Everybody needs a little life hack now and then: a simple, convenient, cost-cutting measure that takes a mundane task from day-to-day life and makes it that bit quicker and easier, and/or yields far more impressive results than our usual way of doing things. They leave us far more pleased with the end product, make us feel a whole lot better about ourselves, and usually make the whole endeavour a lot more fun than it would have been otherwise! That’s definitely true of the handy, helpful and often surprising life hacks we’ve got listed for you here…
1. These retail clothes hangers are great for chip clips
Need a quick and convenient way to seal up a half-eaten bag of potato chips? The clips from retail clothes hangers should do the job nicely; just gently snap them off either end of the hanger and use them to help keep those chips nice and fresh!
2. For those zippers that just won’t stay up
There’s nothing more embarrassing than a fly that just won’t stay up. Avoid that problem by attaching a key ring to the end of the zipper, then hooking that over the button once your fly is up, and if you tuck it behind the fabric of your jeans no one need ever know about it.
3. Awesome
Some people like to chill their white wine with a little ice, but nobody likes their wine watered down. Simply use frozen green grapes instead of ice cubes and it’ll cool down your wine without diluting the flavour.
4. This is how you fit 2 bowls into a small microwave
We’ve all been there: two bowls of leftovers to heat up in the microwave, but not enough room for them to stand side by side. Stand one of those bowls on top of an empty mug to microwave both at the same time, and there won’t be any more arguments about who has to wait a couple more minutes for lunch!
5. Clever trick for the crib
Oh, the heartache once the baby of the family has outgrown their crib – but you can always keep that treasured piece of furniture part of their lives by removing one side and slotting a couple of chairs out of it, making it a perfect first desk for a toddler!
6. Use PVC pipes and a leaf blower to clean out gutters without a ladder
If there’s one garden chore that no one looks forward to, it’s cleaning out the gutters. However, if you take your basic leaf blower and secure some PVC piping to the end, you can shift all those troublesome leaves and debris without ever having to step foot on a ladder!
7. This is a no experience needed way to make ice cream sandwiches
Who doesn’t love an ice cream cookie sandwich? Make them simply at home by slicing the top off the ice cream carton with a knife, sticking a cookie on either end and peeling off the paper. Delicious and easy!
8. Unclog your stopped up drain without using expensive chemicals
Pour a half a cup of baking soda and a cup of vinegar into a clogged drain. Once it stops foaming rinse down the sink and your drains will be clear. This is a “green” way to go about things!
9. Make a template for hanging something by photocopying the underside of the object
It’s always a pain trying to hang something when you’re trying to gauge the exact right spots to drill in the wall, but you can make things a whole lot easier by photocopying the underside of the item and using that copy as a template.
10. Use a dry tea bag to absorb those bad smells in your gym shoes
Hard to believe, but true: a dry tea bag will help soak up the bad smells lingering in your sweaty old shoes, so you can make those comfy old sneakers last that bit longer without stinking up the place!
11. This is will stop those pen thieves at work
Do you find your spare blue pens are always getting stolen on the sly by your devious co-workers? You’ll be surprised to find how much your thefts will go down when you sneak the blue cartridge into the body of a red pen instead!
12. If you want to charge your phone twice as fast put it into airplane mode.
Tired of your phone taking forever to charge up? You can cut your charging time in half by putting your phone into airplane mode when you plug it in, and you’ll have a fully charged phone sooner than you would have expected!
13. Line the bottom of your bin liner with old newspaper to soak up those nasty juices
There are few household chores quite so off-putting as having to clean out the juices that have collected at the bottom of the garbage. A quick and simple way to avoid this is padding out the bottom of the bag with some old newspaper, which will soak that nasty liquid up.
14. Make a hole in the centre of your plate of leftovers to heat it up in the microwave more evenly
Do you find that when you heat up leftovers in the microwave, it never seems to be heated evenly all the way through? Simply make a donut-style hole in the middle of the food, and notice how the heat seems to spread much better than before!
15. This is how you fix a blurry phone camera
If you find the pictures you take on your phone are never as clear as you want, try putting a little square of transparent tape over the lens. You may be surprised at how these helps reduce lens flare and keep the images in focus!
