Life Hacks: Simple Tips And Tricks That Help Us Navigate Everyday Life A Little Easier
Did you wake up today feeling like you need to fix every nook and cranny in your house? Do you have minor home repair jobs that you need to deal with but don’t know how to approach them? If this is the case, then you’ve stumbled upon the right place. We’ve come up with a few hacks for you to try at home so you don’t end up shelling out hundreds of dollars for a repairman when you can fix everything yourself! Toothpaste for car scratches? Ice cubes for carpet dents? You may ask yourself if these hacks are truly worth the time. But trust us! We wouldn’t be suggesting them if we hadn’t tried them ourselves! We’ve got a bag full of tricks up our sleeve to help you become a nifty expert when it comes to small home repair jobs!
Undoing Nail Holes With A Crayon
When you feel like changing the atmosphere of a room, chances are you’ll dismantle mirrors or photographs and place them elsewhere. This helps give your home a fresh, new feel. However, you may be left with small holes in the wall.
Using a crayon that’s the same shade as your wall, you can hide this hole without much effort. Rub that waxy crayon over the hole until it’s barely visible. Then, wipe off the excess, and cleanse the spot with a damp towel.
Chocolate To Remove Wooden Scratches
We know you’re going to be shocked after reading about this suggestion. It requires you to cut off a chunk of dark chocolate. We know you will be tempted to eat it. But, would you rather eat chocolate or keep staring at the scratches on your wooden table?
If you prefer the first, cut off a piece of that dark chocolate bar and rub it furiously on the scratched you see on your wooden table. Rub until those marks disappear, then wipe off the excess with a baby wipe or some Murphy soap.
Organically Purify The Air With English Ivy
Have you ever heard about air-purifying plants? If you place them around your home, you won’t have to rely on air humidifiers or incense oils. Some plants like English Ivy absorb toxic chemicals such as ammonia and formaldehyde and improve indoor air quality.
Spider plants are easy to take care of and eliminate formaldehyde and xylene from the air. On the other hand, Chrysanthemums are ranked the highest for air purification. An added bonus? They provide fresh oxygen and are pleasant to look at!
Sharpening Scissors With Foil
Those scissors have been sitting in your sewing kit, collecting dust for many years. You don’t want to throw them out because they have sentimental value, but your teeth can tear up those threads better than those scissors can. What do you do?
We have the perfect hack for you! First, stack a few aluminum foil sheets on top of each other. Cut through them using your dull pair of scissors. Go down the length of one side, then back along another. This ought to bring life back to your scissors!
Polish With Ketchup
Another alternative to cleaning your precious silver is by using tomato paste or ketchup. It contains enough acid to break down oil residue and grime. Yet, it’s safe enough to apply with bare hands. With this hack, you don’t need to worry about touching or breathing in harsh chemicals!
Simply rub ketchup all over the tarnished silver with a soft sponge, and leave for 20-30 minutes. Then, rinse with warm water and pat it dry. You can do this as frequently as you want. We can assure you that your silver belonging will look as good as new!
Soap For A Screw
Are you have a hard time screwing down a piece of wood? First, check the thickness of hardwood lumber. If you can’t get it in despite woking with smooth-faced lumber, then try giving this next trick a chance to help you.
Drag the length of the screw across a regular bar of soap. This will reduce the friction by lubricating the body of the screw when it’s pressed against the wooden block. You can use an electric drill to hasten the process or simply use a bit of elbow grease!
Use A Potato
Just when you’ve thought of an idea, the lightbulb explodes, literally. You turn the switch off, but now you’re faced with shards of glass. You know what that means! It’s time to start chopping potatoes! Did we do confuse you yet?
You can use a potato to unscrew the bottom of the lightbulb from the socket. Simply start by cutting a potato in half. Make sure one of the halves has enough allowance to wedge in that broken bulb without piercing your skin. Apply a bit of force as you unscrew, and the broken bulb should come out in no time.
Securing Those Nails
If you are tired of misplacing or looking for nails every time you get into a construction project, place a magnet on the bottom of your hammer. Use a strong adhesive to secure the magnet, like Gorilla Glue. Push slightly and leave it for a couple of minutes to dry.
Afterward, you’ll be able to stick nails on the magnet while you’re hammering away. The only downside is you can only attach nails that fit the hammer you’re working with, but at least you’ll always know where you can find some!
