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Many everyday items have hidden features that we often overlook but can really improve our daily routines. For example, I recently discovered that the hole at the end of my pot handles isn’t just for hanging—it’s perfect for holding a wooden spoon or spatula while cooking, keeping them from slipping into the pot.

Luckily, there are kind people all over the internet who love sharing these helpful tips. We found some great ones under this r/AskReddit thread, and of course, we had to let you in on them as well. Take a look below—you might find something that could make your life a bit easier!

#1

Most People Don’t Know About These 50 Hidden Features In Things Of Everyday Use Spiderwebs have coagulant properties. If one has a laceration if you put spiderweb on it, it will stop the bleeding.
My grandmother was seminole indian. She knew old stuff like that.

KelK9365K , Pixabay/Pexels Report

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    #2

    Most People Don’t Know About These 50 Hidden Features In Things Of Everyday Use For Microsoft Windows users: If you have to copy and paste more than one part of a text or if you want to paste something that was copied some time ago hold the windows button and press "V" instead of ctrl + V. It will show you a list of recently copied Texts/Pictures that you can paste.

    Noticed7 , ready made/Pexels Report

    Curious to know more about the hidden features we come across in common things, Bored Panda got in touch with London-based product designer Oyindamola Ajibike. While we might dismiss them as happy accidents, Ajibike reveals that most are the result of thoughtful design

    These features, she explains, exist to spark a sense of discovery. In fact, many products are crafted to encourage exploration, rewarding us with unexpected functions that enhance our interactions with them. For example, Google’s search page has fun Easter eggs, like the dinosaur game in Chrome when there’s no internet connection. “I’ve used a bank app that brings up the help chat when you shake your phone,” Ajibike adds. “I thought that was quite interesting.”

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    #3

    Most People Don’t Know About These 50 Hidden Features In Things Of Everyday Use Lifetime warranties on products such as Columbia jackets and Jansport backpacks allow you to file claims online if issues like zipper failure, material separation, or loss of water repellency occur. You typically cover shipping costs to the manufacturer's facilities, where they will repair the item or provide a similar replacement. This process helps companies improve product quality by learning from returned items while ensuring long-term customer loyalty.

    itskattxo , Trix Dev/Pexels Report

    #4

    Most People Don’t Know About These 50 Hidden Features In Things Of Everyday Use The star symbol next to one of the floors on the elevator button panel is the floor that leads you out to the street.

    WeAreTheMisfits , Kelly/Pexels Report

    Humans are wired to love discovery, which is why novelty plays a big part in design. Neuroimaging studies show that our brains respond three to five times more strongly to new experiences, according to Dr. Sylvain Moreno, Associate Professor of Neuroscience at Simon Fraser University.

    “Let’s say a musician, who’s very experienced in sound differentiation, hears a sound they’ve never heard before; their brain will react very strongly because their brain is already trained to capture differences in sounds,” he says. “The same would go for someone who isn’t a musician, just to a lesser degree.”

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    The heightened response comes down to our evolutionary development. “It’s rooted in survival,” Dr. Moreno explains. “We need to understand if novel stimuli in our environment is dangerous or not.” This triggers a dopamine release, a neurotransmitter linked to reward, which makes encountering new things inherently exciting.

    #5

    Most People Don’t Know About These 50 Hidden Features In Things Of Everyday Use The little pepper looking thing that hangs off of most pin cushions is filled with emery powder to help clean/sharpen your pins and needles.

    SweetBonniexo , summercityfun/Flickr Report

    #6

    Most People Don’t Know About These 50 Hidden Features In Things Of Everyday Use Nearly all dishwashers have a filter, usually in the bottom, that can be removed and cleaned. If you have a dishwasher and you’re not familiar with the filter, I bet the filter needs cleaning.

    ENOFCK , Castorly Stock/Pexels Report

    Nevertheless, hiding features isn’t just about excitement; it’s also practical, especially in the digital realm. “From a design perspective, [it] can help with decluttering or streamlining a product’s functionality,” says Ajibike. Too much information at once can be overwhelming, so concealing certain elements makes things easier to navigate.

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    “Advanced features in a product can be hidden for users to find later on. This, I believe, can minimize overwhelming them. As users become more familiar with the interface, they gradually discover more complex [ones],” she explains. Think of the settings on your phone—you don’t need to explore them all right away, but they’re there when you need something specific.

    However, there’s a downside. Ajibike acknowledges that some hidden functions might go unnoticed, which can be frustrating. In such cases, “it is important to ensure users understand how a product works, particularly when accessibility is a key factor,” she adds.

