What have you learned to do from YouTube?

[The Resilent Dame]

I was thinking this morning about everything I've taught myself from youtube videos. Among them:

Done:
How to network wire my office
change & rewire a light fixture
knit
change the air filter in 2 different vehicles
render lard
re-grout/revitalize old tile
seal tile

That's just off the top of my head. There's more, I'm sure.

Here's my to-learn list:
Lay tile
Install vinyl flooring
Install a sink

What is on your list? Any notable experiences?

[GuitarStv]

It's my go to source for most things . . .

- Fix all manner of bike things (replace cassette, strip and grease hubs, assemble a flatpacked bike, adjust derailleurs, adjust brakes, replace a tire, true a wheel)
- Fix car stuff (replace side mirror, replace radio)
- Reno stuff (framing, pouring concrete, drywalling, installing pre-hung doors, laying paving stones)
- Amplifiers and electronics (replacing two prong to three prong power cords, removing ground reverse switches from circuit, retensioning vacuum tube sockets, biasing tubes, replacing speakers, general soldering)
- Music lessons!  It's soooo much faster/easier to learn guitar parts by watching and hearing someone play than by reading tab and sheet music.

[MelodysMustache]

I learned how to knit and minor car repairs - change battery, headlight, etc.

[johnintaiwan]

All kinds of things that I will probably never need, I love attending the "university of Youtube" to learn things I dont really have an interest in, yet always wondered how it is done.

Some things I have learned and actually used:

change the oil on my scooter
set up a pretty big aquaponics system
take a part and rebuild a bike
grow certain vegetables
interesting exercises
fix all kinds of things around the house
magic
how to solve a rubiks cube
play mahjong

Those are all just off the top of my head, i am sure there are more. I feel that with youtube and the numerous forums online for everything you could think of, there is no excuse anymore for anyone not to learn how to do something themselves. Except for laziness I guess.

[Khao]

A couple useful things :

basic car maintenance
installing a kitchen backsplash (tiles, grout and all)
some woodworking
building a PC

[shotgunwilly]

How to repair the automatic window buttons in my F150.
How to take apart the High Pressure Pump on my outboard.
How to disassemble and replace gaskets in my outboards lower unit.
How to bleed trailer surge brakes.

A ton of other things that I can't think of. 

[PtboEliz]

How to box my bike and reassemble.
How to siphon gas (to drain a full tank before taking to auto recyclers)

[TrMama]

- How to fix my dishwasher ($500 saved)
- How to knit
- How to unclog a toilet, depending on what the obstruction is
         - If the above fails, how to remove the toilet, get the obstruction out and reset the toilet
- Very rudimentary Arabic
- How to convert a kids bike to a balance bike
- Lots of Illustrator and Photoshop techniques (work related)
- How to set up a sub-irrigated planter system

[socaso]

Makeup and cooking tutorials. We cut the cable cord early this year and I have been using the YouTube app on my Roku box from time to time to watch videos but I'm gonna start looking up DIY videos now that you've posted this. I love watching the YouTube on the big screen.

[mrsggrowsveg]

So many things, but a few are:

-How to move a pig
-Various complicated looking hairstyles
-How to make my sewing machine work
-How to filet a fish
-How to shave an alpaca

[Russ]

how to roll rrrrrrrrr's!

[Greg]

I know a fair amount about many things, but for some reason small engines were a dark art to me.  I watched someone "rebuild" a small trimmer motor carb and at least that is no longer a mystery.

I also watched some appliance repair videos. Pretty simple stuff when you get into it.

[caseyzee]

Love youtube!  It helped me fix my side by side crappy Maytag Fridge, my - I will keep it till it is dead, dead, dead - Kenmore washer, and my car.

Next up, how to fold fitted sheets.  Really, I'm 48 and have no idea how to do that.

[Emg03063]

Replaced a switch on my stove.

Also, guitar lessons.

[eil]

I learned how to rebuild vintage motorcycles!

...and also some practical stuff on the side.

[Prairie Stash]

I convinced my wife to watch youtube videos last night on cutting my hair.  She's doing it tonight, I've gone a few weeks looking like a bushman to help get her motivated. 

[oinkette]

One thing youtube is great for is repairs...I saved myself the cost of a repairman for my washing machine with one. Turns out I didn't even need a repair! The hose in back just wasn't high enough.

As far as actual learning:

Knitting
Quilting a quilt (properly by hand)
Various recipes
Watercolor
How to take care of my own hair (life saver, moneywise)
Basic foreign languages
How to give myself a manicure
Composting
How to create a compost bin
LOADS of gardening tips
How to build things (mostly carpentry)

So much more....

[Thegoblinchief]

Change flat tire on my bike.

All sorts of video game related questions.