Filing Away Your Tape
Are you someone who has acquired different types of tape and has no idea how to store them efficiently? You can put them away in a cabinet or place them one atop another using a cone to try and organize them.
The problem with the latter option is that you’d have to grip the cone if you want to pull off a piece of tape. Instead, you can line them on a pole on a wall, as you see in the photo above. This way, you can pull the tape with both hands. They’re all securely mounted on the wall.
Cleaning A Roller Tray
If you’re worried about your new paint tray, don’t fret. There is no need to wash off the paint after a project. All you need to do is simply leave it to dry. Why make it harder than it needs to be?
After the paint dries, you can effortlessly peel it off the tray. The only disadvantage is that you need to give it time to dry between coatings of different colors. If not, you’ll end up with a lilac sky color instead of royal blue!
Catching Debris With A Bottle
When through a wall or a piece of wood, you might notice flecks of debris flying everywhere across your face. We have a simple hack for you if you want to keep drilling in peace and not end up with a mess!
Take an empty plastic bottle and place it over the drill. Make sure the bottom of the bottle is parallel to the base of the drill. Allow for half an inch of space from the top of the drill to the top of the bottle. Mark the point on the bottle, then cut! Debris will collect within the space. After drilling, uncap and dispose!
Water Your Garden With A Used Water Bottle
Having to install a sprinkler system is tempting, but you don’t have to spend a single dollar doing so. Rummage through your recyclables and find a plastic bottle with an opening that’s about the same diameter as your hose.
Using a sharp knife and a pair of gloves, poke small holes in the bottle all over. When the water pressure is strong enough, water will spurt out of those holes in different directions, just like a sprinkler. Cool right?
Melting Wax With A Hairdryer
Candles are a favorite household accessory for many people. They set a calming ambiance and also provide a pleasant scent throughout the home. But what should we do when we accidentally spill that hot wax on the floor or table?
Plug in your hairdryer and hold it over the dried-up hot wax. Do this for a couple of minutes, occasionally moving the nozzle up and down. Do this as long as it takes for the wax to melt. If you see that it has turned back into a liquid, wipe it away with a soft cloth.
Pool Noodles
If you have a small garage, you’re going to love this trick. Sometimes, you are quick to rush out of the car, opening those doors as widely as possible. If you’re parking in a small garage space, chances are the doors will hit the walls.
Cut foam pool noodles in half, then line them along the walls where your car doors usually hit. Then simply screw them in place. You won’t have to spend that much money or worry about future dents and scratches ever again!
Home Alone With Caulk
Let’s face it. Not everyone has steady hands. But have no fear. What we lack for in steadiness, we can make up with creativity. All we need is a little bit of caulk and the will to take on our own projects, like painting a wall!
Using painter’s tape, line the wall where you intend to paint or place the sealant. Then, fill in the space between. Remove the tape while the sealant is wet, but make sure that no excess fluid is dripping down from the walls. If you remove the tape when the paint or glue is fully dry, you risk tearing up some of the dried caulk.
Toothpaste For Car Scratches
It’s inevitable that at some point, your shiny new car will accumulate a few scratches here and there. Your first instinct might be to take it to an auto shop to repair them. But give this hack a go before you try anything else!
Squeeze a teaspoon of toothpaste and apply it in a circular motion to the scratches. Use the same amount of pressure as you would when polishing. Put your back into it! Then wipe away the excess afterward. The scratches will be fainter!
Paintbrush Holder
Whenever you’re in the process of painting something, you can place your paintbrushes in this makeshift brush holder. This way, you won’t have to worry about getting paint elsewhere. You’ll be able to focus all your attention and creativity on the task at hand.
On one side of the pool foam, cut a long horizontal slit so that you can rest it along the edge of a plastic container. On the other side, cut a few longitudinal slits where your paintbrushes will be secure!
Unclog Your Drains
Nobody ever wants to see this happening, but it’s inevitable after a long period of time – a clogged train! What if we told you that about two liters of Coke would do the trick? That’s right! Make sure it’s room temperature, then pour it in the drain.
Don’t run any water through it for at least two hours. The phosphoric acid will eventually break down the materials clogging the drainage. Afterward, pour hot water to flush out the debris that was stuck to the tunnel walls.
Remove Carpet Dents With Ice Cubes
One of the most annoying things to deal with is carpet dents. The furniture was parked for too long on the carpet, and now you’re left with deep dents. Trying to brush them will just leave you frustrated. In that case, head to the refrigerator and grab some ice cubes.