    That said, when done well, hidden features can contribute to a seamless and delightful product experience. In the bigger picture, this is what sets good design apart from bad. When everything feels intuitive and natural, it’s a clear sign of excellent craftsmanship.

    So, the next time you discover a secret feature, take a moment to appreciate the thought and creativity behind it. Hopefully, these little surprises will continue to make your everyday life a bit easier and more enjoyable.

    #7

    Most People Don’t Know About These 50 Hidden Features In Things Of Everyday Use The metal part on the end of your tape measure isn’t loose, it’s designed to wiggle by the exact amount necessary to ensure you always get the correct measurement whether you’re measuring from an inside edge or an outside edge.

    handtoglandwombat , Ono Kosuki/Pexels Report

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    #8

    Most People Don’t Know About These 50 Hidden Features In Things Of Everyday Use Expo marker ink will remove Sharpie ink. Cover completely and simply wipe away.

    etherealperennial , RF._.studio/Pexels Report

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    #9

    The metal rods on car headrests can be used to break out windows if you are trapped.

    Pfffftttttt_Okay Report

    #10

    Most People Don’t Know About These 50 Hidden Features In Things Of Everyday Use If you own a windows computer, do this from time to time, especially if it's behaving oddly and a reboot doesn't seem to fix the issue:

    1. Run CMD/PowerShell/Terminal as admin (easiest way is to right click the start button and select it.

    2. type in this and press enter:

    sfc /scannow

    3. Let it run and look at the results.

    I work in IT, and this fixes a range of problems. Why Windows isn't set up to run this automatically in the background occasionally, I have no idea.

    UnwillingHummingbird , Yusuf P/Pexels Report

    #11

    Most People Don’t Know About These 50 Hidden Features In Things Of Everyday Use You can use staple removers to open up keyrings.

    Strawberry____Blonde , Denise Krebs/Flickr Report

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    #12

    The "end" of a roll of tape doubles as a temporary mustache for impromptu spy missions—perfect for undercover operations in the office.

    BusRevolutionary2536 Report

    #13

    Most People Don’t Know About These 50 Hidden Features In Things Of Everyday Use When working with spreadsheets, tab moves you to the next cell, but shift+tab moves you back.

    I was working in a grocery store, and they were teaching me how to do the end-of-night spreadsheets. Put in a wrong number, tabbed to the next cell.

    "Great," said my boss. "Now you've got to hold down tab for like 10 minutes to go all the way around and get back to that cell."

    I look at her. I hit shift+tab. Her jaw dropped.

    EDIT: For the folks asking, "Why didn't she just point and click on the cell?" This was 20 years ago. It was old-back-then software custom built for our chain of stores. DOS-based. All keyboard entry. No mouse.

    originalchaosinabox , George Milton/Pexels Report

    #14

    Most People Don’t Know About These 50 Hidden Features In Things Of Everyday Use Aluminum foil comes on a roll in a box. At the ends of the box are triangular cutouts that you are meant to push in, forming a spindle for the roll to rotate on.

    m_sporkboy , jacqueline_cuiping/Pexels Report

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    #15

    Most People Don’t Know About These 50 Hidden Features In Things Of Everyday Use On many xacto knives / box cutters, the butt end of the handle is removable and has a slot cut into it. This is to break off the tip of the blade for when it gets dull.

    TryharderJB , Anete Lusina/Pexels Report

    #16

    Most People Don’t Know About These 50 Hidden Features In Things Of Everyday Use If your car key gets stuck in the ignition (a safety feature to prevent you from removing the key if the transmission isn't in Park), look for a small plastic/rubber ring around the ignition. Pry it away from the lock and you'll find a small button underneath. That's the manual key release.

    dave_890 , cottonbro studio/Pexels Report

    #17

    Super Glue - stick the metal end of a tack/push pin with the plastic top in the hole instead of the screw top. Keeps the glue fresh & always easy to remove.


    Caulk in a caulk gun - use a plastic electrical wire nut on the end to keep the caulk fresh after use.

    TheHobbyWaitress Report

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    #18

    If someone walks into your space and you don’t want them to see the stuff on your screen (Windows) all you have to do is hold down the Windows key and tap the letter “L”.

    Win+L (it’s not case sensitive)

    It immediately gives you the LOCK screen.

    You might have your Cayman Island bank accounts open, or “something else”…😬.

    BluesHand Report

    #19

    Cars have a little arrow on the gas tank icon that tells you which side has the refueling hatch. You're welcome.

