It's obvious that the lid on your takeaway cup is there to stop your drink from spilling - but people are only just discovering their second hidden purpose. The plastic lids, which can be found on cups from all sorts of fast food places and coffee shops, are used by most of us every single day.
Yet it's coming as a shock to lots of people that they have a second handy function when taken off from the cup which has been overlooked for years. One TikTok user has revealed their surprise in a video series titled 'Hidden purposes of Everyday Things' - and viewers in the comments admitted they were left in disbelief.
Gigi, who goes by @alltruality, shared the takeaway cup hack that will revolutionize the way peope use them.
The clip is an extract of a video taken from YouTube account Bright Side, featuring the unexpected features of items you have lying around the house or use every day.
When you take off the lid of the takeaway cup, it can be turned upside down and put on a hard surface to be used as a coaster.
Not only that, but it also stops a lot of wet mess appearing underneath as the lid will catch the condensation running off the cup.
In Gigi's video, the narrator explains: "Lids on paper and plastic to-go cups work as coasters.
"The ring in the middle of the lid is exactly the size to fit the bottom of the cup.
"The lids lips also catch dripping condensation from cold drinks."
Many stunned people took to the comments section on Gigi's TikTok post to express their amazement.
"The coaster blew me," one impressed person wrote.
Another added: "I learned more things from this video than my school"
"I feel I am learning a lot on this app," said a third.
However, some people were a bit sceptical about the claims being made or stated that they needed the lid to be on the top.
"I would much rather my drink be protected from bugs and stuff flying into it. I can just wipe the table," asked one commenter.
Another asked: "If the lid is meant to catch condensation then why does it have the hole for the straw that would still leak condensation?"
"I need the lid though because I'm clumsy," pointed out a third.
A fourth said: "The moisture from the cup collecting in the lid, won't it run out of the slits for the straw?"
There were a number of other hacks on the video, such as using the hole in your frying pan's handle to place you wooden spoon.
This keeps it secure and means you don't make a mess on the top of the stove or kitchen side.
They also pointed out that the hole in the middle of a pasta spoon can be used to measure one portion of spaghetti out.
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