Place the ice along the dents. Let them melt. In the meantime, you can accomplish some extra chores around the house. Afterward, blot out excess water from the ice with a sponge and brush the fibers away. No one would ever know you had carpet dents!
Keeping Those Showerheads Clean
You’re only as clean as your showerheads. We’re pretty sure you’ve never heard this one before, but it’s true! Along with the water that spurts out of it is the grime that has collected over the years. Yuck! Don’t worry because we have an easy way to clean them!
Secure a plastic bag filled with one cup of vinegar over the showerhead. Tie or secure it with a rubber band. Adjust the showerhead so that it faces downwards as level as possible and leave for two hours. You can scrub away the remaining grime afterward.
Toothpaste For Glass Windows
Even though toothpaste is meant to protect and help your teeth heal, it can actually help smooth out harsh abrasions on your glass windows. Apply about a pea size amount to the scratches on the window or glass surface.
Rub the paste in with circular motions with a soft towel for one minute. Wipe off the excess paste and inspect the area. Repeat as necessary until you see some improvement. Using a clean damp towel, wipe off the toothpaste, then sit back and enjoy the view from your clear window.
Removing Dents On Wood With An Iron
You may find yourself getting lost in the deep chocolate flavor of your beautiful mahogany table. And, we’ve already taught you that literal chocolate can help make it look as good as new. But what do you do when you come across a dent?
Place a damp towel over the dented area. Let it rest for 10 seconds. With your iron set to the hottest level, place it over the cloth and rub it over the dent. Repeat a few times. Remove the towel and observe if the dent is unnoticeable.
Drawn And Stuck
Does it ever happen to you that no matter what direction or how hard you pull, your drawers just won’t budge? You make almost all your siblings take turns heaving, pushing, and pulling because they feel like they are not moving an inch.
Once you get that drawer out, make sure to rub a bar of soap over the contact edges. That will serve as a lubricant the next time your push it back in. Another pro is that it gives off a nice scent. And, make sure to use a soap with a lovely scent for an added bonus!
Anti-Slip Ladder With Shoes!
This is an odd way to keep your ladder from sliding off the wall. It’s handy for times when you’re painting at home alone, trying to reach the top of the cabinet, or when it comes time to change the lightbulb.
Tie the laces of a pair of rubber-soled shoes and simply fit them over both ends of the ladder. Next, tape them to secure them in place. Those rubber soles will provide the right amount of friction against the wall, so you don’t take a tumble.
Cooking Spray For Squeaking Door
Have you ever woke up from your husband trying to sneak out of the bedroom to go to the bathroom? Do those door hinges sound like the opening scene of The Conjuring? We have a simple tip for you if you can’t seem to figure out how to silence those squeaky hinges!
Cooking spray is the answer! It’s a wonderful alternative to WD-40. Generously spray it on door hinges that creak. After, test the hinges by closing and opening the door a few times. You know its works if you stop waking up from those frequent bathroom breaks!
Cleanse With Baking Soda
Maintaining your shower doesn’t have to be a challenge. What you need is probably already in your cleaning cabinet. You can use sodium bicarbonate, dish soap, and vinegar to clean the entire shower and make sure that you are getting rid of all the bacteria!
Baking soda contains the same amount of sodium bicarbonate per pound as your regular chemicals. Simply pour one cup of baking soda, one cup of vinegar, one tablespoon of dish shop, and water into a spray bottle and get cleaning!
Lubricating Your Mower
After doing yard work, you probably have no desire to clean your lawnmower blades. You probably want to lounge by the side of your freshly-cut yard and drink a glass of lemonade. However, it’s important to upkeep your lawnmower every time you use it.
Like those door hinges, you can choose between WD-40 or a can of cooking spray. Keep those gears moving and rust-free by using cooking spray on mower blades. There will be less amount of grass to clean up and time spent maintaining your mower.
Prevent Ice Build-up With Cooking Spray
Sometimes, you may set your freezer so low that it ends up freezing over in a blink of an eye! However, you risk destroying the lining of the freezer walls when you use an icepick, and having to scrape away those ice layers takes time.
First, let your freezer defrost and cleanse it thoroughly. But that’s not it! Spray the walls of your freezer with cooking spray. Let it sit for 5 minutes, then wipe it dry. The residue will prevent ice build-up. That means you will never have to devote time again to thawing and scraping the freezer.
