Don’t Use Your Shoe as a Hammer!

Do you consider yourself handy? Perhaps you are a dab hand around the house? Then you probably have a stock load of equipment with a tool for every job, right? No, why not? Here are a few of the most common DIY blunders made by substituted tools and why it is always best to use the correct equipment.

DIY Tools for DIY Jobs 

Shoe as a Hammer – Have you ever been in a situation where you don’t have a hammer to hand so you use whatever you have nearby? Perhaps you put in a nail for hanging a clock by using your shoe as a hammer? Obviously this is not the right tool for the job. This won’t only damage the sole of your shoe but if it is dirty it may leave a nasty mark on your nicely painted walls.

Tweezers as Long Nosed Pliers – If you need to reach into a small place to hold a wire or part and you can’t reach you may think that your other half’s cosmetic tweezers may be a good solution. Don’t do it to yourself! Invest in a pair of long nosed pliers instead. These will be longer and have a much better grip. She won’t be very happy if you lose her tweezers in the cavity wall.

Knife as a Screwdriver – Do you have a screw loose? Not in your head, silly. Then dig out a screwdriver not a kitchen knife. You’ll bend the end of the knife and most likely make it blunt. And after all, it’s not the most hygienic option.

Superglue Everything – Yes superglue is super but that doesn’t mean that it has to be used on everything. And whatever you do don’t glue light fittings or anything else that may produce heat or sparks, as many glues will be extremely flammable.

Velcro Toothbrush – One of the best but also worst things we have seen is where Velcro is added to an old battery operated toothbrush in order to turn it into a polymer clay sanding tool. Just use the right tool guys!

Why the Right Tool is Worth the Investment

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents claim that tools and machinery account for nearly 90,000 DIY accidents each year. And the wrong tools or inadequate training of how to use equipment may result in a large proportion of these incidences. So using the right tools is essentially accident prevention.

But why do we use these tool substitutions? Well usually it is because we are in a rush and they are close to hand. We either don’t own the correct tools, can’t be bothered to go and find them or are working alone in a situation where it isn’t possible to stop what we are doing. It doesn’t pay to be lazy.

So will you be using the correct tools from now on? If you don’t have the right tools or equipment then check out the vast array we have here at Speedy Plastics, we’re bound to have the right thing for the job.