There’s no getting away from the fact that life gets difficult for all of us from time to time. That leads to us looking for ways to relieve the stresses and strains. Seeking out those little shortcuts that can make a big difference.
These sorts of easy to adopt, problem solving tips and tricks have become so popular, they’ve been given their own name – life hacks. The internet is awash with them. Some of them are genuinely life-changing, others aren’t quite as effective as they’ll have you believe. But how can you tell the good from the bad, the useful from the useless?
Well, you don’t need to worry which life hacks really have the power to change the way you live because we’ve done that job for you. So here goes with the top 40 best life hacks.
40+ Genius Household Hacks That Will Change Your Life
Give surfaces a light clean
With the need for ultimate cleanliness high on everyone’s agenda right now, any life hack that promises to clean our everyday environment is going to be popular.
And we’re delighted to announce that the rush to buy handheld ultraviolet light sanitizers like Mobile Klean is totally justified. Hospitals are using them to help eliminate viruses and bacteria.
And you can use them at home to keep all kinds of surfaces clean, including your phones, laptops, and other devices. There’s no need for hard rubbing to get surfaces germ free. Just blast the bugs with light that has the power to deeply disinfect.
2. Monitor your health at home
While we’re on the subject of staying healthy, here’s a life hack that helps you monitor your blood oxygen level. When you’re feeling good, this level is normally in the high 90s, but if you get sick, it usually drops.
The Blaux Oxi Level device checks to see if you’re losing oxygen and need to see a doctor, or if you’re good to stay home. It only takes seconds to give you a reading and can also be a valuable tool for people suffering from asthma, heart conditions, or respiratory problems.
It’s small wonder that, in these times when everyone’s more aware of health issues, the Blaux Oxi Level is a popular life hack right now.
3. Avoid toil and trouble with less boil and bubble
If you’re cooking pasta or anything else that requires you to boil water in a saucepan, you’ll know how quickly the hot water can bubble up and spill over the edge.
Any distraction that takes your attention away from the stovetop is all that’s required for a messy spill of boiling bubbles to explode over your stovetop. But help is at hand, right in your kitchen utensil drawer (or hanging on your utensil rack if you use one).
A good old fashioned wooden spoon can prevent water from boiling over. Simply lay it across the top of the saucepan, and while you’re busy with another element of the meal you’re preparing, the spoon will effortlessly stop the water gushing over the edge of the saucepan.
4. Keep your headlights clean
We all know we should clean our teeth at night. But there’s another use for toothpaste at night that you might not know about.
Crest and other toothpaste brands can be used to keep your headlights clean so you can be seen while you’re travelling out on the roads in the dark. It’s easy for headlight covers to get discoloured and dirty over time, making your lights less visible to other road users.
But don’t bother looking in the garage for your solution—you’ll find it in the bathroom. Applying a layer of toothpaste to your headlight’s plastic covers will restore their sparkle. Simply polish on and wipe off the toothpaste to get your covers looking as good as new.
5. Beat neck pain
Neck pains are, quite frankly, a real pain in the neck. Millions of Americans are affected, often for years, as effective treatments are so few and far between.
Of course, there are ways you can relieve the symptoms – baths, massages, and visits to chiropractors included. But if none of these has delivered the relief you crave, try NeckRelax.
This small and stylish device looks a bit like a set of headphones you wrap around the back of your neck. They use infrared heat to help relax neck muscles and tissue, as well as improve circulation.
Three different massage modes ensure NeckRelax delivers the type of treatment you need, targeting specific muscles to relieve different neck problems and injuries.
6. Get more from your microwave
It’s fair to say that the speed of microwave cooking is a life hack in itself. But because we’re all so used to having one in our kitchens, we now expect our food to be heated in a matter of minutes.
However, most microwaves only have the capacity to heat one bowl or tray of food at a time. Tricky when you’re cooking for lots of people. However, you can double the heating capacity of your microwave by placing a glass jar on the turntable and your bowl or tray of food on top of it, using the height of the microwave to fit more food.