Protect Your Fingers With Clothes Pegs
You need to have a great degree of accuracy to land the brunt of your hammer in the middle of the head of that nail. A newbie handyman could incur an injury. But not if they put this next hack to good use!
When hammering a nail, use a clothespin instead of your fingers to hold the nail in place. This way, you won’t have to worry about any injuries, possibly putting you out of work for a couple of weeks. There’s nothing more disappointing than failing to take precautions and something terrible happens.
Buffing Out Bangs
When you have kids, you’d expect the occasional thuds. They’re either falling, or the house is gradually falling apart because of their wild tactics and insane amounts of energy. It’s ok because there is always a fix to their silly mistakes.
To keep those walls from taking a beating, place some self-adhesive door bumpers along the walls. You can put them where you would normally expect a high-impact force. Prevent wall damage with this simple and cheap trick that won’t break the bank!
Cup of Tea
We understand that after their initial use, tea bags do not produce the same intense flavor or aroma the second and third time you try to brew a cup of tea with them. But, you can always reuse them in a different way.
You can use the contents of the teabag as a plant fertilizer. Either mix it in with the plant-soil or place it as a top coating for your germinating plants. It will provide them with sufficient nutrients! And they’re a great agent for odor control!
Cleanse Your Home Pool With A Tennis Ball!
You might not notice it, but oil residue can build up along the pool walls after swimming in the pool a few times. You can always change the water, but that could take time and not actually solve the problem.
Throw a couple of tennis balls into the pool. That right! The balls will soak up the oil first, so you’ll have an easier time disinfecting the pool. Their fuzzy exterior helps to absorb dirt, oils, and unwanted chemicals.
Launder The Mold Away With Bleach
You’ve just taken a bath, and you’re feeling energetic. You grasp the shower curtain liner, ready to dive into your after-shower routine, but you are all of a sudden disgusted! You feel an icky and slimy texture on your hands and realize its mold from your shower curtains.
Don’t panic! All you need to do is unfasten the curtain and throw it into the washing machine. Wash it like you normally would, but make sure you use cold water, bleach, and a bit of detergent. Rinse it with water and hang out to dry outside of the bathroom.
Matchstick To The Rescue
Handymen have all run into this common problem. You thought you bought the perfect screw to fit your current project, but you actually bought one with a smaller thread diameter. That’s okay. Just grab a matchstick to assist you!
Place the matchstick in the hole. Angle the matchstick to the side until its base breaks. Place the screw beside it. While keeping the screw upright, drill-down and the matchstick will make up for the lack of thread space. Neat, right?
Stapler Savior
If you have run out of staples for a stapler gun, you can always resort to your regular tabletop stapler to save the day. Open the stapler so that the base is in line with the handle, just like you would if you were to load the stapler.
Then just staple away! You might have some trouble putting those staples in place, but if you use some elbow power, it will all be worth it. It’s better to try this hack anyway than leave the upholstery undone.
Holding That Screw In Place
When exerting pressure on a screw, it’s possible that you end up tearing apart your skin in the process. Obviously, you want to avoid this at all costs! You can wind masking tape around your fingers, or you can use a magnet to help safeguard them.
Or, you can try attaching a small magnet about a centimeter’s diameter to the end of your screwdriver. When you need to put the screwdriver into the screw, you won’t need to hold it with your other finger—no more crouching down on the floor to find that screw.
Expansion Tube
With this next tip, you don’t have to estimate the drill depth anymore when you need to place an expansion tube in the wall. First, what you need to do is place the plastic expansion tube beside the end of the drill bit.
Using a piece of tape, mark the drill bit in line with the end of the expansion tube. Set aside the tube. Drill the hole in the wall to the point where the tape is placed. Insert the expansion tube. Now, you don’t have to worry about drilling a hole too deep!
Makeshift Wrench
Sometimes, it’s challenging to find the right size wrench to fit the screw head. When you do find one, you can’t seem to find it within your toolbox. If you find yourself spending too much time and money on wrenches, try this hack.
Insert the hex or jam nut inside a screw. Turn until it’s the appropriate diameter as the screw head you’re planning to remove. Turn the body of the screw like you would any lever. Easy peasy! We bet you never thought of this before!
Squeaky Wood Floors
If you have wood flooring throughout your home, or for that matter, if you Iive in a log cabin, chances are there are areas in your home where the wood panels on the floor squeak. However, you don’t need to go to extreme measures to fix this!
