Marshmallows are pretty useful little items. Did you know that eating them can soothe a sore throat?
Or that you can squish them between your toes and use them as separators when you’re painting your toe nails?
We don’t recommend eating them afterwards… unless you are desperate in which case, knock yourself out.
To find out how all sorts of everyday household objects can CHANGE YOUR LIFE* click through this Buzzfeed gallery of fantastic ideas.
It will show you why you should have nail polish handy when the mosquitoes are biting, how to use jelly crystals can make a great lip tint and that vodka can extend the life of cut flowers. For the record, vodka is also delicious in its own right and is the perfect addition to cranberry juice. See? USEFUL.
.jpg "Eat marshmallows to soothe a sore throat. (You can also use marshmallows to separate your toes during a home pedicure.)")
Eat marshmallows to soothe a sore throat. (You can also use marshmallows to separate your toes during a home pedicure.)
 dental floss to cut soft cheeses and cakes..jpg "Use (unscented) dental floss to cut soft cheeses and cakes."){kind=small}
.jpg "Use a sock to create a big perfect hair bun. (image - glocalgal.com)"){kind=small}
*NB: Objects may not, in fact, change your life.
Your turn. What tricks do you use around the house to make life just a little bit easier? Do you use everyday items in an unusual way to save money?
Comments
102 Comments so far
@Sally – what are you doing later?
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Mosquitos love me so I’ll be trying to remember the sticky tape one! The banana on DVDs is good too but wouldn’t it affect the player? The corks with succulents are cute too.
On a seperate matter…still can’t see the ‘like’ button?
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old fashioned hair spray also removes ink – works a treat on upholstered fabric (test first thought)
also – banana on a dvd – really? and what does this do to your dvd player and won’t ants and worse like it too much
and where’s the sock in that hair bun?
Oh – and I was told once that salt is good for kitchen fires (small ones)
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The sock in the hair bun should get wrapped around the elastic holding the ponytail. Although pantyhose work easier as they are a little longer and stay around the elastic easier, in my experience. They you just wrap your hair around it and pin.
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My husband assures me that semen makes an unbeatable lip balm
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Good try hubby!
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White toothpaste on a mosquito bight works well. I love these tips!
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Someone mentioned below that chalk works as a fence against ants. Talcum powder does the same job.
You can remove onion and garlic smells from your hands by rubbing them against your kitchen sink when wet – I think it needs to be done immediately after having touched the onion though.
And an oldie that my mother in-law taught me, which still amazes me every time, is gargling salt water to cure a sore throat.
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Any tips of getting rid of fruit flies? There’s n o reason for them to be there, i don’t hav e a compost bin or fruit bowl….. but unable to get rid of them
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Yes! Put some apple cider vinegar in a little bowl and add a few drops of dishwashing liquid.
The fruit flies will swarm the and then drown. It definitely works!
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If yiu spill on a carpet, bicarb în the stain (lots of it) then let it dry. Vacuum and Wallah! Ni more stain.
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The floss is a goodie. its also great for cutting cakes perfectly in half to prepare them for icing.
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If you have those annoying little ants in the house, find where they are getting in and draw a line of chalk. They won’t walk through the chalk so it works like a fence blocking them out.
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Mmmm not too sure about the shower cap wrap around shoes one. Surely if you don’t want the bottom of ur shoes too touch clothes you wouldn’t want a dirty shower cap to touch ur hair either?!
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I think it means use a spare one!
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Or just turn it inside out
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Use a cheap set of artist’s chalk pastels to temporarily tint your hair – this is my daughter’s hair, and it took no more than 20 minutes!
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Use any egg container, empty plastic bottle, bubble wrap, newspaper or useless piece of packaging to replace educational, colourful, complicated, branded, thoughtfully purchased, expensive toys! (this tip is from a toddler not a parent)
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totally agree – i save any packaging (boxes, bottles, egg cartons, bubble wrap, berry punnets) and it becomes the next “meal time” toy – always different and who cares that it becomes food covered, it gets thrown out!
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To remove jelly/cordial/beetroot stains from laminex kitchen benchtops, spray liberally with hairspray, wait a few minutes and wipe. Seriously works.
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Here is a good use for olive oil and sugar.
Wet your hands with water, shake off excess.
Pour some olive oil into your palm and massage into hands.
Sprinkle a teaspoon or two of sugar into your palm and massage into hands, particular on the back of your hands for a few minutes.
