What To Use If You Don'T Have Cake Pop Sticks

We have all experienced moments where a table or chair leg is loose and wobbly, there is a leaking pipe or furniture has to be dismantled in preparation for a house move.

We try to use our fingers but only end up with sore fingers, as the old adage goes: you should use the right tool for the job. In these cases the right tool is a spanner (or wrench, for our American readers), but what do you do when you don’t have a spanner?

Spanners come in many types and sizes for a variety of different tasks and are an indispensable part of any toolbox. Used to loosen or tighten nuts, bolts, pipes and pipes fittings they prove their usefulness many times over.

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Duct tape is useful in almost any situation but you may be surprised to learn that you can use it to loosen bolts. First tear off a section roughly 12 inches in length, after this tear it down the middle so you are left with two 12 inch strips.

Make a strong tape strip by sticking one strip to the back (the non-sticky side), next wrap part of the strip around the nut leaving a ‘tail’ 6-8 inches long and press firmly to ensure it has adhered to the metal nut. Pull the duct tape tail in the direction required to loosen the nut to easily remove it.

Who would think that money can be used as a makeshift tool? Take two large coins (2 pence coins work perfectly for this) and place them on either side of the nut.

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Grip the coins between the knuckles of your index and middle fingers for extra grip and twist in the direction needed to loosen the nut.

These wonderful little toolbox accessories aren’t just used to tidy up cables and attach hubcaps, they can also be used in place of a spanner.

Place the zip-tie around the nut as tightly as possible and using the tail of the zip-tie pull in the direction necessary to loosen or tighten the nut.

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If you don’t have any of the previously mentioned objects but have plenty of nuts and bolts lying around, you can still create a makeshift spanner with two nuts and two bolts.

First, attach one of the nuts to one of the bolts and place it on top of the nut you wish to loosen or tighten (so that the thread of the bolt is on top of the nut). Adjust until the nut is gripped tightly between the head of the bolt and the nut.

Now take the second nut and attach it so that you can connect the two bolts, make sure that everything is connected tightly and turn your creation in the direction required.

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So there we have it, four alternatives you can use to loosen or tighten nuts without a spanner. With this guide, there are no more excuses for why you haven’t done any of the jobs you said couldn’t be done yet because you don’t have the tools!

Of course, it is always better to have a toolbox with the basic tools required for general DIY but with these quick fixes, you won’t be caught in a pinch again.Kitchen twine is good to have on hand for those times when you need to truss a chicken or turkey, secure a stuffed loin, or tie off a packet of herbs, but it's hardly essential kitchen equipment. If you don't have any kitchen twine lying around, there are several things that will work almost as well in a pinch.

Some people suggest using rubber bands, embroidery floss, crochet thread, or sewing thread as a stand-in for kitchen twine. The rubber bands are an outright bad idea since hot rubber should be nowhere near your food, and you should use the other suggestions with caution. Thread and embroidery floss are flammable and could ignite in your oven. However, this is also technically true of kitchen twine.

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If you decide to use any of these, consider soaking the thread/floss first, so it'll be less likely to catch fire and be sure to adjust your oven rack so that your twine substitute won't come unnecessarily close to the heating element. Note that colored thread may dye your food an interesting color.

Proceed with caution if you decide to use any unconventional substitutions for twine. Do not leave your oven unattended, and keep an extinguisher handy at all times.

When you visit the site, Dotdash Meredith and its partners may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. Cookies collect information about your preferences and your devices and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests. You can find out more about our use, change your default settings, and withdraw your consent at any time with effect for the future by visiting Cookies Settings, which can also be found in the footer of the site.Cheesecloth is gauze-like, woven cotton cloth. Its original purpose was for making and wrapping homemade cheese, but it has become a useful tool in other recipes as well. It is used as a strainer when a fine sieve is needed, as a cover for roast turkey or chicken to keep the bird moist, and is made into little pouches for herbs for seasoning meats, broth, soups, and other dishes.

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Cheesecloth is something we may not often have in our kitchen. If you don't have any on hand, luckily there are plenty of alternatives. Just make sure the item is clean before cooking.

Since cheesecloth is cotton, other types of cotton fabric will work as a substitute. You can use a flour sack towel, pillowcase, bandana, scrap of fabric, clean cloth diaper, cloth napkin, or jelly bag to strain foods or contain little bundles of herbs. Choose something you don't care about because the food you're straining can permanently stain the fabric. Use a rubber band to secure the fabric over a bowl so it’s held taut while you pour and be sure to pour liquids through the fabric slowly so they have time to work their way through. Don't forget to toss the fabric in the wash when finished.

Fine mesh bags have many uses around the home, from laundry to food-making to painting. In place of cheesecloth, you can use a laundry bag, nut milk bag (used for making almond milk), mesh bag (used for making alcohol), or a paint strainer bag (found in hardware stores) to strain broths, cheeses, yogurts, and other foods. Many people find mesh bags worth buying for the simple reason that they’re much easier to clean than cheesecloth and last a lot longer. If you’ve ever worked with cheesecloth before, you know just how quickly it wears out and how difficult it can be to clean.

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If you need cheesecloth for straining, a fine wire sieve is often more than adequate for foods like broths and cheeses. It won’t catch quite as many of the fine particles as cheesecloth, so you need to choose the sieve that makes sense for the recipe. For example, if perfectly clear, seed-free jelly is important to you, using a fine wire sieve won't bring you the results you want.

Although not as common anymore when it comes to fashion, stockings are useful in many other ways—including as a substitute for cheesecloth. Create the perfect strainer by stretching a clean pair of pantyhose or tights over a large mixing bowl. You can also cut off one of the feet, stick some herbs inside, and tie it shut for a spice pouch. Toss the pantyhose in the wash when you're done and reuse it again and again.

Whether you have disposable coffee filters or a reusable one, either will work in place of cheesecloth when straining. Since the weave of the material is pretty tight (it has to be to keep the grounds out of your coffee), you’ll find it does a beautiful job of straining other foods. If using the filter from your coffee maker, just be sure to clean it well before returning it to the machine.

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When you visit the site, Dotdash Meredith and its partners may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. Cookies collect information about your preferences and your devices and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests. You can find out more about our use, change your default settings, and withdraw your consent at any time with effect for the future by visiting Cookies Settings, which can also be found in the footer of the site.What if you don’t have any yoga props?A few tips for household things you can use in place of some of the most commonly used yoga props.

Using props like blocks or bolsterscan make yoga poses more comfortable and help with your alignment. Most yoga studios will have some basic props but in