Return it better than you got it
The borrowed car with a full tank, the returned dish with something in it. The margin is what people remember.
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Why it lands
Returning something exactly as lent is neutral and forgettable. Returning it slightly better converts a favor into a relationship, because it signals that you noticed the favor was one. The amounts are trivial — a tank of fuel, a clean dish, new batteries in the returned drill — and the effect on whether someone lends to you again, or to anyone, is not.
How
Fill the tank, wash the dish, replace what you used up. Do not announce it; let them find it. If you broke or wore something out, say so and replace it before they notice.
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