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"Pinterest, it's time to fess up. You've been leading us on for far too long.\nWe love browsing pin boards for life hacks, DIY crafts and recipes. But there's nothing more disappointing than trying out a project, only to fail miserably.\nSee also: 11 DIY Apartment Fixes Anyone Can Handle\nIt's not always the pinner's fault. Even when you follow directions to a T, you can still fall victim to Pinterest's beautifully curated deception.\nIt's time to debunk some of these too-good-to-be-true hacks and stop gobbling them up like so much double fudge mug cake. Put down your mason jars, pinners, and start thinking before your pin.\n\n\nPin-vestigation: Debunking Pinterest's Popular Pins\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n1. \nThis pin is one of the biggest offenders on Pinterest. Despite tons of evidence and dozens of websites debunking this pin, it's still widely accepted as true. \n\nImage: Mashable Andrea Romano\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPaint your nails as usual and spray with cooking spray.\n\n\nImage: Mashable Andrea Romano\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAnd now your nails are dry ... \nThe cooking spray decreased friction on your nail, so, yes, you can run your finger gently on top of your manicure, and it wont smudge.\n\nImage: Mashable Andrea Romano\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nExcept they aren't.\nIf you scratch your nails, dump into something, or generally handle anything like a human, your polish is ruined. Because it's not actually dry. Sorry, greasy ladies of Pinterest. Just let time and good old fashioned air do the magic next time.\n\nImage: Mashable Andrea Romano\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n2. \nAnother happily accepted \"fact\" swirling the Internet with no actual science to back it up. Many DIY websites swear that the phosphoric and citric acids act as a cleaning agent, completely neglecting the various sugars in soda that are a breeding ground for bacteria.\n\nImage: Mashable Andrea Romano\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPour the coke in, then let it sit.\nAdd as much as you like. No website has apparently prescribed an amount. Most just say to let it sit for a moment so that the \"acid\" can work -- that's also letting bacteria feed on the sugars.\n\nImage: Mashable Andrea Romano\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNow flush.\nLeaving a gross brown stain that you will have to flush down several times and scrub with regular toilet cleaner to get off. If Coke doesn't clean your teeth, it's not going to clean anything else.\n\nImage: Mashable Andrea Romano\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n3.\nThis combination of baking soda and hydrogen peroxide seems like a winner in theory. Both items are excellent cleaning agents on their own, so why wouldn't they be super charged together? It may be entirely possible that this miracle paste can clean something, but definitely not baking pans.\n\nImage: Mashable Andrea Romano\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCombine baking soda with peroxide until you have a paste.\nThen add small amounts of the liquid until you have the right consistency. Don't forget to wear gloves!\n\nImage: Mashable Andrea Romano\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nScrub away!\nUnsurprisingly, the miracle paste did nothing. Some tutorials say to let it sit for an hour if it doesn't work right away. After an hour, the paste hardened and was even less effective  than before.\n\nImage: Mashable Andrea Romano\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n4. \nCreate a homemade peel-off mask with a mixture of unflavored gelatin and milk. This pin has received mixed reviews online.\n\nImage: Mashable Andrea Romano\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPour 1 tablespoon of gelatin into a bowl.\n\n\nImage: Mashable Andrea Romano\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAdd 2 tablespoons of milk to the gelatin.\n\n\nImage: Mashable Andrea Romano\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nStir together and microwave for 10 seconds.\n\n\nImage: Mashable Andrea Romano\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nApply to your face and let it dry for 15 minutes.\nThe mixture will get very hard and gross. It's not a comfortable mask like the kind you buy at the store.\n\nImage: Mashable Andrea Romano\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPeel it off.\nIt's very possible that the mask acted like a Biore strip, because peeling this off was like stripping glue off my face. It was so painful, I couldn't do my entire face and had to use hot water to melt it off. The results left my skin red and irritated. So in a way, it worked, but it's probably not worth doing.\n\nImage: Mashable Andrea Romano\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n5. \nPinterest people are obsessed with breaking open glow sticks. This seemingly easy pin is built on the premise that if you combine the liquid from a glow stick and clear nail polish, your nails will glow in the dark.\n\nImage: Mashable Andrea Romano\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nFirst, you break open the glow stick and combine the liquids.\n\n\nImage: Mashable Andrea Romano\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nShake the bottle.\nI used tiny capsuled from glow in the dark straws because that was what I could find at the time, so I ended up with a semi-transparent liquid.\n\nImage: Mashable Andrea Romano\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nI broke open another capsule for more liquid, to see if I just needed more magical glowing elixir to get the effect in the pin.\n\nImage: Mashable Andrea Romano\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSadly, it was still transparent.