How do I wash trainers?
Most trainers can go in the machine, but the ones that cannot are the expensive ones — and heat is what destroys the glue holding a shoe together.
beginner40 min3 min read
Lifestyle
Organisation, routines and everyday practical skills. The test applied to everything here is whether it still works on a bad week, not whether it looks good in a photograph.
812 guides
How do I wrap presents well?
Measure before cutting, crease everything, and the technique for awkward shapes.
beginner15 min2 min readHow do I write an email that gets a reply?
Putting the request first, keeping it short, and making the action obvious — which is what determines whether it gets answered.
beginner20 min2 min readHow do aperture, shutter speed and ISO work together?
What each of the three controls does to the picture as well as to the brightness, and which one to change for a given problem.
beginner25 min4 min readHow should a cycle helmet fit, and when should I replace it?
Getting a helmet level, snug and correctly strapped takes two minutes and is the difference between protection and decoration — plus the honest rules on when one is finished.
beginner10 min5 min readWhat does a cat actually need day to day?
The practical daily and weekly requirements of keeping a cat well, and the signs that warrant a vet.
beginner30 min2 min readWhat does a dog actually need every day?
Exercise, mental stimulation, routine and the health checks that catch problems early.
beginner30 min2 min readWhat is the difference between bio and non-bio detergent?
Biological detergent contains enzymes that digest protein, starch and fat; non-bio does not. That single difference decides which stains come out and which fabrics survive.
beginner10 min3 min readWhat protection does a package holiday give me?
What makes a booking a package rather than a set of separate ones, the protection that comes with it, and why booking each element yourself removes it.
beginner25 min3 min readWhat should I do if an animal runs into the road?
Autumn and dusk are when deer collisions peak. How to read the warning signs, why braking straight beats swerving, and what the law actually requires you to report.
beginner12 min5 min readWhat travel documents do children need?
Children's passports and their shorter validity, the consent letter that prevents difficult questions, and the paperwork for different surnames.
beginner30 min3 min readWhen should I buy travel insurance — at booking or before I go?
Cancellation cover runs from the day you buy, not from the day you fly — which makes the gap between booking and buying the single most expensive habit in travel insurance.
beginner8 min2 min readWhere am I allowed to walk in the UK?
Public rights of way, open access land and Scotland's statutory right of responsible access — three different legal systems, and how to find out which applies where you are standing.
beginner25 min5 min readWhy does clutter come back after I have decluttered?
A purge treats the stock and ignores the flow. What actually refills a cleared house, in order of volume, and the small number of changes that hold.
beginner45 min5 min readWhy does everyone say value matters more than colour?
A painting with correct values and wrong colours still reads. A painting with beautiful colours and wrong values reads as nothing at all — and the reason is how human vision is built.
intermediate25 min4 min readWhy does my bike chain keep coming off?
A chain that drops off the front is nearly always a limit screw, a bent or low front derailleur, or a worn chainring — and each one has a different fix.
beginner30 min5 min readWhy does my sewing machine keep breaking needles or skipping stitches?
Four causes account for almost every broken needle and skipped stitch: the wrong needle, a blunt or bent one, one fitted a quarter turn out, and pulling the fabric through instead of letting the machine feed it.
beginner20 min5 min readWhy does my washing machine leave marks or residue on clothes?
White powdery marks, greasy grey smears and dark specks are three different faults with three different causes — and only one of them is actually about the detergent.
beginner30 min5 min readHow do I deal with a problem with a neighbour?
Starting with a conversation, keeping records, and the escalation routes when that does not work.
beginner45 min2 min readHow do I deal with jet lag?
Shifting your body clock using light, timing and sleep discipline, and what actually helps versus what does not.
beginner30 min2 min readHow do I get the proportions of a figure right?
Measuring the whole figure in head-heights gives you a scaffold that catches every gross error, and knowing where the halfway point actually falls fixes the commonest one.
intermediate35 min4 min readHow do I say no without feeling guilty?
Wording that declines clearly without over-explaining, and the reframing that makes it easier to do.
beginner20 min2 min readHow do I stop forgetting things?
Building external systems that do the remembering, rather than relying on a memory that was never reliable.
beginner30 min2 min readHow do I treat sunburn?
Cooling, rehydrating and protecting, plus the signs that mean this is more than a burn.
beginner20 min2 min read