    AVBforPrez Report

    #20

    Most People Don’t Know About These 50 Hidden Features In Things Of Everyday Use Some truck beds have indented slots on the sides so you can put 2x6 boards across the bed to section it to keep stuff from sliding around.

    inkseep1 , Kendall Hoopes/Pexels Report

    #21

    The lines on the red SOLO cup are measurements: 1oz, 5oz and 12oz.

    jmerrilee Report

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    #22

    Most People Don’t Know About These 50 Hidden Features In Things Of Everyday Use Some vehicles have extendable sun visors. This blew a buddies mind when I extended the visor in their truck to block the sun that the visor otherwise didn't reach.

    Educational-Piece-18 , Tobi/Pexels Report

    #23

    Most People Don’t Know About These 50 Hidden Features In Things Of Everyday Use I dunno about other phones, but Apple phones have a neat typing feature. If you hold down the spacebar, you can gently slide to other parts of the messages if you make a typo or something. So much easier than trying to manually go back in the message.

    WaspsHaveKnees , RDNE Stock project/Pexels Report

    #24

    Most People Don’t Know About These 50 Hidden Features In Things Of Everyday Use Most ceiling fans have a summer and winter switch on the head above the blades.

    fruntside , Curtis Adams/Pexels Report

    #25

    Most People Don’t Know About These 50 Hidden Features In Things Of Everyday Use Potato peelers have a notch to help pick out the spaces that your peeler doesn’t get so you don’t waste any potato trying to peel it.

    Wii_wii_baget , Polina Tankilevitch/Pexels Report

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    #26

    Babies clothes: The neck hole flaps are not for some sort of weird baby style points. They are to allow the garment to be pulled down over the shoulders and be pulled off the legs in the event of a poopocalypse (or whatever else).

    When a cousin who told me this over a year in to ours, she was like "🤯🤯🤯 right?!??" She was excited to tell me because she had JUST learned it and didn't know herself, and her kids are both out of college haha.

    Almost every new parent I talk to now, I ask if they want a couple tips, two important things no one told us and that we didn't read anywhere, this is the first. Not that I talk to that many new parents, but so far the score is 7 of 8 didn't know.

    savant_idiot Report

    #27

    Most People Don’t Know About These 50 Hidden Features In Things Of Everyday Use You can turn the standby light off on tvs. I like to sleep in the pitch black and spent years covering the light with an object until I was made aware that there was a setting to turn it off!

    NaomiBK29 , Max Vakhtbovycn/Pexels Report

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    #28

    Most People Don’t Know About These 50 Hidden Features In Things Of Everyday Use This should be common knowledge as it's obvious but people do still seem to miss it. Most toasters come with a little removable tray which collects crumbs for easier cleaning.

    The paper sauce-holders in McDonalds peel open to make a bigger sauce tray for easier dipping and more sauce-to-surface ratio.

    LordEmostache , Charlotte May/Pexels Report

    #29

    Most People Don’t Know About These 50 Hidden Features In Things Of Everyday Use Fisher & paykel washing machines can play 3 different national anthems. (US, NZ, Aus.)

    No, I don't know why, either.

    KeaAware , Florian Olivo/Pexels Report

    #30

    When you pop open a can of soda, you can turn the popper around and insert a straw through the hole.

    Writer_feetlover Report

    #31

    Most People Don’t Know About These 50 Hidden Features In Things Of Everyday Use You can switch the direction that refrigerator doors open.

    AdministrationTop933 , cottonbro studio/Pexels Report

    #32

    On those gas station pumps that advertise to you while you fill up your vehicle: there are buttons on each side of the screen. Pressing the second from the top on the right side will mute the speaker.

    Is this a USA only thing?

    TastyRamenNoodles Report

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    #33

    Most "modern" European windows have a 3rd setting called "Spaltlüftung" (gap ventilation). It's a setting between the tilting and full opening of the window, that just leaves a tiny gap. Extremely useful if you have a pet, but nearly no one knows about it.

    Duosnacrapus Report

    #34

    Most People Don’t Know About These 50 Hidden Features In Things Of Everyday Use Oven doors come off so they can be cleaned properly.

    blakemorris02 , Liliana Drew/Pexels Report

    #35

    Most People Don’t Know About These 50 Hidden Features In Things Of Everyday Use A lot of microwaves have an option to turn the sounds off. I you think this would be useful, the manual will have instructions on how to do this.

    MryyLeathert , cottonbro studio/Pexels Report

    #36

    Can't believe I'm admitting this, but the little black slider on the lid of Yeti mugs is magnetic. It comes completely off of the lid so you can wash all the nooks and crannies. I only discovered this after accidentally dropping the lid once and it flew off. I spent years washing around that little black piece. I felt so dumb.