\n\nImage: Mashable Andrea Romano\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nThe glow stick didn't compromise the polish and spread smoothly, but no glow in the dark effect happened.\n\nImage: Mashable Andrea Romano\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n6.\nThis interesting concept is also widely accepted online. There's no scientific explanation for how it mouthwash supposed to help cure bruises, but apparently something in the liquid helps bruises heal quicker and \"immediately\" makes them look better.\n\nImage: Mashable Andrea Romano\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nDip a cotton ball in mouth wash.\n\n\nImage: Mashable Andrea Romano\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nApply to your bruise.\nMy bruise was pretty mild to begin with, so I hoped to see a significant change. However, it wasn't as fresh as it probably should have been.\n\nImage: Mashable Andrea Romano\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nLet it dry.\nAfter the swab, there was no major improvement. A bruise happens because of broken capillaries pooling blood beneath the skin. You can treat a bruise with elevation or ice, but only time will actually heal it. Though mouthwash might mimic a cooling sensation, it's not going to effect anything deep enough to help the bruise.\n\nImage: Mashable Andrea Romano\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n7.\nThis popular DIY project is all over Pinterest, as it would make a great gift idea for just about anyone. However, most tutorials give poor directions on how to make them sustainable in the dishwasher.\n\nImage: Mashable Andrea Romano\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nWrite on your mug.\n\n\nImage: Mashable Andrea Romano\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPlace it in the oven.\n\nFirst of all, calibrate your oven. You need to know if it runs hot or cold. Most tutorials will tell you to bake a Sharpie mug for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. \nDo not listen. \nInstead, place your mug in a cold oven and set the temperature for 450 degrees. Once it gets up to exactly 450, then set a timer for another 40 minutes.\n\n\nImage: Mashable Andrea Romano\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nYou now have a dishwasher-safe mug.\nThere are plenty of other reliable Sharpie mug tips here.\n\nImage: Mashable Andrea Romano\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n8.\nAccording to this popular pin, any pot has the perfect spoon-holding slot on the handle.\n\nImage: Mashable Andrea Romano\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nThe spoon fit, but not quite in the way it was supposed to.\n\n\nImage: Mashable Andrea Romano\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAfter some careful positioning, it finally fit.\nI precariously perched my spoon on the pot handle, but it's hardly convenient for me to keep it there. If anything, it just proves that a lot of pins on the site are meticulously staged.\n\nImage: Mashable Andrea Romano\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n9. \nThere are a lot of great ways to amplify your iPhone speakers. This pin in particular uses a toilet paper roll to boost your sound. \n\nImage: Mashable Andrea Romano\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCut a slot in a toilet paper roll.\nTo get the same length as the hack, I first cut a paper towel roll in half and then cut my slot, which is as wide and long as you iPhone.\n\nImage: Mashable Andrea Romano\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nInsert your phone and play.\nUnsurprisingly, the roll made no difference in sound. Paper isn't much of a sound amplifier. Plus, an easier (and faster) way to boost your iPhone's sound would to simply place it in your new, dishwasher safe Sharpie mug.\n\nImage: Mashable Andrea Romano\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n10.\nYet another  Pinterestament to the wonders of the wooden spoon. If you're near a pot that's boiling over, apparently turning down the heat is too difficult, so you can trust your wooden spoon to save the day.\n\nImage: Mashable Andrea Romano\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nHave a boiling pot of water.\n\n\nImage: Mashable Andrea Romano\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nOnce the pot boils over, place the spoon over the top.\nThe bubbles kept right on bubbling over, despite the trusty spoon in the way. If you don't want your pot to boil over, turn down the heat and use the appropriate amount of water for what you're cooking.\n\nImage: Mashable Andrea Romano\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n11.\nFor those who fear needles or just love to draw on themselves, you might have stumbled across this temporary tattoo \"life hack\". According to the pin, this temporary tattoo is meant to last a month.\n\nImage: Mashable Andrea Romano\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nFirst, draw your tattoo.\n\n\nImage: Mashable Andrea Romano\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nRub in baby powder.\n\n\nImage: Mashable Andrea Romano\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSpray with hairspray to \"seal\".\n\n\nImage: Mashable Andrea Romano\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nThen watch the hairspray ruin your tattoo.\nThis isn't really a step, but it is what will happen. Hairspray, besides actually being for hair and not for skin, has alcohol in it, which will dissolve Sharpie ink. Plus, the fact that hairspray can be washed away should be a tip off that it can't \"seal\" anything. Unsurprisingly, the tattoo was completely gone after a shower. I didn't even have to scrub.\n\nImage: Mashable Andrea Romano\n\n\n\n\n\n\nBONUS: 3 More Popular Pinterest Projects That Don't Even Work\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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