Coins And Wrenches
Before you throw a fit after realizing the wrench you found in the garage is a size too large for that screw head, feel for those nickels and dimes in your pocket. The rougher the ridges and the thicker the width, the better!
Place your non-adjustable wrench around the screw head. Then, place as many coins as necessary in the wrench opening until the wrench is snugly enclosed around the head. Flex your biceps and turn! This nifty tip should work like a charm!
Sponge For A Sore Nail
Do you need to remove a sore nail from the wall? You ram the claw of your hammer into the nail shank, but upon successful removal, you see that you’ve scraped paint off the wall. Next time, use a sponge!
Place the sponge below the nail. Slide the hammer with its head, neck and face resting against the sponge- this will be the area that will make contact with the wall. Rock out the nail gradually without leaving marks on the wall!
Stapler For Electrical Wires
There are a number of ways to remove the end of your electrical wires, but you could sever cut a finger in the process if you are not careful. Using a mini-stapler, you can easily remove the sheath based on your preferred length.
Insert the end of your electrical wire in the stapler like you would a paper. Press down on the handle and let the stapler cut through the external covering. Without releasing pressure on the stapler’s handle, pull the electrical wire to expose the inner wires.
Sand Paper To Sharpen Your Knife
You don’t have to exert manual pressure anymore when sharpening your knife. We have a cheap and easy hack for you that will do the job in seconds. Simply cut a strip of sanding paper with an adhesive back and place it around the drill chuck.
Make sure that the sanding paper is around one to two inches wide – just the right size to fit on your chuck. You can place two sandpapers of different grit – one that’s coarse and one that’s slightly finer. Start with the rough side, then repeat on the fine-grind side.
Removing Rust From Tools With Vinegar
If you find that your tools have all of a sudden become rusty, don’t worry because that doesn’t mean it’s the end of their life. You don’t have to throw them away. Pour about two cups of vinegar into a glass container.
Place the rusted wrench or tool inside the vinegar and leave it for 24 hours, making sure that the tool is fully submerged. Take the tool out, rinse with water, then dry accordingly. You can pour some grease oil on it if it’s an adjustable wrench.
Alternative Debris Catcher
If you don’t want to clean up after yourself when drilling shallow holes, you can take a piece of an adhesive note and place it below the area where you’ll be drilling. This will help you catch all those annoying debris.
Make sure that the note is bent so it will act as a makeshift pan. This only works if the hole is shallow, and the debris is sparse. Otherwise, all that dirt will simply fall. Use a bottle around your nail bit, as mentioned above, as an alternative.
Breaking Off The Razor Blade
Those razor blades come with a nifty safety feature, and because of them, you don’t have to find a new blade replacement. The solution has been resting in the palm of your hand all this time! You need to use the cap while breaking off the tip of the blade.
Pull the cap off, slide the blade down, then insert the dull edge into the cap. Break across the line by slightly bending the blade. Voila! You have got a sharper razor blade! And don’t worry. You can thank us later!
Foam Pad For Screws
You may find yourself rummaging through your toolbox for those nuts, bolts, screws, and nails. It’s a bummer that the box they came with can’t fit inside the toolbox. As an alternative, use a jewelry foam pad or a regular foam pad.
Unleash your inner jeweler. Be an artisan and show off those different nail heads to your pals. This way, those gremlins will fit inside your toolbox, and you won’t have to rummage to its core just to find the size you need!
Removing Tape With A Dryer
When removing stubborn tape from the wall, you may find yourself tearing off paint or wallpaper. Keep this from happening by plugging in that hairdryer. Are you confused yet? Don’t worry. We will make this make sense in a minute!
Aim and shoot hot air against the tape for two minutes before peeling the tape off. If you find that the tape is stuck, try blasting that air for a few more minutes. This will melt away the adhesive. Keep that paint spotless and that wallpaper intact!
Redesigning The Garage Door With Black Paint Or Chalkboard Paint
You’d expect that the door to the garage will become dirty over time. You’re constantly exposing it to the outside world, unlike a regular door in your house. So, the best way to keep it from being an eyesore is to paint it black or cover it with chalkboard paint.
You can draw reminders on the door – such as wash your hands, take out the trash, or keep the door shut. If you have kids, they will love decorating it with different colors, giving them a chance to “draw on a wall.” Plus, it’s cute!