    More_Than_Words_ Report

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    #37

    Most People Don’t Know About These 50 Hidden Features In Things Of Everyday Use Mose staplers have a hole in the sides allowing you to see if you are running low on staples so that you don’t have to dry fire or open it up to check.

    On Swinglines the staple pusher thingy is copper colored so that it stands out through the hole.

    grandpacracy , John Diez/Pexels Report

    #38

    Kraft Parmesan cheese lids that screw on also fit on mason jars. Side by side refrigerators do not have enough space so we keep a small mason jar of the cheese in there with the larger container in a garage fridge.

    nBoarDn Report

    #39

    Most People Don’t Know About These 50 Hidden Features In Things Of Everyday Use If you need to open a tube of ointment. Screw the cap off and turn it around, there is usually a pointed cone built into the top to puncture the seal of the ointment.

    Straight-Cut-2001 , R+R Medicinals/Unsplash Report

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    #40

    Most garbage disposals can be reset easily if it stops working. It’s a red button under the disposal device you can press and it resets.

    ObviousMousse4768 Report

    #41

    The spot in between the handles on scissors to open bottles. When we first started dating I blew my wife's mind when I used scissors to open a bottle of soda that was screwed on very tight.

    bgfoot1000 Report

    #42

    If your car has a memory drivers seat there's a decent chance your car ties the setting to a specific key fob. So you and your partner can each have their own key fob that automatically adjusts to your setting when you get in the car.

    DonkeyDome Report

    #43

    Most prescription bottles with childproof lids have a second pair of threads, so you can flip the lid over and it will screw on normally without the annoying childproof feature.

    ZorroMeansFox Report

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    #44

    Most People Don’t Know About These 50 Hidden Features In Things Of Everyday Use If you put the Konami code into the Fisher-Price baby video game controller toy, it does a special sound effect and tells you that you won.

    Edit - Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A. For those who are curious.

    Conical , Francesco Ungaro/Pexels Report

    #45

    Your mattress might have a winter side and a summer side. Check its edge for a tag.

    jebotecarobnjak Report

    #46

    Not sure if it’s only people around me that tend not to know this, but for most vacuums you should be able to rotate the top hook that holds the cable 180 degrees to take off the wire coil all at once instead of having to unwind the entire thing.

    SillySlimeSimon Report

    #47

    Most People Don’t Know About These 50 Hidden Features In Things Of Everyday Use Your bic lighter is also a bottle opener, when you're cool.

    Gwaiian , Jozsef Hocza/Pexels Report

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    #48

    I didn't always know that most dish brushes have a scraping edge on the top.

    It thought it was pretty useful when I found out.

    Paltenburg Report

    #49

    On a Apple phone, if you text yourself a flight number, tapping the number will reveal flight information. Don’t know if it works with whatsapp, but for text messages it works great!

    Old_Lead_2110 Report

    #50

    Have you ever noticed the hole in the handle of a pasta spoon? It's actually there to measure out a single serving of spaghetti. Yeah.

    LyingNourishment Report

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    #51

    I'm not sure about other car makes, but if you use the key to manually unlock your driver's door on a Toyota, turning it a second time will unlock ALL the doors.

    Superlite47 Report

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    #52

    Automatic vehicles have the option to switch to a lower gear so you don't have to keep hitting the brakes going down a steep and/or long hill.

    AdInevitable2695 Report

    #53

    You can use advanced Google search to find PDFs, Word Documents, Presentations, etc even if it’s not linked anywhere on the website.

    I’ve found a lot of court records like this.

    Also found a presentation created by a coworker from 15 years ago when they worked for a different company.

    D_Relationship88 Report

    #54

    Top drawers in dishwashers can drop down, usually to fit taller glasses. They generally are in the up position when new and drop down with lever tabs on the sides of the drawer.

    pottsygotlost Report

    #55

    Osprey backpacks have an emergency whistle built into the sternum strap.

    Ok-Rice-5563 Report

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    #56

    Most caulking guns have a hole near the handle that can be used to snip the tip of the caulking tube.

    HemetValleyMall1982 Report

    #57

    Almost all Name-brand kitchen faucets have a free replacement parts policy. There is no shipping fee.

    MAXQDee-314 Report

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    #58

    Some brands of mustard squeeze bottles allow you to snap the flip-top in an open position so it doesn’t get in the way when dispensing.

    NowThereAreFour Report

    #59

    On the hatch to your gas tank, there is a hook for the 'cord' or a place to put the gas cap to keep it from dangling and scratching your car while you fill up.

    woolawoola59 Report

    #60

    Holding down the PS button on your PS4 controller for around 10 seconds turns off the controller but not the console. Great for downloading games or watching a movie and preserving the battery of the controller.

    freestyle43 Report

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    #61

    Most Swiss Army Knives have a set of tweezers and a toothpick. There will be a small gray or white plastic bit on the end which you can pull out with your finger.

