20 Casual Things People Didn’t Know Until Someone Corrected Them, As Shared In This Online Group

There are moments when we realize that for most of our lives, we had been doing something wrong. And in those big brain moments, we realize how ignorant we can be. However, it's never too late to learn. When a Reddit user Slart_n created a post asking "What everyday activity did you do wrong for years, before someone finally showed you an important trick?", people shared their late-life realizations with others. Scroll below to read a few of them. More info: Reddit

#1

Image source: Clawffee, RossHelen "Rinsing my hair - I used to rinse with hot water and assume I just had frizzy and dry hair. Rinsed with cold water once and realized I'd lived far too long with frizzy hair for no reason."

#2

Image source: randomthoughtsofnaps, Prostock-studio "Brushing my hair. No one taught me how to do it right because I always had short hair as a kid, and my mom somehow got the impression I knew to brush the ends first, and work up to the roots. Nope. I started at the top and would rip down. No wonder my hair was so bad. But then I saw Tangled AS AN ADULT and realized I had been brushing my hair wrong my entire life."

#3

Image source: funklab, recstockfootage "Opening a beverage can. I keep my fingernails very short and sometimes it would be a bit finicky to open the tab on a can. I was damn near 40 years old when my buddy showed me you’re supposed to push down on the hinge portion of the tab with your thumb to raise the other edge of the tab so you can get your finger under it. I felt like an idiot."

#4

Image source: ClaymorePlanted, AtlasComposer "If you're a man, you don't need to pee standing up. This will save you a lot of cleaning."

#5

Image source: joec_95123, Masson-Simon "Not an everyday activity, but someone showed me I'd been wasting celery for years. When it goes limp and loses its crunch, you can just soak it in water overnight, and it makes it crisp again."

#6

Image source: IGotRoks, RossHelen "Not making a joke when someone gives you a compliment. I have learned to say “thank you. That’s nice to hear”. Game changer for me."

#7

Image source: GSnow, valeriygoncharukphoto "If you're trying to hang a picture by catching the crosswire on a nail in the wall, slide a fork down over the nail so the prongs are behind the nail head and the fork is angled away from the wall. Slide the wire down behind the fork, and it will be guided right onto the nail. Then just pull up the fork. Saves a dozen attempts to "catch" the nail on the wire."

#8

Image source: dadddieslittlefox, Prostock-studio "Using a gift card to sign up for free trials."

#9

Image source: iStillPlayPS3, Lightitup_now "My aunt is a physical therapist, she said that if people did simply one teeny tiny change in the way they walk, older people would be in better health. That oh so simple thing is just walking up steps by placing your whole foot on the step, and keeping your heel on the ground with each step. As opposed to having your heel hang off the step. That’s it. Requires zero additional effort, just changes the way you walk up stairs. What it does is increase hamstring strength. You already have enough thigh strength from general walking. The amount of older people she sees every day with weak hamstrings is wild."

#10

Image source: Immediate_Papayas, reginafoster "Put on pillow covers. I used to shove the pillow in there and struggle with it until my wife showed me how to flip the pillow case inside out and cover the pillow while flipping right side out."

#11

Image source: spiderbro8, AZ-BLT "Felt like an idiot for years I’d bite the shells of pistachios open. A friend showed me I can just use a half shell to lever the others open."

#12

Image source: thedrakeequator, Prostock-studio "Cut bell peppers. For years I did it in a messy way where it got seeds everywhere. Then one day I decided that there was probably a better way so I watched YouTube. What you do is you cut the top and bottom off first, pull the seeds out in one piece, then cut down the sides and unroll it like paper. Then you cut the unrolled piece into strips."

#13

Image source: Glittering_Animal395, Charlotte May "The inside shower curtain goes inside tub."

#14

Image source: darthva, megostudio "If you’re mounting something to the wall that has pre-designed holes on the back, rather than measure between the holes and try to space the nails/screws accordingly, stretch a single piece of painters tape (blue tape) across the back of the piece from just before the beginning of the first hole to just after the last one. Mark each hole with a pencil/pen on the painters tape, then place the tape on the wall and voila, you have a perfect mounting template. I suggest you do a quick check with a laser level on the wall just to make sure your marks are level before drilling."

#15

Image source: Theywillfindyou3645, fxquadro "Putting the bedding away. Fold the covers and the sheets and put them inside the matching pillowcase. Then they all neatly fit in the cupboard and you can easily find a complete set."

#16

Image source: dinosarahsaurus, cottonbro studio "Taking the safety cap off of deodorant. I used to try to get my finger nails under it and pop it off. They were quite a pain in the a*s to get off. In my late 20s my roommate was talking to me while unpacking her groceries and she opened her deodorant and just twisted up the stick so that the cap came off. I was shocked."

#17

Image source: WasItG00d4U, Pressmaster "I would always add oil or butter to my pan right away and wait for it to heat up. You're actually supposed to wait until the pan gets really hot and then add the oil. Doing that makes any pan non-stick."

#18

Image source: UnfairMicrowave, NataliaRuedisueli "Sliding your thumb on the spacebar of your phone will move the cursor."

#19

Image source: PreZEviL, trimarchi_photo "I used to open a banana by pulling the top, then I saw some documentary with a monkey opening them from the bottom and it's 10 times easier. I also learn that I'm more stupid than a monkey that day."

#20

Image source: pianoispercussion, sashamurashka "you cut tomatoes with a serrated edged knife. It's just... so much easier. there is no squishing of the tomato."