16. Cool off your beer in 2 minutes by wrapping it with wet paper towels and sticking it in the freezer
Nobody wants a warm beer – but nobody wants to wait over an hour for it to get properly cold in the fridge. You can massively reduce that chilling time by simply wrapping the bottle in a wet paper towel and sticking it in the freezer instead, and you’ll have a nice and frosty cold one in mere minutes!
17. Use a clothes peg to hold a nail in place for hammering
Every last one of us has accidentally hit our fingers with the hammer when holding a nail against the wall. Hold that nail in place with a clothes peg instead, and you’ll avoid the risk of bruising those precious finger tips!
18. A can opener is the way to go on those hard to open plastic packaging
We’ve all had the problem of getting a new gizmo home, and finding it’s so securely encased in hard plastic packaging that you honestly don’t know how to get into it. The simplest solution: slap on your trusty can opener and you’ll get in there in no time!
19. Put a glass of water in the microwave to keep your pizza crust from going chewy
Half the joy of ordering a pizza is having leftovers to heat up as a tasty snack afterwards – but it takes some of that joy out when the crust loses its moisture. Put a little bit of water in a glass and leave that in the microwave and you’ll find the pizza stays as fresh and juicy as before.
20. Make a small hole in your microwave popcorn bag to get rid of the loose kernels
Nobody likes getting a mouthful of unpopped kernels when you reach the end of your popcorn. Just by making a small opening in the bag after microwaving, you can shake out those loose pieces and enjoy your popcorn kernel-free!
21. Hide scuffs on wooden furniture by rubbing walnuts on them
No need to waste your time and money on cans of varnish and/or polish in order to conceal scuffs on wooden furniture. Just get a walnut, and gently rub it over the afflicted area, and you’ll be surprised to find it comes out looking as good as new!
22. A quick DIY night light
When you’re out camping or just in a bind (say, if the power’s suddenly gone out), a standard headlamp strapped to a 1 gallon jug of water is just the ticket to illuminate an entire room or tent.
23. A staple remover can hold open a key ring and make it much easier to add keys
Every time we have a new item to a keyring, don’t we all wonder how we managed to get the other things on in the first place? Take it a whole lot easier on your fingernails by using a staple remover to hold the keyring open and get the extra items on with the greatest of ease.
24. The position of the exit sign will tell you which direction you need to take
There’s nothing worse than approaching your exit but not being sure whether you’re going left or right. Simply take note of which side of the road your exit sign is positioned on, and that’s the direction you need to go.
25. Freeze a sponge in a food bag for a drip-free ice pack
Now and then we all need to apply ice to an injury, but it’s always an additional pain when the ice melts all over your wounded area. Avoid this by freezing a simple kitchen sponge in a food bag, and this will store all the chilling power you need without turning into a puddle afterwards.
26. Didn’t you know that Chinese-to-go containers already fold out into a plate?
If you prefer to eat your Chinese take-out from a plate rather than out of the carton, there’s no need to fret. Most Chinese take-out boxes are designed in just such a way that you can fold out the sides and make an instant plate anyway!
27. Re-sharpen that old razor by running it across old jeans
Find that your disposable razor blade is getting a bit dull? No need to throw it out just yet: you can re-sharpen it by rubbing it against some old denim, and you’ll find it’s a good and keen blade again in no time at all.
28. Cut your circles of sandwich meat in half to maximise your bread-to-filling ratio
Don’t you just hate it when you reach the end of your sandwich and find there’s nothing left in the corners but dry bread? If you simply cut your circular slices of meat into semi-circles, and place them with the straight edges up against the straight edges of the bread, you’ll maximise the amount of meat in your sandwich!
29. An old sun lotion bottle can be repurposed as a handy beach purse
It’s always nerve-wracking taking your purse to the beach, in case some thief snaps it up while you’re in the water. However, an old sun lotion bottle is far less likely to attract the attention of purse-snatchers, and if it’s properly cleaned out it should comfortably fit your phone, money and keys.