Lots and lots of complex software issues, particularly with video editing suites.

[Storapa]

I love Youtube.

Some of the things I have used it for:-

Replace the wheel bearing / front hub on my Volvo V50
Build a draw for my camper van conversion
Remove the window winder on a VW T5 van
Woodworking tips
Sheet metalworking tips
Bicycle frame building / fillet brazing
Checking out how the rollers run on my partners 1890 Arab printing press (how crazy is that)

Probably lots more things that I have forgotten. 

[RetiredAt63]

I like being able to see the process, instead of just written instructions and drawings.

Ones that come to mind:

How to cut my own long hair
Navajo plying
drum carding and blending
Toe up socks (thanks VeryPink)

[Zamboni]

I learned how to:

change the electrical cord on an appliance.
cook ears of corn like a boss.

[kudy]

Everyone else has already mentioned everything I've used it for (most notably, tiling and home improvement items), except for minecraft circuits!

[LeighinCT]

My 12 yr old recently used YouTube to teach himself how to thread a sewing machine. All this in preparation for his upcoming sewing skills portion of middle school home ec. Word on the street is the machines are old and cranky and he had little interest in injuring himself on day 1!

[Travis]

Cut my own hair and replace components in a cell phone.

[TreeTired]

Changed a broken laptop screen.   The Youtube video was for the exact same model I had so every screw on mine was exactly what was on the video.  Not a really difficult task but the Youtube video made it so much easier.

And some great guitar tutorials helped me learn a few songs.

[Miamoo]

Canning, gardening tips and best of all was how to change the headlight on a Chevy Equinox!  Had no idea you had to take off part of the front end (10 minutes start to finish) to get to the actual headlight.  Saved at least $40.  They just don't make things simple anymore do they?

[Cwadda]

-How to move a pig

LOL!

I've been watching some videos on Blackjack strategy and those help.

[dusty]

-Fibreglassing a yacht
- rerigging the main halyard on a yacht
- handling the yacht in a marina
- minecraft circuits, factories
- varnishing furniture tips
- servicing a 10hp yanmar engine

and many many many more odd jobs to come

[serious_pete]

Done:

Improved my chess game
Helped rid my son's colic via massage
Fixed my espresso maker
Changed the oil in my car
Put my son in his ergo baby carrier on my back without assistance

Future plans:

Learn guitar
Insulate my garage
Build a weightlifting platform

[schimt]

A ton of Auto Repair stuff
Learned to dance Salsa (at least the basics, have a lot of practice to do here)
Improved weight lifting routine
Some food prep techniques, most recent making spaghetti squash
Any techie questions like some fancy features on smart phones


I'm surprised how many people learned to knit on youtube!

[enigmaT120]

I have been splitting firewood since I was a teenager, and thought I knew how.  But I saw a video where a guy used an old car tire, and put his round of wood in that.  It keeps the pieces of wood from flying away when you split them.  I rarely have rounds big enough to fill a tire, but I just stuff my smaller ones in until it's full, and it works the same way.  Bam, bam, bam!  Sometimes the tire even bounces my maul back up into the air for the next swing.  It's definitely an anaerobic exercise.

[schimt]

I have been splitting firewood since I was a teenager, and thought I knew how.  But I saw a video where a guy used an old car tire, and put his round of wood in that.  It keeps the pieces of wood from flying away when you split them.  I rarely have rounds big enough to fill a tire, but I just stuff my smaller ones in until it's full, and it works the same way.  Bam, bam, bam!  Sometimes the tire even bounces my maul back up into the air for the next swing.  It's definitely an anaerobic exercise.

I have been meaning to try the tire trick while spliting wood at our camping spot, looks much more efficent then spliting one, then picking up the piece and then going again. Glad to hear it works well for you.

[Trudie]

How to plant different varieties of vegetables
Dynamic warm-ups for running
Various computer fixes, esp. transferring IPOD files from IPOD to computer
Diagnosing problems with appliances
Small batch canning
Dividing perennials

[shescountry]

There is SO much that Youtube has taught me, that I can't even list it.

From building enclosures and repairing electronics to science experiments and couponing tricks....

[SingleMomDebt]

I'm always telling my kids to "YouTube" or "Google It". Haha. I learned:

How to dye hair platinum white without ruining it
How to re-screen the patio screen without it bunching up
How to solder
How to do a tie dye nail polish job
How to make rainbow cupcakes

Oh I am sure there is a ton more, but those come first to mind.

[JeffC]

I've learned an enormous amount from youtube but the highlights are:

Car repair, including brakes, fixing a weird noise my master cylinder was making, and replacing the axles.
Several different mindblowingly easy ways to grow my food.  MHPgardener and Larry Hall will change your black thumb to deep green in no time. 
Now I'm looking at building a tiny house but there's a lot of things I need to de before throwing down on that venture.