Rinse off under warm water.
You will have THE SMOOTHEST hands you’ve ever felt.
Seriously. Go and try it.
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Just tried it; gorgeous! Great tip
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If you have used aluminium foil to cover something, before you throw it in the bin, snip into lots of tiny pieces – it sharpens your scissors.
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My laptop charger doubles as a foot warmer during winter…..
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So does my cat
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So does my husband’s bum-cheeks.
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Bring garden solar lights inside to use as nightlights – save electricity. (Every bit helps, these days!)
Use an empty tissue box for a car rubbish bin. If it falls over, the stuff usually gets stopped from falling out by the plastic slot thingy.
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Cranberry juice is great for suppressing a cough.
Take a mouthful every hour or two & like magic you stop coughing. Way cheaper than cough syrup.
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Wish I had some right now, I cannot stop coughing!
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These tips are like porn to me
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Uh oh, now the difference between baking soda and baking powder is a matter of life and death! I’m screwed.
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They both make stuff rise when it cooks, but baking soda/bicarbonate is a bit more alkaline. Baking powder has cream of tartar added, giving it the acid.
BTW, you can drink a half a glass of water mixed with a tsp of bicarb to help you with reflux/indigestion. You can also drink milk. They both counteract the acid of your stomach “contents”.
That’s my only tip atm.
I tell a lie.
To get wax off clothes, put a brown paper bag over the wax and iron it off.
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I really really want to kow how to ‘Use a sock to create a big perfect hair bun.’ Looks amazing, but have know idea how to do it just from looking at the picture! Any ideas??
Also LOVE this post MM (Actually i love alll of your post’s…just saying!)
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Yep, done this one…….. Cut the toe part off a thick sock ( like a tennis sock ) so you have a tube, roll it down your ankle repeat with the second one over the first to create a fatter doughnut ( ( have never attempted to spell that word ). Put hair into a pony, fees hair through the centre of the socks spreading the hair around the socks evenly covering them. Place a second LaCie around the whole bun, swirl the poke outie hair under and pin in place.
OR
Go to price line / price attack or a one stop hair shop and buy a purpose hair ring for the job….. Much easier !!!!
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Super! Thanks so much – although i think i may try Priceline before mutilating any of my husband’s socks (all my socks are ankle socks!)
Thanks again! x
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIBMx3N-BJc
Here is the gorgeous Wendy showing you how to do it.
But as Kerri-Ann said, there are hair doughnuts you can buy. I do my hair with one of these at least 4 times a week!
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http://domesticdivinity.blogspot.com.au/2010/05/sock-bun.html
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all you ladies are making me tearful! I have watched hours and hours of youtube tutorials on ‘how to make a sock bun’ (or any kind of bun) and I still can’t do it! I have cut up heaps of stockings, socks, tights, and have no hairbun to show for it. *sob #fwp
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You can buy the proper hair donughts on eBay for $1 including postage! no need to chop up any more socks!!
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A little bit of olive oil and lavender oil makes a great furniture polish. A bit of oil of cloves will kill mould in the bathroom (and elsewhere). Apparently banan skins are great for polishing shoes, but I haven’t tried that one yet.
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‘banana’ skins, obviously!
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Cereal container as car rubbish bin! BRILLIANT!
But it’s a seriously awful idea to put mustard on a burn. First aid is not to put any lotions or oils on a burn, certainly not mustard.
Running water for 20 mins.
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I read that as ‘mustard on a bum’ – and was thinking why would you do that?!
Oh my eyes need checking.
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I’m sure somewhere, someone does that. If you google it I am 99% sure you’d see things you can’t unsee.
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How much rubbish do people make that they need a bin in their car?
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No kids then?
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I don’t have kids and I accumulate a crazy amount of rubbish in my car.
Like if I don’t make an effort to tidy it once a week, shit gets real in there. I once found a fish container of soy sauce, and had no recollection of eating sushi for at least three months. It just accumulates. Plus I’m lazy.
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I love the marshmallow idea for sore throats! Must keep some in the medicine cabinet!
Not sure if I’d like to use the shower cap after having shoes in it!
Cutting soft cheeses with dental floss?? looks like hard work!!
I like the cereal container in the car idea..
Spaghetti to light candles – much better than toothpicks (which is what I use!)
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Suspect that this is incorrect and that the herb marshmallow (which is soothing for irritated and inflammed mucous membranes – such as experienced with a sore throat) is being confused with the lolly marshmallow. Two totally different things.
