Only 2% of the people in the world have an IQ high enough to be a MENSA member, but even they probably don’t know all of the hacks we’ve collected for you in this handy list.
We at SmallJoys are on a constant hunt for easy, budget friendly, and smart hacks to make our readers’ lives easier. So be sure to check out our latest findings!
1. Renew a marker
Markers have a tendency to stop working, like many things, when you need them the most. But no worries, if you have a deodorant, that is gas or alcohol-based, spray it inside the marker and give it a new life at least for a little while.
2. Put your phone on airplane mode to save battery.
All of us have been in this situation once or twice — our phone battery is on its last breath and we have to make a crucial call to our job or a loved one. So to keep what’s left of your phones energy until that time — simply put the phone on airplane mode. This will cut all connections to the internet or GPS and even the processes that run automatically and usually take up a lot of your device’s energy. This tip will save you for sure.
3. Make a meal prep buffet.
In the era of healthy eating meal prep is no novelty, however, if you have small kids or just love variety in your food and you’re not ready to commit to the same meals for the week, make a version of meal prep that will satisfy your needs.
Make a sort of “pre-made buffet” — cook up ingredients that you can combine in multiple ways. For example, for the base you can make a simple rice or pasta, then make several sauces that really differ from each other and then make separate toppings, like meat, veggies, and seafood — do not mix any of them. And then you can play “build-a-meal” every day of the week.
4. Soap the zipper to work better
If you’ve been struggling with a pesky little zipper that just doesn’t want to work and keeps sending you running into somebody who can fix it — struggle no more. Use some simple soap to “butter it up”(butter would work too, but it stains and comes off easily). You can also try a bit of a hair gel for the same purpose.
5. Make a rewards card chain
Do you get confused with all the gift cards, rewards cards, and whatnot cards at the counter? This is easily solved. Take a hole punch and punch through all the cards that you use regularly (make sure you don’t ruin the magnetic strip or chip in the process) and put them all on one key ring. Add a ribbon and now you have a very manageable card collection you can take anywhere.
6. Prepare “one-second” lemonade
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Julie Samra (@juliesamra) on
Nothing is better on a hot summer day or for a quick cocktail, than lemonade cubes. What are those you ask? They are magic and this is how you make them:
- Take fresh lemon juice;
- Sugar to your taste;
- Make the mixture strong, since it’s going to be diluted with water;
- Cut the lemon wedges in small pieces;
- Freeze the mixture with wedges in an ice cube tray.
Now every time you want a refreshing drink — grab a couple of cubes from the freezer, dunk them in water and have a delicious homemade lemonade.
7. Use Velcro to store needles and other small things.
As much as Velcro gets to be used in fashion it is usually overlooked as a homeowner’s little helper. With double sided Velcro you can make any surface into a storage of sorts. And if you are into sewing your own clothing — make it a “pin cushion” — just take a piece of Velcro and put your needle through its little loops. It will not only secure them in one place, but also potentially prevent somebody from stepping on a loose needle.
8. Use hair dryer to remove stickers
This handy tool we use almost every day can help us with this problem. We’ve all struggled to take a sticker off of something that was brand new. The hair dryer provides a gentle heat to melt the production glue, which is the main problem. So you can heat up the sticker, remove it gently, and then take off the residue with a wet napkin or a wipe.
9. Label spice jars and bottles the correct way.
Kitchen lovers love to print cute little labels for the tops of mason jars, but what if we suggest that the side of the jar would be a better place? You see, lids can be easily switched up and you don’t want any salt in your coffee, do you? So, in a hurry, it would make perfect sense to look for the jar without the danger of somebody (or yourself) playing a cruel prank on you.
10. Cook corn on the cob in 5 minutes.
This simple trick will give you delicious corn on the cob in minutes.
- Wrap an ear of corn in a wet paper towel;
- Put it in the microwave on “high” for 5 minutes;
- Carefully unwrap the corn and enjoy.
