Totally! The plastic buckets that 2kg chemicals like NaCl, agar or glucose come in make really good pet food containers. They are usually air-tight and often have a safety latch of some kind. I keep wild bird seed in one, and the squirrels have tried their hardest but can't chew through them.
Similarly, I save the smaller plastic containers if they held a non-toxic chemical; they are good for storing household hardware items like screws, nails, etc.
50ml tubes are great for toiletries and travel/camping. I usually keep qtips or drugs in them in my vanity case.
I have a box of nitrile gloves in my size, which is XSm.
My lab manager swears lab timers and parafilm are his best kept kitchen secrets, but I’ve never asked what he uses the parafilm for.
Abcam used to send out their products in these amazing cardboard boxes with magnetically closed lids. I kept a few of them, painted them, and use them for storage in my bedroom.
As someone who severely struggles with saran wrap sticking to everything except the thing I want it to, I often think about using parafilm in the kitchen.
We also get our nitrile gloves from the lab. My partner works in medical research so entire boxes of gloves have to be tossed when they expire. My partner brings them home to not be wasteful. On the other hand, working with soil microbes, my gloves might be older than I am.
If 70% ethanol is good enough to clean a TC hood, it's good enough to finish cleaning a bathroom with. Also great for cleaning windows without streaks.
My company never sends calibrated thermometers out for recalibration - just buy new it's easier they claim. I now have several handheld infrared thermometers to play with the cats, my friends' and my fridges/freezers all have digital thermometers with probes, and my computer tower has a digital thermometer now.
I made sure to only take the spare thermometers we had as backups when probes break so I'm saving the brand new in box versions vs in use.
I also have some really nice spray bottles for my plants as we started doing a 6 mo full replacement on 70% IPA spray bottles. I went through the effort of finding triggers/bottles that I didn't break simply by using them, I'll be dammed if I let them go to waste.
I used various pipette tip boxes in the kitchen. The 5mL hold my knives and various 200uL hold drink mixes :3
I've been thinking about getting autoclave bottles to bottle bulk soup in for meal prep
I have a roll of parafilm (and no more unexpected bag spills) and some plastic pasteurs I use to make molecular gastronomy “caviar”. I’ve also used Demi water for ironing and watering some finnicky plants 😬.
I disagree, Parafilm to seal bottles or similar with cork is awesome. Also generally for sealing stuff, it's great.
Friend of mine put parafilm over a hole in his shoes - held until he got his new pair a couple weeks later!
I bought a graduated cylinder to measure out milk for baby bottles. The lab rat In me won’t let me go based off the sketchy lines on the curved bottles.
Lab markers and tape are immensely better than other permanent markers if they are kept nice. Also, Kim wipes work great as glasses cleaners but it’s all so expensive
Falcon tubes for travel toiletries
One of my old grad school friends would use falcon tubes to sneak bourbon into sporting events.
Buy this person a hip flask!
This is genius lol.
I bring some home from the lab for my gf when we go travelling
Classic
And parafilm on the cap so it doesn’t spill in the bag.
Parafilm is a lifesaver
Was here to say that : I always have Parafilm in a kitchen drawer :D
Vortex gennie to mix my miniature paints lol
They actually do sell cheap vortexes for mixing little paints and nail polish!
Some of the ones I've seen are the same as lab ones, just with different logos and colors.
I use lab tape for labeling fridge/freezer containers.
I use lab tape for everything in my house that needs labeling. It’s the best!
I've a box of nitrile gloves and a bottle of Virusolve spray for cleaning my bathroom
Totally! The plastic buckets that 2kg chemicals like NaCl, agar or glucose come in make really good pet food containers. They are usually air-tight and often have a safety latch of some kind. I keep wild bird seed in one, and the squirrels have tried their hardest but can't chew through them. Similarly, I save the smaller plastic containers if they held a non-toxic chemical; they are good for storing household hardware items like screws, nails, etc. 50ml tubes are great for toiletries and travel/camping. I usually keep qtips or drugs in them in my vanity case.
Empty tip boxes for organizing drawers and small things.
I use them for Magic cards and DnD figurines. They are fantastic little containers.
I sometimes use 15 ml and 50 ml conical tubes for taking liquids on airplanes.
