Urawaza: Secret Everyday Tips and Tricks from Japan

Ooh...we like the sound of this. Although we missed this resource earlier this summer (in Time Out's issue no. 179), we're happy to discover it now. Urawaza is a Japanese DIY instructional book with over 100 home tips and tricks:

The Time Out piece gives us a little sampling: "Want to revitalize that tiny sliver of bar soap? Pop it in the microwave and watch it expand. Forgot wool sweaters don’t go in the dryer? Soak ’em in water plus hair conditioner to make a shrunken sweater wearable."

Buy it on Amazon for about $10 ($6 used).

Comments (4)

Hey... That second tip sounds familiar! And I've never heard of this book before.

'Course, I grew up in Japan. So my mother is likely to have picked up all of her crazy tips while there.

posted by Mrs.Mack on October 3rd 2008 at 1:21pm
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I've heard tips from this book before and they are not unique to Japan. However, all an author has to do is slap "Japanese" on something and people immediately have a higher level of interest because they think Japan is some sort of mysterious place where the people are so much more clever than those of us in the West.

posted by Orchid64 on October 3rd 2008 at 4:33pm
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That bit about the sweater and hair conditioner won't work. If a wool sweater has been put in the dryer most likely it has felted a bit and once that happens you can not stretch it out.

posted by Monica on October 6th 2008 at 6:18am
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Monica, it's worked for me. Maybe you should try it and see?

posted by Mrs.Mack on October 10th 2008 at 9:08am
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