If you’d like to add some more “oomph” to it, smear butter on the corn before wrapping it.
11. Use a rubber band to remove a screw.
If a screw is “worn down” and you need to take it out — put a rubber band between it and the screwdriver to get a better grip.
12. Clean up a nail polish spill.
View this post on InstagramHow beautiful is this spill shot of #ChinaGlaze That's Shore Bright by @thenailtrail?! ?
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If you do your manicures at home, you know that nail polish spillage is hard to clean up. Hard, but not impossible.
- Don’t let it sit and dry on your floor or table — clean it right away;
- Cover the stain with nail polish remover and let it sit for a minute;
- Wipe with paper towels;
- If some residue is left, spray hairspray over it and wipe with a paper towel once again;
- Wash the surface with soapy water afterward.
13. Use baby powder for a day at the beach
One annoying thing about beaches is that sand gets absolutely everywhere. To prevent this — pack a travel-size baby powder bottle and rub the baby powder on your skin. Sand will fall right off the skin that was “powered up.”
14. Keep brown sugar soft.
Brown sugar is amazing for brownies, cookies, and even BBQ sauce recipes. But if you’ve ever had it in your pantry, you know it gets dry and hard pretty fast. To avoid this you can simply put a piece of bread, a slice of an apple, or a couple of marshmallows in the container you keep your brown sugar in.
15. Turn inky hands into clean hands in seconds.
View this post on InstagramBlack Cherry ink spill. It’s actually quite charming. #inkwell #inkspill #fountainpen
A post shared by C. S. E. Cooney (@csecooney) on
Households with small children are no strangers to hands covered in ink — but this issue is easily solved. Just use some margarine and wipe it off with a damp cloth.
Don’t Spill When Making Ice
Do you get annoyed when you want to make ice, but your damn shaky hands spill water everywhere? Companies invented fridges that automatically dispense ice to get around this problem. It turns out that there was a much simpler solution all this time. You just fill up a bottle with water and pour it into the ice tray when it’s in the freezer. No hassle, no spillages, no problem.
Don’t Overpour Sauces
Do you overpour all your sauces and cooking oils? When was the last time that you poured too much soy sauce on your food in an Asian restaurant? The answer is never because you used one of those incredible slow pouring devices that they keep soy sauce in. You can get one of these in the supermarket, enjoy the soy sauce to your heart’s content and then reuse the bottle when you’re done. Thanks to the constant restricted flow of these inventions, you’ll never pour too much olive oil into a pan again.
Test An Egg
Do you want to know if an egg has gone bad? Buoy, there’s an easy way to do that! When eggs go bad, they become buoyant, meaning that they float. That means that you don’t have to crack one open and endure the stench of bad eggs to tell whether or not you can eat it.Simply fill up a glass of water and drop the egg in. If it sinks to the bottom, then eat it up. If it floats, then throw it out!
Make Your Salad Last
Do your salad leaves turn to mush before you can eat them? It’s crazy easy to change that. You just need to stick something superabsorbent into the box. What causes salad to mush is all of the moisture that it picks up. So if it’s sharing its environment with something that can soak up all that moisture, such as a paper towel, then it’ll last a lot longer.
Hang Your Toothbrush
Do you hate the water that wells up in your toothpaste pot? Take this tip from the world of picture hanging. Also often seen used on bikes, surfboards and other long items that need two hooks to hang is this hack. You’ll never have to wrestle with the idea of two sets of toothbrush bristles touching (ewww) again.
Another advantage of this is that it also frees up space on the bathroom counter. And you can pretend to be a dental samurai, with the toothbrush as your ceremonial sword. That’ll be a more fun way of explaining it to your houseguests, at the very least.