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I tried the spaghetti thing – it didn’t work very well and my kitchen smelled like burnt spaghetti!!
Those wooden kebab skewers are a much better idea.
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I use the long Redhead matches to light my candles. Easier to get down into the votives and, because they’re longer I can light lots with just the one match.
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Love the shower cap idea. My favourite bit of advice from mum is to spray your leather shoes with a furniture polish high in beeswax. It helps waterproof them and keep them shinier for longer.
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I’m a hairdresser so here’s some trick I’ve used in the salon (and at home)…
If ever your toner or hair colour has turned out a little darker or stronger than you like, give your hair a shampoo with dishwashing liquid.. It’ll strip a little depth of the colour out (make sure you use a good conditioner afterwards).
If you have a build up product in your hair it’s good to every so often when you shampoo put a teaspoon of bicarbonate soda in to your shampoo in the palm of your hand… It dissolves the product build up.. Rinse, then Shampoo normally following with conditioner.
To help detangle and prevent head lice put some conditioner (maybe a tablespoon) and some tea tree oil (half-full teaspoon) in spray bottle and fill up with water… Shake well before using as a spray on detangler.
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I stick 3M hooks on upside down on the outside of my rubbish bins. The handles From the bin liner slip in underneath the hooks and therefore when you place heavy stuff in the bin, the liner doesnt fall in.
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You would think that you would cite the original reference. I think it’s disingenuous to have the byline as ‘Mamamia team’ when this is clearly not your intellectual property.
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Hi Shan,
We often share videos or galleries on Mamamia that we have found elsewhere online but think readers will enjoy. We always link back to the source – as we’ve done here.
This gallery of pics and others that are similar, have been doing the rounds of the internet-world in different forms and so we’ve referenced where we found them. But you’re right, it’s not as explicit as it could be so we’re fixing that up now.
There may well be other iterations elsewhere though, so I take your point. The wonderful world of the internet – with sharing and sending and tweeting links – can make original ownership of work a little difficult to pinpoint. We’ve pointed to the most prominent source we could find.
The Mamamia Team byline refers to the text, which is original work and although it’s brief, I think it’s appropriate. And it is our take on something we’ve come across online.
Hope that clears things up. Have a great weekend.
Jamila
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It’s from Buzzfeed and the reason I know this is that the link is in the text.
Edited – I should have refreshed before I posted, because Jamila’s reply wasn’t there when I typed mine.
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Lots of Americanisations of words – QTip, Jello, Trash…
Some of the suggestions are so strange I wonder how people came up with them!
My tip is – if your shoes are needing an emergency shine, rub some Vaseline or lip balm on a tissue or makeup pad and use it to shine your shoes. But don’t get the Vaseline on your soles – too slippery!!
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To get fruit stains off tshirts get someone to hold the shirt out over the sink then pour boiling water from a height through it. Works like magic. I’m always getting blueberry/blackberry stains when making smoothies. This is the only thing that gets the stain out. Also great for babies clothes (I think it also works on banana stains from memory)
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Ok, so I might be on my own here… but sugar on a sore throat usually burns. So I probably won’t be reaching for the marshmallows. Maybe lemon and honey tea instead?
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Or marshmallow tea!
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Because honey had no sugar???
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Have commented on a previous response but my take is :
Suspect that this is incorrect and that the herb marshmallow (which is soothing for irritated and inflammed mucous membranes – such as experienced with a sore throat) is being confused with the lolly marshmallow. Two totally different things
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mustard on a burn? I don’t think so!
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Yes, that worries me somewhat! It’s like people used to say it was a good idea to put butter on a burn – no way jose!
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An ambo once told me That you could put ice on burns, as long as there was glad wrap over the burn.
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I was burnt recently and did this but was advised later by hospital that advice has changed. Only water as ice restricted the blood vessels and interferes with healing process. But ICE is so much more convenient!
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I think it’s good as a stop gap measure. If you have ice, but not unlimited water. IE, esky at a picnic ground with BBQ/bonfires etc.
In a house, I’d still go the water.
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Smear Vicks on the soles of your feet to help stop an annoying night cough. Good for kids!
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Really?! God I wish I had know that last week with one kid with croup and another with bronchitis!
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I agree Vicks on the feet is great. Always put old socks on though to keep the Vicks in place. My kids have gone from that continuous barking cough to no cough at all in 10 minutes!