30. Throw your shirt in the dryer with a few ice cubes to get rid of wrinkles
Need to get the wrinkles out of a shirt quick, but don’t have an iron to hand? Try throwing in in the drier for five minutes along with a few ice cubes, and believe it or not this should result in a far smoother, less wrinkled garment.
31. Cut those cherry tomatoes perfectly every time
Tired of making a mess when you chop cherry tomatoes in half? You can make things so much much neater and simpler by piling your tomatoes on cop of a small plate, holding a second plate the same size over the top, then carefully slicing them all through the middle at once with a large knife.
32. Prevent a pot from over boiling
Tired of pans of boiling water bubbling over? If you simply lay a wooden spoon over the top of the pan this will stop it from spilling foam all over the place, as the gentle pressure from the spoon will pop the bubbles before they have a chance to escape the pan.
33. Use those soft-drink lids as coasters.
Avoid the lecture from dad for putting your cold drink on his new coffee table. The plastic lids used for most disposable soft drink cups are specially designed in such a way that they can easily be repurposed as an instant coaster!
34. If you pinch the end of a banana it will open a whole lot easier
So many of us open our bananas from the stem, and deal with that gritty bit at the bottom later, but it’s actually much easier and more efficient to reverse things and open the banana the other way around, and you’ll wind up with a little more of the fruit to eat.
35. Make taking the shell off a hard-boiled egg a whole lot easier by adding a teaspoon of baking soda while boiling.
Getting the shell neatly off a hard boiled egg isn’t always the easiest proposition, but if you simply add a teaspoon of baking soda to the water whilst you bring it to the boil, you’ll find that the shell peels off a whole lot more easily once it’s fully cooked.
36. No baking soda? Peel of a little shell at the top and a bigger hole at the bottom. Put the small hole to your mouth and blow.
Another simple hack to make de-shelling your hard boiled egg that bit easier is to crack off a little bit of the shell at the top, then a little more at the bottom. Once you’ve done that, all you need to do is blow through the small hole and the boiled egg should pop out shell free, easy as pie.
37. Instead of stacking your clothes the ordinary way, flip them vertically to save lots of room.
Sometimes you just have to think in three dimensions. If you stack your clothes vertically rather than horizontally when packing your suitcase, you’ll find it’s a far more efficient use of the space.
38. Charge your phone by plugging it into the back of any flat screen TV
The joy of HDMI cables is they seem to be almost everywhere! And so long as it’s a device that’s plugged into the mains, even a TV, it’s basically a phone charger in waiting, which is handy for those times when there just isn’t a plug available.
39. This way of folding shirts will save tons of time.
As much as we have to say it, all those people who said high school maths would never help you in the real world may have been wrong. Lay your shirt flat and lift it at just the right angle and you can fold it as neatly and quickly as the clerks in the clothing stores.
40. Just twist the bone and pull, this will help you eat those yummy chicken wings.
Everybody wants to savour the meat of the BBQ chicken wings, but some of us end up choking on the bone. To avoid that problem, simply twist the bone and pull to cleanly separate the tasty chicken and chow down with no fear of any choking hazard.
41. Carefully place a empty plastic bottle on the top of an egg yolk. Gently squeeze to separate the egg whites from the yolk.
Many of us trying to adopt healthier eating habits want to cook eggs without the yolk, but have difficulty separating the yellow part from the white. The suction from an empty drink bottle should do the trick nicely.
42. Save more space when packing by doing this simple thing with your clothes.
Sometimes you have to do like Limp Bizkit said and keep rollin’, rollin’, rollin’, rollin’. Do that with your clothes whilst packing for vacation, and you’ll greatly increase the storage space in your bag.
43. Use a toilet roll and two thumb tacks to make your phone louder when listening to music
Remember making pretend microphones out of toilet rolls as a kid? That exact same principle can work on your phone – just carve a little rectangle to slot it into the roll, add a couple of thumb tacks to stand it upright, and instantly improve the acoustics of your phone’s speaker.
44. No AA’s, Use AAA’s instead!
There are few things quite so frustrating than we you need batteries, and you know you have batteries, but it turns out the batteries in question are too small. However, a little ball of tinfoil between the negative end and the coil turns a AAA into a AA!