Remove Paint From Fabric
Do you drip paint onto important items of clothing? Then the solution doesn’t lie in scrubbing it for hours or subjugating your precious clothes to a risky chemical. If you just use heated water and some washing up liquid, you can get the paint into a condition where it easily scrapes away from the affected clothes. Something like cashmere might be a lost cause, but for cotton, this can make clothing as good as new. Just try not to scrape too hard!
Check Your Chips
Do you hate it when you buy a bag of chips, and there’s barely anything in it!? Well if the bag has a see-through section, then simply twist it on its side. It should quickly become apparent how much of the bag is made up of air and how much is chips! For chip packets without a see-through strip, you’ll just have to use the old shake, squeeze and guess method though.
Desensitize Your Fire Alarm
Is your fire alarm too sensitive? Then make a handy doily. With just some cloth, elastic and piece of string, you will never have to endure the worst thing about cooking again. Before you turn the oven or stove on, simply slip your doily over the alarm.
And the real fun thing is making a design that’s really you! Is anyone else thinking of turning this into a business?
Keep Your Car Clean
The interior of your car can get real dusty and dirty quickly. Keep a small spray bottle of Windex and a microfiber cloth in the glove compartment. You can use the Windex to wipe down your windows and the cloth to wipe down your dashboard. Just don’t use Windex on your dashboard, it can ruin the finish.
DIY Sandbox
Sandboxes are a nice feature to have in the home where your kids can play. Unfortunately, the neighborhood cats might use it as a toilet. Use a tent to house your sandpit and zip it up when it’s not in use.
Pre-Portion Your Food
This hack is great for students or single folks. Portion out your meat and vegetables in zipper bags and freeze them. Take out what you need when you need it to avoid waste.
Keep Garbage Bags In Place
Nobody wants to fuss with a dirty garbage bag. Keep yours in place with some removable hooks. Just hang the bag handles around it.
Allen Wrench Hack
Angled Allen wrenches can be annoying to use. Straighten yours out so that you can use it in your drill. It will be way easier to use this way.
Know Your Laundry Symbols
We’ve all seen those laundry symbols on our clothing that tell us how we should wash our clothes. But it’s often just shows the symbol with no explanation of what it means. Below is a complete list so you won’t have to guess anymore.
Stop Wasting Soap
Most of us use more soap than we need. Wrap a rubber band around the pump. This will ensure that is dispenses less soap but enough for what we need.
Use All of The Toothpaste
Don’t waste a drop of toothpaste. Roll it from the bottom. Use a binder clip to keep it in place and pushed toward the top.
Don’t Lose Important Furniture Pieces
Putting together furniture can be a pain in itself, but losing important pieces is even worse. Places all your pieces in a labeled Ziploc bag. This will also prevent you from having random screws and pieces everywhere that you don’t what belongs to.
Flatten Your Ground Beef
Place your ground beef in a plastic bag. Flatten it out as much as you can before you freeze it. This will reduce thawing time.
Don’t Overheat Your Media Center
If you keep your media center in a console it might overheat. Cut up pieces of pool noodles, slice it down the middle and place it over your door. This will give your media center some air flow while it’s in use.
Portable Bed
Going camping or having a slumber party in the living room? Bring a portable bed! Sew four pillow cases together and stuff your pillows inside when in use.
Easy Move Clothing Hack
This hack is great for when you’re moving or switching out your clothes for the season. Don’t toss your hangings clothes in a bag or heavy bin. Place a garbage bag around several garments and tie it at the top.
Packing Hack
Going camping and need to pack light? Well, you can actually fit a t-shirt inside a pair of socks. Just follow the steps below.
Make Your Space
Use mirrors to make your space look much larger. You can have several mirrors on the wall.
Find A Lost Dog
Losing a pet is a terribly heartbreaking situation. Pets can get lost when the become disoriented or wander too far. You can follow the steps below to try and lure your dog back and find him.
Dry Erase Board Fridge
Did you know that you can buy a dry erase board refrigerator? Well, you can. You can also buy a magnetic one and stick it to your fridge. You can also try painting your refrigerator with chalk board paint.