    I had no idea for the longest time. They are small and flush with the sides and it never occurred to me to try and pull it out.

    Dangerous-Bus6339 Report

    #62

    Window restrictors found in many hotels will have a button on the hinge that allows you to fully open the window.

    panthervk415 Report

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    #63

    Most People Don’t Know About These 50 Hidden Features In Things Of Everyday Use Some cars will roll all the windows down if you put your key in the door and hold it in the unlock position, same goes for locking position it will roll them up, pretty handy if you forgot to roll one up.

    Bobbi_fettucini , Shukhrat Umarov/Pexels Report

    #64

    The cap on disposable pepper grinders can be left on to hold/transport the ground pepper and also keeps steam from getting into the grinder.

    Independent-Bike8810 Report

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    #65

    Swiping the little horizontal line at the bottom of your iPhone to the left or right when you have an app open allows you to go back and forth between apps that you frequent.

    lordofthepings Report

    #66

    The instapot handle on the body fits the lid handle.

    You can put the lid handle in the body handle so you don't have to put the wet dirty lid on the counter.

    mirrim Report

    #67

    Some tent bags have a removable strip of fabric on the bottom that, when removed, makes extra space for repacking the tent.

    msdups Report

    #68

    Many (not all) dishwasher front panels are color reversible.

    Unscrew, slide out the front panel, and flip it over to change the color. Check instructions online or contact the manufacturer for instructions, and always disconnect power first for safety.

    Usually the panel flips from white to black, but sometimes there are other hidden color combinations. This makes it easy for the manufacturer to ship out units in whatever color was ordered.

    Jules6146 Report

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    #69

    There is a tiny k**b on the base of a combination square. You can unscrew it and have a scribe, arguably better than a pencil.

    I find they tend to loosen and disappear over time, but great for when it is there.

    samtresler Report

    #70

    Some funko pop boxes contain a little plastic stand to clip under the figurine feet in order to stabilize it.

    MagdaCadabra Report

    #71

    If you hold the RIGHT button in on your Casio F-91W wrist watch for 3 seconds, the word **Casio** appears on the screen. You're welcome.

    ihaveadarkedge Report

    #72

    The clear section at the end of a lipstick tube that shows you the color can be removed. It's filled with more lipstick!

    baeritto18 Report

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    #73

    Many large appliances like washing machines have a diagnostic mode where you can test every mechanical function of the device for faults. Depending on the issue and model you have you can theoretically fix an issue without calling an expensive repairman over.

    Bigred2989- Report

    #74

    Cars

    Most cars have a secret compartment to store your sunglasses, usually on the ceiling in front of the sun visors in the middle. recent Toyota Sequoias have five for some reason


    Side panel of your car door tells you what to set your tire pressure for your car

    Trunk/back of your car has a pull so that you can open your gas tank in case the switch in the front of the car doesn't work

    By the odometer on your dashboard this small silhouette of a gas pump and an arrow which shows you what side she used to fill your gas tank.

    Kind_Selection_1313 Report

    #75

    The slots on your blade guard front of your chop saw is so you can look through the guard to see directly above the blade to line up the cut target, and not look around the side to line up target cut. It's hard to adapt at first, it is difficult to reprogram old habits.

    Novel-Criticism-2718 Report

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    #76

    The smile on Scrub Daddy/Scrub Mommy is for spoons.

    PinkMonorail Report

    #77

    So, before I say this, I realize you can use basically anything to do this, but, Maruchan ramen cups - the cardboard cover is designed to be removed and not torn off, then flipped upside down and there are little slits to fit the edges of the cup in to hold down the lid while it cooks.

    It's useless, because again, you can use anything...like the fork you'll eat it with. It fits the topic though.

    KhaosElement Report

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    #78

    Most People Don’t Know About These 50 Hidden Features In Things Of Everyday Use Hairbrushes- many have a tiny ball at the end of the handle. If you pull that ball, it pops out to reveal a stick. That stick is used for cleaning the hair from your hairbrush and then it pops right back into the handle.

    CynicallyCyn , Micheile OlivieStrauss/Pexels Report

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    #79

    On a Heinz bottle of ketchup the "57" glass on the bottle is where your supposed to tap it to make ketchup pour out faster.

    Dieing_Breed Report

    #80

    Most can openers have a bottle opener at the end. Most wine openers with the two handles do, too.

    HarrysonTubman Report

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