45. Avoid having to stop on every floor because some funny guy pushed all the buttons.
We’ve all been stuck in an elevator when someone makes like Will Ferrell in Elf and decides to light up every single button. However, if you simply push the buttons of the floors you don’t want to stop on a second time, that floor is de-selected and the elevator won’t stop there.
46. Don’t want to see all those ads when playing games? Put your phone in airplane mode.
None of us want to deal with ads when we’re getting our game on, right? Quick and simple solution: the ads won’t come to your phone if you’ve got it in airplane mode.
47. Make easy no-mess pancakes by putting the batter in an old ketchup bottle
We all love pancakes, but we’re not all so great at spreading the batter neatly in the pan. If your pancakes tend to get messy, keep things neater by keeping your batter in an old squeezy ketchup bottle!
48. Hide your spare cash in a sanitary napkin
If you’re worried about getting pick-pocketed, few things are more likely to deter potential thieves than hiding your money in a sanitary napkin! Ain’t nobody who wants to steal any of that!
49. Shoes make handy cup holders
No cup holder space in the car? Don’t worry about it. Get an old shoe, sit it on your passenger seat, and the gap that fits around your ankle will fit just as snugly around most drinks containers!
50. Use a straw to take the stem out of strawberries
Love sinking your teeth into a succulent strawberry, but hate dealing with the rough stem at the centre? Use a common household drinking straw, insert it all the way through the strawberry from beneath, and voila: stemless strawberry!
51. Lego men make great charger holders
Hanging cables are a nightmare, especially when they get caught behind cabinets and stay irritatingly out of reach. Prevent bending your cables out of shape or taking several breaks in your workday to reach for them, by letting a friendly Lego man do the work of holding them.
52. Tidy and convenient sandpit
Sandpits are the most fun toy you can get when you’re a kid, but they’re also inconvenient. They get dirty, they make a mess because the sand gets everywhere, and they’re difficult to transport. A pop-up tent solves all these problems, whilst combining the fun of a sandpit with the fun of a fort!
53. Need to transport lots of clothes at once?
Moving house is a pain, but maybe the worst part is taking all your clothes off their hangers to pack them into boxes, only to take them out and hang them up again once you’re in your new location. Instead, using bin bags to pack up all your clothes and transport them on the hangers could save you hours of work!
54. Include everyone in the picture, even the person taking it!
Everyone has experienced that awkward moment of wanting to commemorate a get-together or special event, only to realise that taking a picture together either means snagging a stranger or leaving someone out of the image. The solution? A mirror!
55. Need to get that Instagram picture from far away?
When you go to a sporting event, it’s always tempting to take pictures. But what do you do when the field is miles away and all the players look like stick figures? Combining tools in unexpected ways can help you to get that perfect shot, up close and personal, right from your seat.
56. No more drinking stale old coffee
Workplace coffee can either be a perk of the job or one of its worst aspects, depending on the quality. One way to avoid the worst of all offenders, old coffee, is to turn two temporary cups into a timer, so you’ll always know when it’s time to brew a new pot.
57. Hide your spare key with a pill bottle and some glue
Spare keys are a necessity if you want to avoid being locked out of your house, but the question is: where to put them? This ingenious trick disguises your key as just another garden stone, to keep it safe from burglars or being accidentally found.
58. Use plastic bags as bin liners without them slipping with picture hooks
Using spare plastic bags as bin liners is the kind of trick that’s been around forever, but unless you use a bag that is comically too large for the bin, the chances of the bag slipping and falling are high. However, this issue can be instantly solved with two wall hooks.
59. Find missing small objects with a vacuum cleaner and pair of tights
Most people know the sheer horror of dropping an earring on the carpet, or losing the last screw of an Ikea project deep in the rug. Let your vacuum cleaner come to the rescue, by stretching a pair of tights over the opening to catch the lost item!
60. Save space on the washing line by hanging clothes like this
Hanging washing out is one of those chores that you have to do again and again, so learning how to do it more efficiently can only be a plus. Hanging your clothes up sideways rather than draping over the line saves a tonne of space, and actually helps your clothes dry faster!
