Why Your Takeout Food Never Tastes That Good

Have you ever wondered why things are the way they are? Like why are there holes in a takeout box? Don’t worry! You’re about to find out!

Beanies with all those fluffy pom-poms are easily the most important accessories of wintertime. Turns out the real reason why they or other hats have pom-poms was not to make a fashion statement in the past. One of the theories says they were there to provide safety. French sailors used to wear hats with pom-poms, so they wouldn’t hit their heads on the walls or low ceilings and hurt themselves if they lost their balance in a rough sea. So, it wouldn’t be wrong to call pom-poms head bumpers!

Ever noticed those extra eyelets hiking boots have on their sides? One thing is for sure: even though it kind of makes sense, they are not there to provide ventilation for your feet so that they don’t smell... They are there to prevent your shoes from moving and causing you to slip and fall while you’re hiking, climbing, or descending a hill. When you’re going on your next adventure, make sure to tie your laces through them to tighten your boots for a better fit.

You’re at a barbecue party with your friends. The host serves cold drinks in long-neck bottles to everyone. You think to yourself, “why do bottles have long necks anyway...?” There are two reasons for that. The first one is to reduce the cost of packaging. The narrower the neck is, the smaller cap you need. And the second reason is to make sure that your drink stays cool longer. When you hold the bottle from its neck, not its body, the heat coming from your hands won’t warm up the rest of your drink.

The color of plastic tags on bread packages indicates which day of the week the bread was baked. Even though some companies have their own color codes, it generally goes like this: Monday — blue, Tuesday — green, Thursday — red, Friday — white, and Saturday — yellow. So pick accordingly to get the freshest bread!

You are feeling too lazy to cook dinner, so you go to your favorite restaurant to order takeout. You come home feeling excited that you’re about to have a delicious meal. You open the takeout box only to find out that your food became soggy because of the moisture built up inside it. Well, this secret purpose is going to help you prevent that from happening ever again! Notice the perforated tabs in the corners of the container’s lid? You need to push them down to allow the steam to escape from the holes. If you have a hot meal, that is.

If you’re one of those lucky people who have a dishwasher at home, you’re going to feel even luckier once you learn what else you can wash in it! Aside from making your dishes clean and shiny, it can also clean your makeup brushes for you. Just place them inside the silverware tray to remove all the dirt and excess product that built up amongst the bristles.

You went to the farmer’s market and bought some fresh fruits and vegetables. You want to wash the dirt off them, especially potatoes, before placing everything in the fridge. Don’t waste your time washing them all one by one. Place them in your dishwasher and set it to the rinsing cycle with cold water. Don’t use detergent for this, though...

Are you one of the many people who use the drawer under their oven or stove as storage? Sorry to inform you but storing skillets, cookie sheets, and muffin pans is not their purpose... It’s called “a warming drawer,” and it’s meant to keep your cooked dishes warm and delicious. So if your guests are running late, just put that casserole you’ve made in it until they arrive! Keep in mind that not all oven models have this feature. Some drawers are for broiling even. And some can indeed be used as storage. Check with the manual to make sure what yours is.

Oranges, lemons, and avocados come in mesh bags most of the time. When you go back home from the grocery store, you probably throw those into the trash, don’t you? But did you know that you can also use them as a pot scrubber? You just need to tie them up! Then, you can get to cleaning those dirty dishes, pots, and pans. You can even turn them into single-use scrubbers for other kitchen appliances or your sink.

If you’re at a store looking for new hangers to organize your closet, we suggest you buy the ones made of cedar wood instead of plastic ones. First of all, cedar wood acts as a natural repellent. Pests like moths, fleas, lice, silverfish, ants, gnats, and ticks won’t come near your clothes and closet if you use them. The second reason why you should invest in them is that they absorb unwanted odors from your clothes as well as moisture. And this feature helps prevent mold. So, you can wear your favorite dress or suit for longer!

It’s that time of the week again! Taco Tuesday! You invite a couple of friends over to enjoy some homemade tacos. But even though you have the recipe for making tortillas, you don’t know how to give them that perfect taco shell shape... Well, this hidden use might help! If you have a muffin tray at home, then you have all you need. Just flip it upside down and place the small tortillas in between the cups. Bon appétit!

If you love sewing and making your own clothes, then you must be used to using those tomato pincushions, which almost always come with a small strawberry tassel. But why is it there? First of all, you can push the needle you are currently using or your favorite one in there so that you don’t need to search for it amongst the other needles all the time. And secondly, it is filled with emery which will help clean and sharpen your needles once they go in there.

Are you team ketchup or team mayo? Ketchup fans must have noticed the number “57” on those Heinz ketchup bottles. That number is placed where it is on the bottle for a very specific reason. You must have struggled with getting ketchup out of the bottle at least once in your life. And at that moment, you probably tried shaking it until the right amount of ketchup fell onto your plate, right? Well, no need to do that anymore. Just firmly tap on the spot where “57” is written on the bottleneck, and you can get ketchup out of the bottle way quicker!

You might have noticed that there are two holes in an oil can while you were filling it up or pouring it. And maybe you thought to yourself, “that must be there to make it easier for me to pour it into smaller containers.” But that’s not the case. That hole is there to prevent oil from spilling all over, or “glugging,” so to say. So you need to uncap it before you pour oil from the larger hole to prevent wasting it or having to clean everywhere.

Have you ever taken classes to improve your typing speed on a keyboard? If your answer is yes, then you might be disappointed to learn that keyboard manufacturers most likely wanted to slow you down... A popular theory says that’s why the letters on a keyboard are arranged randomly and not in alphabetical order.

The reason for that all goes back to typewriters. Their keys used to be arranged in alphabetical order, which allowed people to write really fast. And because of that, the keys would jam and tangle up easily, and they wanted to avoid that. That’s how we ended up having the QWERTY keyboards we have today!

Here’s a bonus hidden feature for you before you leave: The clock app on your iPhone shows you what time it is on the little screen icon as well!