Chapter 9: Around the House
- The best way to clean a microwave: Put a cup of hot water and vinegar inside, turn it on for three to five minutes, and wipe clean with ease.
- Use a blow dryer to instantly defog any mirror.
- When washing windows, squeegee vertically outside and horizontally inside. That way if you see streaks, you'll know which side they're on.
- Spiders hate peppermint oil.
- No dryer sheets? Throw in two tinfoil balls for static-free clothes every time.
- In a rush to dry your clothes? Throw a dry bath towel into the dryer along with your wet clothes. They'll dry much faster.
10 unusual uses for tennis balls
1. Boots or heels leave a scruff mark on your floor? Rub a tennis ball over the mark and it'll come right out.
2. Run out of dryer sheets? Toss a few tennis balls in for a suitable replacement.
3. Keep your rainy day cash safe. Cut open a slit in a tennis ball, stuff in some money, and store it in a safe place.
4. Get rid of nasty goop and human oils from your pool by throwing in a tennis ball.
5. Protect your floors by putting one tennis ball on each of the four legs of a chair.
6. Back acting up? Lie on a tennis ball for a great DIY back massage.
7. Childproof those sharp table corners with a tennis ball that's been cut open halfway.
8. Wrap a tennis ball in sandpaper for an easy grip while sanding things.
9. Stick a tennis ball onto a tripod mount on the bottom of your camera for a soft on-the-go camera mount.
10. Hang a tennis ball from a piece of string in your garage so you know where to stop when parking your car.
- The best way to fold a t-shirt: Fold the bottom fourth of your shirt up. Place the left side of the shirt toward the center, folding at the shoulder, and do the same with the right side. Fold the right sleeve in toward the center so that the left side is folded neatly. Fold the bottom half of the shirt up and flip the entire shirt over, so that the folds are hidden beneath.
- Put a magnet at the bottom of your hammer, so you can stick nails to it.
- Looking for something? Scan right to left with your eyes. You'll pick up more since your brain isn't used to reading that way.
- Putting a small amount of 7UP in a flower vase will surprisingly preserve them for much longer.
- By adding a pinch of salt to your load of laundry you can actually brighten the colors of your clothes.
- Put a used, wet sponge in the microwave for two minutes to kill 99% of the bacteria in it.
- Febreze kills ants on contact and doesn't leave your house smelling like poison.
- Cut open toilet paper rolls and use them as a cuff to save your wrapping paper from unrolling.
- Nothing kills weeds and keeps them dead for longer than white vinegar straight from the bottle.
- Place a rubber band over any stripped screw to easily unscrew it.
- Rubbing a walnut on damaged wooden furniture can cover up a lot of dings and scratches.
- If your toothpaste says it repairs teeth, make sure it contains "NovaMin" as an active ingredient. It's the only ingredient that actually does repair teeth.
Taken from the book Life Hacks by Keith Bradford