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What I am talking about
I have heard Steve mention that he has a “Bag of Things” that he takes with him to test items at sales (tape, 8-Track, CD, etc), but what do you have in your utility bag at home? Ok, mine is an actual bag, yours may not be. As I look in my bag,What’s in My Bag of Tricks
I see the following items:Spare Buttons of all sorts
New and Used Shoe\Boot Laces
Universal AC\DC Adapter
Slide Viewer
Unusual size batteries
Alan WrenchesI have other items to help elsewhere, but this is my start to the list. I think I picked up nearly all of these at garage sales and estate sales.
Mark
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1) cheap but sturdy old steel butter knife. This is an all purpose tool, most recently used to get dirt out from between the treads of sneakers and boots.
2) vaseline – for removing prices written in marker from the bottom of shoes with rubber/plastic soles – works 50% of the time
3) fine sandpaper block – remove prices written in marker from the bottoms of shoes with leather soles as well as plastic soles when the vaseline didn’t work
4) Folex – works for removing stains from clothing sometimesI also have a few tins of shoe shine, but I’ve stopped shining shoes for the most part. The most I do these days is wipe with a wet cloth, and wash down plastic soles that are very soiled.
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Sonia: “I also have a few tins of shoe shine, but I’ve stopped shining shoes for the most part. The most I do these days is wipe with a wet cloth, and wash down plastic soles that are very soiled.”
Check Tino the Sole Advisor on cleaning shoes. We use a lot of his stuff, does amazing work in a short amount of time.
My only items are a sharp pair of clothing scissors to clip extra threads and a wet cloth to spot clean missed spots.
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yup – Tino is where I got the vaseline idea. I also tried using the black shoe dressing he recommended, and it works pretty well (except that I always end up marking up the edges of the bottom as well), but basically I just don’t feel like doing it anymore. It’s still on my to-do list to try the shoe cleaner liquid he recommended. Maybe I’ll revisit polishing at some point (using the items he recommends) but for right now, it’s still in the “don’t feel like doing it” category. 🙂
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Tarn-ex for polishing silver plate
Leather polish, which I don’t really ever use
old rags for cleaning stuff up
clear plastic plate holders for photography
slide viewer
VHS tapes
cassette tapesI don’t really take stuff with me. If the price is cheap enough, I’ll just sell for parts if the item doesn’t work.
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Ronsonol. It’s used in lighters. It does wonders for removing stickers from anything and does it without damaging the item underneath (like paper ephemera). It just dissolves the adhesive and it evaporates quickly.
baking soda for removing black marks from dinnerware, mugs etc
q-tips for cleaning nooks and crannies. on the gee gaws.
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Denatured alcohol removes ink, magic marker (even removes it off marked shiny label cardboard boxes), sticky leftover residue and you can clean tape deck heads with it.
Multi meter, great for testing anything electronic especially power supplies.
Lemon oil, works wonders on scratched wood surfaces.
Dental picks and scrapers.
A tape measure in every room and or table, I’m always measuring stuff.
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1. Hand Sanitizer – the alcohol in it removes most permanent marker
2. A wooden chopstick for holding down tags that won’t stay flat for photographs
3. Un Du adhesive remover – pretty great stuff. 1 bottle goes a long ways.
4. Various batteries
5. 1 shiny Quarter and 1 crisp dollar bill for when I want to show the size of something small in comparison.
6. Clothes pins for holding back excess fabric when a garment is way too large for the mannequin
7. Air in a Can for cleaning out the cracks and crevices of various items. -
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I have a “workbench” that I do all my photos and cleaning on. Some of the main items I have are already mentioned for testing/cleaning, but some unique items I have are:
-various Minwax stain markers and crayons – for vintage woodgrain electronic cabinets, you can make any dings/dents/scratches disappear with the right color stain.
-easy to get to wires with multiple attachments for testing electronic audio outputs, video outputs, and variable power adapter with various connectors to test electronics, phones, etc. I just need to grab the right wire, and it makes testing quick and easy.
-a tootbrush – gets things clean quick and easy in cracks, speaker covers, etc. Spray some Windex on it for harder stains
-a Shop Vac with various small cleaning nozzles (I think I bought a kit for electronics at one point, but you can make your own). Using a vacuum I find is cleaner than compressed air as it doesn’t spread the dirt/dust or whatever it may be (who knows what the “dust” is!) around the room and in my lungs!
-various screwdrivers/tools to repair items that NEVER leave the desk
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– Old English makes a lemon oil with stain in it which is handy for quick touch-ups.
– Bar Keeper’s Friend – has oxalic acid in it which helps remove hard water deposits.
– Sharpies of many colors.
– Oxy Clean for soaking out stains. I let things soak for a week before laundering. Even gets old placemats clean.
– various glass rasps/files for removing sharp/rough edges
– Mean Green spray cleaner – this stuff really cuts through the crud! -
Use a lot of the things already mentioned, but I’ll add:
Goo Gone to remove sticker residue (the original yellow stuff; the Goo Gone Extreme can damage some stuff and the spray version doesn’t work as well as the original).
Also, a hair dryer to make stickers easier to remove in the first place.
The sharp metal version of the Scotty Peeler is amazing for getting stickers off of glass items.
Rubbing alcohol works to get the price marks off shoe bottoms (not leather). I use sandpaper for those.
I also have a variety of sizes of magnets. Tiny ones work well on the front and back of a label that won’t stay flat for pictures.
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As people add comments, I think “duh, I have one of those”.
So, as I’m sitting at my desk, I’m seeing a few other items haven’t been mentioned:
Ring sizer (sizes aren’t usually written on rings)
Box sizer
Box cutter
Cloth measuring tape (for clothes)
UV flashlight (if I ever find vaseline glass)
Acid free tape & glue for repairing art & books
Lint rollers-
Sharyn, I’ve been meaning to get a box sizer. Are you happy with the one you have? If so, who makes it? Thanks!
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I am happy with it. I bought it in 2016 when I was first starting out, so I bought the cheapest one I could find. It has both metal and plastic parts. I don’t know what a better quality one would do for you. It is still available on eBay from the same seller ($14.90 includes shipping):
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One thing I use that isn’t mentioned is gloves….for when something is so awkward that you have to use hands in the photo. I use a pair of vintage gloves, but you can get a pack of a dozen white cotton gloves at the dollar store. My hands are always beat to heck (from cleaning things) and I don’t want to ruin a classy photo with them.
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Simichrome for testing bakelite
Barkeepers Friend for polishing brass
Mr. Clean Magic Erasers -
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what do you guys use magic erasers for typically? I bought a pack and tried them on a few things with no luck. One item was a villeroy and boch plate with some black marks on it – didn’t help at all. Can’t remember the other things I tried it on.
Also – what do you guys use rubbing alcohol for? After hearing a tip, I tried using it to remove marker from the bottom of shoes, but it did nothing.
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I’ll add my items not listed elsewhere in this post, but not all are carried with me. An asterisk indicates it’s in my car:
*roll of packing tape
*ikea blue bag
jewelers loop
Lighted magnifying glass
Regular Scotty peelers
Mother’s Paste (polishes aluminum like a champ)
0000 steel wool (again for aluminum polishing)
Fingernail polish remover
Sweater shaver
Penny Bright copper cleaner
Dollar store wipes
SteamerI love this thread!!!!
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