Photograph Your Luggage
Take a photo of your luggage before you part with it. This will help if it ends up getting lost. You’ll be able to help airport staff identify it.
Keep Your Remote In Place
Stop fumbling around for the remote. Velcro it to your coffee or side table. You’ll never lose your remote again.
Cover Sharp Edges With Pool Noodle Pieces Or Insulation
Bed corners can be pretty painful if you knock into them. They can also be dangerous. Cover them up with a piece of pool noodle or foam insulation.
Hide Emergency Money On Vacation Or At The Beach
Empty out a Chapstick. Roll up your money and put it inside. This will keep it hidden from thieves.
Electrical Tape
Electrical tape is a pain in the ass to cut. Place it in a standard tape dispenser. This makes it way more convenient to cut.
Forget Your Charging Block?
Did you remember your charging cord but forget your charging block? No worries! Plug your wire into the TV, they usually have USB outlets.
Popcorn Bowl
Turn your popcorn bag into a bowl. Don’t pull it open from the top. Cut a hole into the side of the bag.
DIY Lantern
Need a little extra light? Place your cellphone light underneath a water bottle. It will turn the bottle into a lantern.
Stop Eating Cereal Crumbs
No one wants a bowl full of cereal crumbs. Pour your cereal into a colander and over the sink or garbage. All of the crumbs will fall out and you’ll be able to enjoy a crumb-free bowl of cereal.
Always Have Cold Water
Fill a plastic water bottle with a quarter of the way full and lay it on its side. Place in the freezer. Take it out and fill it with water the rest of the way so you have ice cold water on the go.
Find The End Of The Tape Roll
Having to find the end of the tape roll can be annoying. Place a paper clip at the end of the roll. It will be easier to pick up when you need to use it again.
Charge Your Phone Faster
Need to charge your phone quick? Put it in airplane mode. It will charge a lot faster.
How To Light Deep Candles
Don’t burn yourself while trying to light a deep candle. Light a stick of spaghetti and use it to light your candle. Blow it out when you’re done.
Keep Important Documents Flat
Placing your important documents in a Ziploc bag will protect them from moisture. But they can still get bent. Place a piece of cardboard that is larger than your document inside the bag too to keep it from folding.
How To Heat Leftovers Evenly
Microwaving leftovers again? Make sure it heats evenly. Just leave a space in the middle of your food.
How To Microwave Pizza
Pizza can get gross in the microwave. Place a small glass of water in the microwave along with your pizza. It will keep the crust from becoming tough and chewy.
On A Ladder?
Keeping track of screws and nails can be hard when you’re on a ladder. Keep a magnet in your pocket. This will keep them all in one place.
Keep Kitty Away
Kitties love to sit on your keyboard when you’re doing work. Keep a box on your desk next to you. Your cat won’t be able to resist it and will sit in it instead of on top of your keyboard.
Is This Avocado Too Ripe?
Want to find out if your avocado is too ripe? Remove that little pit at the top. If it’s dark, it’s too ripe.
DIY Outdoor Dining Kit
Need a dining kit for your picnic? Don’t buy one. Use a six-pack instead.
The Right Way To Make A Sandwich
Don’t just slap your meat on your sandwich. This leaves exposed pieces of bread. Use the guide below to make the perfect sandwich
Extra Space In Your Freezer
Bags can take up a lot of space in your freezer. Use binder clips to attach them to the shelf. Hanging them this way saves space.
Get More Condiments
Do you know why condiment cups have folds? So you can add more condiments to them. Just unroll the rim and spread out the folds.
Portable Salad Dressing
Want to bring a salad to work tomorrow for lunch? But how will you transport dressing without making your salad soggy by the time you’re ready to eat it? Put your dressing in an alcohol shooter bottle, works like a charm.
DIY Dryer Sheet
Out of dryer sheets? Toss a ball of aluminum foil into your dyer. It will prevent static cling.