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what is ‘jello’ and ‘q-tip’? so bored with US articles.
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Ru serious? I’ve lived in Oz my whole life and I knew what they were…
Jello = Jelly
Q-tip = cutton bud
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Pretty sure I read this days ago over on Buzzfeed… Nice copy and paste job!
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I read this somewhere last year so MM didn’t ‘steal’ it from Buzzfeed.
It’s been floating around the internet for a while.
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Also, there is a link in the text.
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Hey Huh – I don’t care where it came from because I don’t go there. I do come here and do love this post though.
Do you think buzzfeed might have got it also from somewhere else who also got it from somewhere? Thats the way websites work. Half the stuff I see on newspaper sites I also see elsewhere.
Please don’t stop showing is this stuff guys – it’s one the reasons I come to mamamia, coz you filter all the great stuff and I don’t feel I’m missing out and have to go to so many other sites.
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Wow! Some great simple tricks that I will forget in about ten minutes ! Lol
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Save the vodka for drinking and use a few drops of bleach with the teaspoon of sugar instead. If your stain remover failed to remove a grease stain on clothing, neat dishwashing detergent usually works. For white marks on a table get a white towel and iron over the top of the towel with your steam iron set on steam. I tried everything on a white mark on the dining room table and this was the only thing that worked. Rub with a little cheap olive oil afterwards. I was skeptical, but it worked for me. I got it off Tipnut.com and posters on there had had varying degrees of success with the ironing method.
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I was taught this trick by a Canadian friend and use it often! It works really well.
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My toes don’t appreciate how truly delicious roasted marshmallows are… and therefore, the marshmallows will be saved for roasting, thanks
Loved this post though! So many tricks I didn’t know
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I love the shower cap and cereal container tips!!
Now to offer up one of my own: put a whole heap of plastic bags in the base of the bin and then use one as the bin liner. That way whenever you need to empty the bin you just tie it up, remove, and pull up another one from the bottom. I do this with all of my bins, except the kitchen one.
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Yes, I’m with you on both of those. They were the only ones on the list that I know for me would be very useful!!!
And your rubbish bag tip I learned from my workplace cleaner – it was a great suggestion by him!
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This post is awesome !! Thx MM
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I’m usually pretty all over organizing and other tips, but didn’t know many of these! Lots of screen shots, thanks!
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Rub bar soap all over a bathroom mirror then wipe away excess with a cloth. Stops it from getting fogged up for a few weeks.
)
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So does shaving cream.
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Some are good ideas, some are… less so.
Mustard or teabags on a burn? NO! Correct first aid procedures are to stick it under cold water for (I forget how long, but long after you start to get bored). And I can’t see why bergamot would be especially good for this.
Baking soda on a fire? Better to have a fire blanket in the kitchen – Australia Post shops sell them for not much.
“Blocking oxygen will stop the itching” – as I suffer from eczema, I find this hard to believe. Tea tree oil is pretty good on itches.
I use a supermarket “green” bag as my car’s rubbish bin.
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Burns under cold running water for minimum of 20, yes 20 minutes !!!!
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How does a banana fix a DVD?
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I think if it’s scratched? I’ve often heard toothpaste does the trick too.
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Can it turn ‘Showgirls’ into ‘The Notebook’? :p
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The description in the gallery doesn’t match up with the pictures. It’s always been a problem when using your site from my mobile. Does anyone else have this problem or is it just me? I’m on an iPhone.
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Yep, me too
Its been mentioned they would fix it, but I guess not!
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Yeah me to always has
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It’s working on my iPhone. Maybe it’s moody?
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Hey guys! I just had the same problem when I looked at the gallery on my iPhone. It’s telling me to add Vodka to my marshmallows, which I’m sure is delicious, but not so practical.
We’re working on a solution – but in the meantime if you’ve got access to a computer that’s probably the best way to view this one.
- Lucy
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It’s been an ongoing problem for well over a year now. When accessing galleries on my iPhone the captions are always a picture late, the second picture is skipped and if you try to look at a previous picture it skips several.
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It’s been going on long enough for me to learn that if I want to re-visit a particular picture, I know to scroll back two pictures, scroll forward one, and then it’ll skip to the picture I want to see.
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Personally, I love the vodka and marshmallows idea!
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Love them all! Ahhh, is there anything an iPhone can’t do? Great tip.
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