How often have you thought, while in the middle of folding laundry, perhaps, or performing some other mundane, time-consuming task, doesn’t there have to be a better way?
Well, you weren’t the only one wondering — and some folks out there actually came up with some solutions to make things easier, and some novel ways to take normal, boring things up a notch.
If you live in the north, you’ll love this.
You’ll need to salt your driveway and your sidewalk for sure, and the easiest way to spread that salt around is the ol’ fertilizer spreader.
You know what’s better than a toaster-fresh Pop-Tart?
How about a fire-roasted Pop-Tart? Okay, maybe not ideal for first thing in the morning, but that smoky flavor is hard to beat.
You can’t ask for an easier way to hang a dollar store frame than this.
Because they don’t always come with the right hardware to mount on the wall, a tin can lid will do the trick if it has a pull ring. Just be sure to clean it thoroughly first!
Waiting for the kettle is the worst.
The Keurig’s large cup setting dispenses the perfect amount of hot water for a cup of noodles in a fraction of the time.
Make painting clean-up a breeze by putting a paint tray inside a garbage bag first.
As someone who has lost a good chunk of his life to cleaning paint trays, I wish I had seen this ages ago.
And don’t let your brushes dry out between coats.
When your project is dry enough for the next coat, just fold the bag down over you hand. Then seal it back up for the next waiting period.
Checkmate, Tim Cook. Checkmate.
I mean, you could shell out for a ridiculously expensive monitor stand, or, if you don’t care about appearances, go with the 25 cent coat hanger option.
If you can’t choose between chocolate chip cookies or Oreos, don’t.
Bake that little Oreo right into the chocolate chip and have a pastry party in your mouth.
Usually I just tear the packaging open and send batteries flying everywhere.
So yeah, using the packaging itself to fold into a container,
There’s no quicker way to shred chicken than with a hand mixer.
Having actually tried this before, I can confirm that the hand mixer makes short work of it.
A pint of ice cream fits perfectly in a mug.
Which means no frosty hands and no ring of water on your table while you chow down.
When you’re freezing leftovers like soups, put them in freezer bags and flatten them.
That’ll cut the thawing time down and make them easier to store. Works great for things like ground beef, too.
If you want to chill a drink quickly, wrap it in a wet paper towel before putting it in the fridge.
In ten minutes, you’ll have a properly cool beverage in your hands.
If you line your tacos with a lettuce leaf, you get a second line of defense.
You just know that hard shell is going to crumble and fill your lap with ingredients, but the lettuce leaf will hold stuff in.
A Gatorade cap fits onto a milk jug.
And we don’t judge what happens from there.
Huh, I’ve always just poured the pasta into the strainer in the sink.
I guess this removes a step and a transfer of pasta, which is always a good thing.
Shopping cart space can be at a premium on a big shop.
So if you’re picking up some six-packs, drape them over the side like this to give yourself more room to work with.
You can open some hotel rooms with any old card, not necessarily a room card.
This, for example, is a library card. If nothing else, this will tell you that you might want to upgrade to more secure lodgings.
WD-40 will get gum out of your carpet.
Saturate the gum and surrounding fibers with the WD-40 and then work the gum out with your fingers. Then wash the oily residue out of the carpet.
Make a universal pot lid with a simple trick.
Just unscrew the handle from the top of a spare lid and reattach it to the underside. Now the curve of the lid will make it work with many differently-sized pots.
Protect those car doors!
A pool noodle can be bought for as little as a dollar and can save a lot of frustration in a narrow garage when used as a wall bumper.
Fill a bucket from a tiny sink.
We don’t all have a bathtub, but mop buckets are usually bigger than sinks can handle. A dust pan can help.
Who knew a banana hanger had a use in the office?
It can be hard to find a tidy place to put big headphones while still keeping them easy to access. A banana hanger is oddly perfect.
No in-flight movie? No problem.
Assuming that you’ve taken into account the comfort of the person in front of you, it’s easy to use the hood of a jacket to prop up your phone or tablet.
The perfect bite of cupcake every time.
A well-made cupcake is a balance of flavors. Get the balance right in each bite with this hack. Just don’t try it if the cupcake has a filling.
This genius is going to have properly buttered popcorn.
If your theater does self-serve butter, then you can’t ask for some in the middle. But a straw and careful aim will solve that problem.
Prevent crimes of opportunity while shopping.
Clip your purse to the cart with the safety belt or keep a carabiner handy for carts that don’t include the belts.
No Goo Gone? No problem.
Easily remove labels by putting the container in the freezer for a couple of hours. The adhesive will break down.
Smooth those collars with a hair straightener.
Even shirts advertised as wrinkle-free can end up with wonky collars. This is far more convenient than getting out the ironing board.
Want to get a perfectly, completely evenly slice of toast?
Put your bread in lengthwise instead of up-and-down.
Use a key ring to keep that fly up.
Whether it’s just a crumby zipper or you’ve eaten a few too many carbs that day, this’ll keep things zipped.
Keep plants watered when you’re away from home.
A natural fiber rope or string will slowly soak up the water in the bucket and send that moisture to the plant.
And kudos to this little guy whose trash game is next level.
We just want to give props to this kid showing us all how to change the garbage bag. That’s how you make your parents proud, folks.
Stop wasting food ASAP!
“We wanted to quit wasting food, then we realized we could use a dry erase marker on the top of our freezer. Now we always know what is in there” -Invisibeth
Here’s a parenting hack that’s clever-but-cruel.
“True hell on Earth for a teenager. This is a parenting hack. When my kids get in trouble, I remove their SIM card from their expensive phone and put it into a cheap unlocked Blackberry from the 2000’s. This is a way to can still use a phone, but social media is almost non-existent” -streetuner
Who needs compressed air anyway?
Now that’s one clever way to clean a keyboard.
The ultimate campfire hack
When you use tanning/swimming goggles, you are protected from the heat while also getting warm. Brilliant!
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Maybe this was what Pitbull’s “Hotel Room” was really about.
“Hotel curtains letting in too much light?? Grab a hangar with clips and pinch it shut” -fittydeuce52
Keeping your bobby pins is an elusive business.
Luckily, storing them in an empty Tic Tac container does the trick!
De-tangling Christmas lights is literally the worst.
Which is why it’s a pretty smart idea to wrap them in cardboard before you put them away for the year.
No phone stand at work? No problem.
Just use butterfly clips! Apparently they are “stronger than your neighbor’s marriage.”
This DIY wine rack is honestly the coolest thing ever.
“Use 4″ PVC for super-efficient wine storage. No glue or fasteners required.” -Sunstoned1
This is one that deserves to be common knowledge
You should always use the end of your vacuum cleaner to suck the dust from the head of the vacuum when finished. That way, the vacuum won’t get clogged.
Keep household pets from getting trapped under your recliner with packing tape.
“Tape the bottom of your recliner with packing tape to keep out small pets from hiding under and getting injured. The sticky side will face up, and they won’t like the stickiness on their paws, and avoid the area.” -fog-mann
Want to save money AND time? Of course you do.
“Driveway plow: $5 for conduit, $3 for bolts, 3x increased efficiency: priceless.” -Uncle-Sam-i-am
Yet another reason to hang onto a Pringles can.
If you store other snacks inside, you can take that to the office and munch away without bothering anybody else with crinkling bags.
