Our subscriber base has grown so much since we first started eight years ago, that most of you have missed all our earliest recommendations. The best of these are still valid and useful, so we’re trying out something new — Retro Recomendo. Once every 6 weeks, we’ll send out a throwback issue of evergreen recommendations focused on one theme from the past 8 years.

Powerful tube squeezer

The Big Squeeze Tube Squeezer forces every last drop of goop out of a tube. It can handle tubes up to 3.375” wide. To use it, insert the end of the tube between the two rollers, squeeze the handle and turn the key. The tube is completely flattened, and because of the serrated design of the rollers, the tube is crimped so it stays flat. I’ve used it on tubes of toothpaste, acrylic paint, and lithium grease. It’s all metal and heavy duty. — MF

Super easy paint touchup

After you finish painting a room, pour a little of the left-over paint into one of these small touch up bottles. One for each color. The plastic bottles contain a small applicator brush inside (plus a marble to shake/stir the paint) which makes it super easy to break it out to touch up as things happen. Gareth Branwyn suggests keeping the touchup bottle in a drawer in the room itself, making it a no-brainer to grab when needed. Touch ups will never happen when the paint is at the bottom of a can in the basement. — KK

Toolshop tips

I’m enjoying Gareth Branwyn’s new email newsletter, Gar's Tips & Tools. Each weekly issue has several handy tidbits about interesting tools, novel ways to use tools, and how to maintain your workshop. The latest issue has a tip from Adam Savage on where to store infrequently used tools: “‘If I didn’t have it right now, where would I look for it?’ And that’s where he stashes it. He tries to not get clever, not overthink it, but rather, he goes with the first place that pops to mind.” — MF

Dirt cheap magnification

I’ve sung the praises of this 40x lighted hand held magnifier many times before. I splurged and bought three. I can now read the numbers on tiny capacitors, inspect splinters in great detail, and check my kid’s head for louse nits. Uses 3AAA batteries (not included). — MF

Better than sandpaper

I’ve started whittling spoons again and I recently discovered flexible sanding sheets made by 3M. I’ll never use sandpaper again. These sheets are made from some kind of semi-stretchy plastic that makes it very easy to get the grit into tight spots (like the hollow of a spoon). They last much longer than sandpaper, too. — MF

Save your knees

I bought this 11 x 18 inch Fiskars Ultralight Kneeling Cushion in 2011 for $8 and have used it hundreds of times since then. It has come in handy when repairing appliances, working on and washing cars, weeding, and any other activity that requires getting on my knees. More recently I bought these Fiskars Ultralight Knee Pads, which let me crawl around the backyard or garage without pain. —MF

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