Often, we become so used to our routine and doing the same daily tasks that we don’t consider how we could do things differently. But there are plenty of quick tips and tricks that could help to simplify life, while also saving you time and money.
With this in mind, we’ve come up with a list of 25 life hacks that’ll hopefully help you solve everyday challenges in new and creative ways. They can be fun, satisfying, and will hopefully make things that little bit easier!
1. Use a trouser hanger to hold your recipe book
This is by far one of my favourite hacks! So many times a recipe book has shut on me while I’ve got my hands covered in flour, meaning I can’t open it back up to see the next step.
This useful tip will stop you from losing your page (and your flow) when you’re getting creative in the kitchen.
Simply hang your hanger from a kitchen cupboard handle and clip your book to it for a low-stress, hands-free cooking experience.
2. Use toilet paper tubes to make seed starter pots
If you’ve got seeds that you’ve been meaning to plant but nothing to plant them in, consider using toilet paper tubes to make seed starter pots.
They’re biodegradable, take just a few minutes to make, and will be sturdy enough to allow seeds to start putting down roots before you later upgrade them to a larger pot.
This hack is a great way to recycle your toilet roll tubes because the microbes in the soil will break the cardboard down into carbon – which your seedlings will use as food!
3. Freeze grapes to chill wine without watering it down
If you’re a fan of a glass of wine in the evening, you might be looking for ways to keep your white or rose wine chilled for longer. Ice cubes are an obvious choice but will water your wine down.
An alternative way to keep your wine cool is to freeze grapes and use them as ice cubes. Plus, you can enjoy eating them afterwards!
Extra tip: Frozen grapes or cherries on their own also make for a great snack to cool you down during the summer.
4. Fix scratches on wooden furniture using a walnut
Furniture gets scratched and scuffed over time, and many people assume that they’ll either have to live with the damage or sand down and re-varnish the entire piece of furniture.
But, did you know that you can cover up dings on wooden furniture in a matter of minutes by rubbing the area with a walnut?
Simply rub the walnut over the scuff or scratch a few times. Then rub the area with a soft cloth to help the wood absorb the oil from the nut. You might be surprised at how well this works!
5. Make a calming sensory bottle
If you’re suffering from stress or negative thoughts, these sensory bottles can provide a great distraction and help keep you calm. They can also make fun additions to your office desk or bedside table.
Some sensory bottles are made using glitter. However, glitter (even the biodegradable kind) is harmful to the environment. This is why it’s best to make your sensory bottles with water beads* (or ‘Orbeez’), which are non-toxic and biodegradable. Water beads are tiny, absorbent beads that grow to 100 times their size when added to water.
All you need to do to make your sensory bottle is to put a teaspoon of water beads into a clear bottle or jar, fill it with water, and leave it for four to six hours. Once it’s ready, shake it up, watch, and relax.
6. Keep your cereal boxes closed with this handy tip
Don’t you hate it when you realise that you forgot to close your cereal box properly? Or that it popped open soon after you closed it, leaving your cereal all soft and chewy?
If this sounds familiar, try this handy trick that’ll help to keep your cereal boxes firmly closed. They’ll look much neater too!
7. Use a dustpan to fill up a bucket if it won’t fit in your sink
It can be frustrating when you go to fill up a bucket with water and realise that it won’t fit in your sink.
But, if you’ve got a dustpan, by positioning it in the sink in the right way, water will be able to flow across your dustpan, down the handle, and into your bucket.
Have a watch of the quick video below to see how it’s done.
8. Tie a bag of vinegar around your shower head
Is your shower head clogged or looking grimy? If yes, try pouring some distilled white vinegar into a sandwich or freezer bag and tying it around your shower head.
Prepare to come back the next day to see it squeaky clean!
To be as eco-friendly as possible, you can save the bag to repeat this trick in future.
9. Use beeswax to make canvas shoes waterproof
Did you know that by rubbing beeswax over any pair of shoes, you can make them waterproof?
You’ll need a bar of beeswax (or a candle) and a hairdryer. The short clip below will take you through what to do next…
10. Use dental floss to perfectly cut cakes
Cutting a crumbly cake with a knife does the trick, but it doesn’t always produce as clean or even a cut as most of us would like. Then, before you know it, there are crumbs everywhere and one of your guests is asking why they got a smaller slice of cake than Jeff!
A simple trick for solving this problem is to cut your cake using unflavoured dental floss. All you need to do is cut a long piece of floss, hold it over the top of the cake at the point you want to make the cut, and make a sawing motion back and forth as you press down into it.
The number of cuts you make will depend on how many slices you want to get out of the cake.
You can also use this technique to create a layered cake, for example, when making a Victoria sponge – and it can be particularly helpful for cutting a cake that has an especially delicate, crumbly texture.
Before you start cutting, take a look at the video below…
11. Use a spring from a pen to stop your charger cable from becoming damaged
With frequent usage, charger cables can become frayed or damaged. When this happens, they have a greater risk of overheating and starting a fire, or they may just stop working altogether.
To prevent this, you can take the metal spring out of a pen and wrap it around your charger cable to give it extra support. This’ll hopefully help it to last longer.
The video below shows you how to do this in a few easy steps.
12. Wrap a wet cloth around your drink and put it in the fridge
At some point, we’ve all longed for a cold drink but forgotten to put our bottles or cans in the fridge.
Next time this happens, try wrapping a wet cloth around your drinks bottle or can before putting it in the fridge. The water will rapidly evaporate and cool, chilling your drink much faster. You should have a nice frosty beverage in just 10 minutes.
13. Place a lazy Susan in your fridge or cupboards
A lazy Susan is a turntable that you can place on any counter or shelf to help you access your food more easily. So, if you regularly find yourself with food piled up at the back of the fridge or cupboards, making it difficult to see, this hack is for you.
You can store all your food on a lazy Susan – so you’ll never forget about what’s at the back of the cupboard or fridge again. Those who get them tend to never go back!
There are plenty of lazy Susans available on Amazon*.
14. Use spaghetti to light a candle
If you want to protect your fingers when you’re lighting a candle, consider using a dry piece of spaghetti for a longer reach.
This is a great tip for lighting candles in glass holders because you often have to use matches and lighters at funny angles to reach the wick, meaning your fingers risk getting toasty!
15. Create extra counter space by placing your chopping board on top of an open drawer
If you’re making a big dinner with lots of components, sometimes it can be handy to have some extra chopping space.
By pulling out your kitchen drawer and putting your chopping board on top, you may be able to create an extra work surface.