring and a pitcher-shaped one for liquid measuring. There IS a difference and it shocks me that more people don’t know.
I agree. And one of my favorite (and unusual) measuring cups is 2 tablespoons (1/8 cup). I use that a lot.
I have a tool box, but no power drill (yet), But what I find indispensable in the kitchen are my kitchen shears. They cut EVERYTHING.
Vinegar and baking soda. Successfully fixed my garbage disposal today with just those and some boiling water! Sending the “nevermind, I fixed it!” email to my landlord was very satisfying.
That’s incredible. Where did you learn this tip?
I’ve become a devoted follower of UFYH http://unfuckyourhabitat.tumblr.com/
And they recommend frequent “drain volcanoes” to keep things running smoothly. When my garbage disposal made it clear to me that it was gunked up I thought I would give it a go and a few satisfying volcanoes later, everything was back in working order!
Thanks, I’ll check it out!