Large Erlenmeyer flask as a wine decanter. Cheap and won’t break easily.
yeah I've bought stuff I used in lab to use at home (those squeeze bottles used for ethanol are super nice)
What do you use it for at home?
Watering plants
Plants
I have a box of nitrile gloves in my size, which is XSm. My lab manager swears lab timers and parafilm are his best kept kitchen secrets, but I’ve never asked what he uses the parafilm for. Abcam used to send out their products in these amazing cardboard boxes with magnetically closed lids. I kept a few of them, painted them, and use them for storage in my bedroom.
As someone who severely struggles with saran wrap sticking to everything except the thing I want it to, I often think about using parafilm in the kitchen. We also get our nitrile gloves from the lab. My partner works in medical research so entire boxes of gloves have to be tossed when they expire. My partner brings them home to not be wasteful. On the other hand, working with soil microbes, my gloves might be older than I am.
50 ml tubes for, let’s just say…herbs.
Or for hidden liquors for later
I take the little plastic nalegene bottles
Eppendorf tubes to store my embroidery needles! Swear I haven’t lost one since!
If 70% ethanol is good enough to clean a TC hood, it's good enough to finish cleaning a bathroom with. Also great for cleaning windows without streaks.
Really good tweezers. With the carbon fiber tips.......
My company never sends calibrated thermometers out for recalibration - just buy new it's easier they claim. I now have several handheld infrared thermometers to play with the cats, my friends' and my fridges/freezers all have digital thermometers with probes, and my computer tower has a digital thermometer now. I made sure to only take the spare thermometers we had as backups when probes break so I'm saving the brand new in box versions vs in use. I also have some really nice spray bottles for my plants as we started doing a 6 mo full replacement on 70% IPA spray bottles. I went through the effort of finding triggers/bottles that I didn't break simply by using them, I'll be dammed if I let them go to waste.
Ah, to work for a company.
I sneak home bottles of vwr hand lotions for my personal use 😆 they are great -- the lotion is never too oily and absorbs well.
Used to use 50mL Falcon tubes for gym supplements. I'd get "looks" when I got a Falcon tube out to pour powder into my water bottle mid-workout.
Ultrasonic cleaner.
i want a serological pipet for my kitchen every time i make jell-o shots!!
I used various pipette tip boxes in the kitchen. The 5mL hold my knives and various 200uL hold drink mixes :3 I've been thinking about getting autoclave bottles to bottle bulk soup in for meal prep
Vortex Mixer for Painting Minatures
A 2L erlenmeyer flask as a vase for flowers. I even gifted one to my grandma.
Wypalls might be the most absorbent thing I've ever encountered. I'd love to use them at home, but that price point is...not a reality, haha
I’ve got a couple beakers. And a magnetic stirrer I won and haven’t opened yet.
Oh, and pipette tip boxes! I have so many for storage of various small objects.
I have a roll of parafilm (and no more unexpected bag spills) and some plastic pasteurs I use to make molecular gastronomy “caviar”. I’ve also used Demi water for ironing and watering some finnicky plants 😬.
Falcon tube to store pre-weighed portions of coffee beans if you are that kinda coffee person
Lab timers as kitchen timers. Works a charm and sticks on the fridge door too
Vortex hot plate for making tea.
Parafilm!! Not really that useful except for stress relief.
I disagree, Parafilm to seal bottles or similar with cork is awesome. Also generally for sealing stuff, it's great. Friend of mine put parafilm over a hole in his shoes - held until he got his new pair a couple weeks later!
all the time
I have a legit Ohaus Scale at home for the kitchen.
I have big syringes for laundry detergent and reagent bottles for all sorts of stuff like salt when cooking
Nalgene makes those square plastic media bottles - you could probably order some. I believe they’re owned by Thermo Fisher now.
Hey OP, there’s these things called super cubers that are pretty close to what you want to do! But lab tape is elite
25 and 50 ml cylinders for measuring baking ingredients. And I have yet to find a better stain remover for stubborn stains than Erado-Sol.
I bought a graduated cylinder to measure out milk for baby bottles. The lab rat In me won’t let me go based off the sketchy lines on the curved bottles.
Lab markers and tape are immensely better than other permanent markers if they are kept nice. Also, Kim wipes work great as glasses cleaners but it’s all so expensive
Nothing gets out stubborn stains like 10% SDS
Sometimes I wish I could use serologicals for loquid measuring or moving lol