Editing 1715: Household Tips

{{comic
| number    = 1715
| date      = August 3, 2016
| title     = Household Tips
| image     = household_tips.png
| titletext = To make your shoes feel more comfortable, smell better, and last longer, try taking them off before you shower.
}}

==Explanation==
This is another one of [[Randall|Randall's]] [[:Category:Tips|Tips]], this time with a series of household tips. The comic is a continuation of [[1567: Kitchen Tips]], which had four kitchen tips and then a household tip in the title text.

The comic shows [[Cueball]] explaining many things one should already know (and are likely already doing without needing to be told), but telling them like most people usually never do it to comedic effect. Below is a list of the five household tips given:

===In the bathroom===
'''To conserve water, try turning off your shower before leaving home''': Implies that the shower would "normally" be on at all times, which would be very wasteful. The ''[[what if? (blog)|what if?]]'' article "{{what if|91|Faucet Power}}" illustrates similar wasteful and destructive water use. This may be a reference to the common recommendation that people should unplug appliances when they are not in use, as opposed to simply turning them off, as some devices have a "standby" mode that still uses up a small amount of electricity.

===Extinguishing fires===
'''Sick of changing those smoke detector batteries? Eliminate any fires in your house and the batteries may last for months or years!''': A smoke detector on standby consumes much less power than one constantly ringing, since standing by only requires that a detection circuit (which draws little current) be on and an LED flashes a few times a minute (which also consumes very little power), while a buzzer used to sound the alarm uses much energy by comparison. The sentence implies that some people have their fire alarms beeping at all times due to their ongoing fires, and then stop up to change the batteries when they stop working. It is surreal that Cueball would have fires just around his house and not be remotely worried.

Of course, keeping one's house fire-free at (mostly) all times is usually done because of other benefits than just saving on batteries, such as preventing fire and smoke damage to valuable property, infrastructure, and human bodies. {{Citation needed}}

===Toilet bowls===
'''Tired of clogged toilets? Try leaving the lid on the upper chamber and use only the lower bowl!''': The "upper chamber", the toilet's cistern tank, delivers plain water to the lower bowl at speed to flush the latter. As such, the pipes that direct the water down are not wide enough for waste to pass. There is typically a lid on the upper tank, because it isn't intended to be used; however, access is occasionally needed to fix or replace the flushing mechanisms. The lower bowl, as one should be familiar with, is the one intended to receive solid waste or defecation {{Citation needed}} and is connected to the plumbing by pipes wide enough for this purpose.

===Near the window===
'''Fresh air doesn't have to be expensive. Many windows can be slid up to create a temporary hole without the usual cost and cleanup!''': This suggests that the people he appeals to typically smash a window (or a wall) to get fresh air, hence the clean up and expensive replacement of the window, once enough fresh air has been obtained.

===Title text===
'''To make your shoes feel more comfortable, smell better, and last longer, try taking them off before you shower.''': People typically remove all their clothing, including and/or especially shoes (except perhaps for some lightweight sandals to protect the feet in public showers), when showering, so while it is certainly true that removing one's shoes before showering will allow them to last longer and stink less (since shoes that have little opportunity to dry produce malodorous molds), this is not in any way a novel idea.

It is also possible that this comic is a reference to this very wiki. This wiki is here to explain the technical or pop-culture references that might confuse some readers. Not every comic relies on such details for appreciation, though, and Randall will often deliver a more straightforward punchline; this wiki, in the interest of thoroughness, will often explain the obvious.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is standing outside a bathtub with the shower curtains partly drawn aside hanging outside the tub. The shower head is dripping water as Cueball reaches in turning the closest of the two taps. Below these there is a faucet. There is water on the floor at the bottom of the tub and a pool of water behind Cueball.]
:Cueball: Hi everyone! I'm back with more household tips. To conserve water, try turning off your shower before you leave home.

:[Cueball is holding a bucket and pours water out of it to the right. The water still hangs in the air over a small fire with four flames on the floor. A similar fire is behind him to the left, except it seems thre is a burning item in this fire, and a single flame is on the floor between that and Cueball. A smoke detector (off-panel) goes off in the background as indicated with lines and sounds.]
:Cueball: Sick of changing those smoke detector batteries? Eliminate any fires in your house and the batteries can last for months or years!
:Smoke detector (off panel): Beep beep beep

:[A frame-less panel shows a toilet with the toilet seat up and also the lid has been removed from the cistern at the top. It is hanging in the air above and behind the cistern. There is an X with an arrow pointing towards the cistern and a checkmark with an arrow pointing towards the toilet bowl.]
:Cueball (off-panel): Tired of clogged toilets? Try leaving the lid on the upper chamber and use only the lower bowl!
:X
:✔

:[Cueball holding a hand up is standing next to an open window where the bottom part has been slid almost up to the top.]
:Fresh air doesn't have to be expensive. Many windows can be slid up to create a temporary hole without the usual cost and cleanup!

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Tips]]