[theincurableapprentice]

I convinced my wife to watch youtube videos last night on cutting my hair.  She's doing it tonight, I've gone a few weeks looking like a bushman to help get her motivated.

I learned how to cut my two year olds hair on youtube and 6 months later my husband let me do his.  That was in 2009 and we haven't looked back since.  who knows how much money this has saved us over the years and hopefully many more down the road. 

[LowER]

Fixed my dryer - a proprietary fuse went out.
Fixed my 5 year old dishwasher - common problem with Samsungs not draining properly.
Upgraded a non-replaceable cell phone battery.
Replaced an electronic panel on a fancy oven.

Too many others to remember.

What a great resource....

[Chester Allen Arthur]

-how to sew up a seam
-how to Fix the reostat on my sound system
-how to tie a tie in a decent knot

[SoCalStache]

I just bought a $9 kit from Ebay to replace the battery in my 2+ year old iphone 4S.  Felt confident after watching a YouTube walk-through.

Hoping this fix will enable me to squeeze a couple more years out of my phone and my awesome Ting service!

[theincurableapprentice]

I feel like a 15 year old girl typing this - but I just watched over the weekend a video on how to tie a scarf in multiple ways.  I know this seems a little frilly for this crowd, but I can tell you it was well worth it.  I can now take my existing three scarves and expand the way I wear them (instead of buying new ones.)

saved money with just about a 10 minute time investment.  :)

[C. K.]

1. Learned my washer didn't need a repairman; we just needed to readjust the hose to allow the water to drain.

2. Learned a magic trick with a dollar and an orange. Entertained my nephews for about an hour as they tried to recreate the trick.

[hybrid]

YouTube has taught me that we can probably get rid of damn near every reference and repair book we own. It's our go-to for just about every how-to question we have, and it only gets better with time.

[rocksinmyhead]

you guys are amazing!!! I have so many things I need to learn and fix. so far I can only think of a couple that I've gotten from Youtube:

- how to cut up a whole chicken
- how to change/patch a bicycle tube and put on rim tape

next to-do item I plan to rely on Youtube for is fiberglass repair for my sailboat... have watched a few videos but not gotten serious about tackling it yet!

[usmarine1975]

Not a tech guy at all.

From U Tube I have replaced a Defy XT phone's screen so I could turn it in for the $100.00 rebate

Fixed the charging port on my kindle Fire. (unfortunately dropped it and need to repair it again)

[schimt]

YouTube has taught me that we can probably get rid of damn near every reference and repair book we own. It's our go-to for just about every how-to question we have, and it only gets better with time.

agreed! Even for the most part with auto repair, if you cant find the answer on youtube, there are specialized forums with every make and model that you can find anything from wiring diagrams to torque specs, and answers to anything you can figure out.

[livingthedream]

I learned how to run a diagnostic test on our washer and fix it. Saved me big bucks of having a repair man come out and scored points with the wife.

[kkbmustang]

I've learned how to cut a mango in multiple ways. My son learned a magic trick. Both kids have learned Minecraft hacks. Both my daughter and I have learned different ways to braid and style her hair.

Youtube is amazeballs. 

[EarlyRetirementGuy]

My most recent and biggest cost saving learning from Youtube was how to replace bathroom taps, sink and plumbing.

We've just bought a new house in a high limescale area. All of the old bathroom fittings were covered in limescale and difficult to operate. I obtained a few plumber's quotes to do the work but all of them were in the region of £1000. Instead, I watched alot of youtube videos and worked my way round the bathroom starting with the bath/shower taps, then removed the old washbasin, fitting everything with stop valves to make future work easier and replacing the whole washbasin uni, taps and waste plumbing.

It's saved me alot of money and has provided personal knowledge and skills I can apply to future tasks.

[Rural]

YouTube has taught me that we can probably get rid of damn near every reference and repair book we own. It's our go-to for just about every how-to question we have, and it only gets better with time.

agreed! Even for the most part with auto repair, if you cant find the answer on youtube, there are specialized forums with every make and model that you can find anything from wiring diagrams to torque specs, and answers to anything you can figure out.

The trouble with getting rid of the books is that the time you most need to do something (as opposed to want to) is likely to be following a natural disaster. Cellular and data interruptions, lines down, and suddenly you can't look it up on Youtube. How do I distill water over a fire again? Or, at another level, even build a proper fire? (Insert need of your choice here; I can do both of those things without looking up how to's anywhere, but it's the unpredictable thing I don't know that I want to be able to look up.)


I usually look things up online, too, though I tend to prefer written instructions to video. But I'm keeping the books because I know they'll be there when it's really urgent.