61. Use up the last of your Nutella by eating ice cream out of the jar
There’s no bigger frustration than being unable to get the last bit of Nutella out of the jar. This genius hack allows you to turn it into instant hazelnut chocolate sauce, by spooning ice cream directly into the jar.
62. Never lose a bobby pin again with a magnetic strip inside a drawer
Bobby pins and hair ties: the two things you can’t seem to keep around for more than a few weeks without losing them. The solution? A magnetic strip that connects to the inside of your drawer, that keeps all your bobby pins from sliding around at the bottom of your purse.
63. Use a dog leash and never drop a book in the bath again!
Reading in the bath is one of the great pleasures of life, but it’s also a very high stakes game. One slip or splash and you’ll be drying out the pages with a hairdryer for hours, and there’s the potential to ruin the book forever. The ingenious solution is a dog lead, which will cause the book to shoot up away from the water if dropped.
64. Need a TV for the bottom bunk? Two hangers and a tablet!
When it comes to bunk beds, the top bunk is the undisputed top prize, with the bottom falling into the consolation prize category. However, two clothes hangers and a tablet gives you a private TV, for ultra cosy movie nights that anyone would envy.
65. Heavy-duty paperclips can organise your freezer
Whether you have a chest freezer or a fridge freezer, the potential for disorganization is huge. Thankfully, some heavy-duty paperclips are enough to take a freezer from chaos to regimented order in just a couple of seconds.
66. Use a CD holder to hold your bagel
Bagels are undoubtedly the most delicious form of sandwich, but they bring with them their own set of problems, not least their unusual shape. They don’t fit in conventional Tupperware, which makes them difficult to transport from home to work, making a round CD holder an ingenious solution.
67. An egg tray can cool down an overheating laptop
No matter how expensive the laptop, the time will come when a hot day will beat it, resulting in the tell-tale whir of overheating computer parts. A cheap solution is an egg tray, which allows air to circulate underneath.
68. A chopping board in a drawer can increase your kitchen space
No matter how big your kitchen is, you’re likely to run into a situation sooner or later where a lack of counter space becomes an issue. A quick fix is to put a chopping board over an open drawer, instantly giving you another surface to work on.
69. Hard to reach wick? Light a strand of spaghetti
When you’re just starting to burn a candle, the wicks are within easy reach. However, the longer you burn a candle, the harder it can be to light it. The solution is simple: the end of a spaghetti strand will burn slowly and steadily, allowing you to reach any wick!
70. Use a Pringles tube for easy access to the crisps
Unless you’re in the percentage of the population blessed with small hands, it can be nearly impossible to reach into a Pringles can past the first few crisps. This genius solution allows you to get out the crisps and turn the tube upright again, without the stack being disrupted.
71. Too many bags and not enough hands? Jumbo carabiner!
There’s no more unavoidable problem than that of having too many grocery bags and not enough hands. Short of making multiple trips from the car back to the house or accepting huge red lines across your knuckles and wrists, there aren’t many easy solutions. That is, until the advent of the giant carabiner!
72. A cutting board and a lamp make a quick and dirty tracing table
A tracing table is the kind of specialist equipment that feels way too specific to actually splash out the cash for, until a time when you actually need one and find yourself without. Thankfully, you can make a rough and ready version out of a plastic chopping board and a lamp, for all your tracing needs!
73. When caught without an iron, use a saucepan full of boiling water
Ironing your clothes is the kind of thing that feels less and less necessary in the modern world. Far fewer occasions call for it than ever before, which can leave you in a pinch if you need one and don’t have one. Thankfully, a saucepan full of hot water can do the trick.
74. A key will work in place of a coin in most shopping trolleys
When you put your coin in a shopping trolley, you’re guaranteed to get it back, provided you return the trolley at the end of your shop. However, what happens if you forget to bring a coin with you? Either you forgo a trolley and lug a basket around, or you use the top of a key.
75. Mop without fear of footprints with towel shoes!
Mopping is an incredibly annoying chore, and it’s only made more infuriating by the fact that it’s nearly impossible to do without leaving footprints all over your newly clean for. The solution? Towel shoes, which also serve to dry the floor as you’re cleaning!