It’s likely you’ll have to increase the cooking time to compensate for the fact that there’s more food and to ensure all the food gets heated right through so it’s ready to eat when your microwave pings!
7. Microwave cleaning life hack
Because they’re used so often, microwaves quickly get messy. And the temperatures they reach mean cleaning food residue is often a tricky business. Which is why someone has thankfully come up with this life hack that works to make removing ground-in dirt a breeze.
And, as with all the best life hacks, this one’s really simple. All you do is place a glass of water in your microwave and turn it on.
This will generate steam within the microwave which will soften up the stains inside, making them easy to wipe away when the microwaving has finished and you’ve removed the glass.
8. Easy toe and fingernail cutting
It’s one of life’s essentials, so it’s great to have a life hack for cutting toe and fingernails. Clipping can be a chore for most people, especially those hard to reach toenails that seem to grow so quickly.
But for precision nail clipping, choose ClipperPro. Designed by surgeons, Clipper Pro’s swivel head brings more control to nail clipping, handy for those with arthritis, or diabetes, a condition that demands careful nail cutting.
ClipperPro brings more ease to cutting as you don’t need to apply that much force to carefully clip, and you can do so from a comfortable angle, handy if you have back or other movement problems.
9. Move Clothes While Still On Their Hangers
If you’re going away for a vacation, on business, or even if you’re moving house, tackling the clothes in your closet can be a daunting prospect. But it needn’t be.
Simply grab a garbage bag and wrap it around your clothes while they’re all still on their hangers. No, we’re not suggesting a complete overhaul of your wardrobe. Instead, you simply pack your bag of clothes, go where you’re going and unpack the other end.
Your clothes will be ready to hang up and crease free when you remove the bag, so they’re ready to wear. And having a spare garbage bag with you is sure to come in handy for something!
10. Top Tank Top Hanging Hack
Two hanger hacks in one article! We’re really spoiling you. This one’s for you fans of tank tops – an item of clothing popular with many but tricky to store.
Do you fold them away in a drawer or try to hang them up? With this life hack, hanging becomes the favourite option.
And you only need one hanger to store multiple tank tops, using plastic rings to hold your tops on the rail of the hanger. Easy!
11. A Third Hanger Hack
Forget two. We have a third hanger-based hack that just goes to show how versatile clothes hangers can be. And this one doesn’t involve clothes at all.
Because hangers with clips at each end that you might otherwise use to hang pants or skirts can be used to hold recipe books open in the kitchen, so you can work hands free on preparing delicious food.
Simply hook the hanger around the handle of any kitchen cabinet and clip your book to the hanger for hands-free recipe reading. Now there’s no excuse for not rustling up something really delicious!
12. Freeze meat more easily
Staying in the kitchen, it’s true that space is often at a premium in our freezers. We’re all tempted to buy food in bulk because of the big money savings it can lead to.
Ground meat is one of the items lots of people like to keep plenty of in the freezer. A simple way to make sure the meat you freeze is easy to access and thaw when you need it is to ensure you store it in your freezer as flat as possible.
It’s a great space and time saving life hack tool that you’ll really appreciate when tummies are rumbling.
13. Keep your freezer tidy
While we’re dealing with freezers, here’s another life hack to help you store frozen food more tidily. Your freezer—like everyone else’s—is likely to be home to several bags of frozen food such as vegetables.
Most of these are likely to be open bags, making it easy for the contents to spill out onto your freezer shelves, creating a bit of an icy mess. This life hack lets you store the bags like they’re clothes hanging in a closet. All you need is strong paper clips and chip bag seals.
You simply clip the bags to the shelf rack above so they hang upright, preventing spillages and creating more space in your freezer for more delicious food. That’s a win-win!
14. Increase your home wifi speed (without changing supplier)
Slow internet connections can be really annoying, especially when you’re working or gaming. If you’re old enough to remember the days of dial-up you’ll know the frustrations.
These days, most wifi connections are faster. But not always fast enough. That’s when SuperBoost came into its own. Simply plug this small device into a wall socket at home and it’ll automatically pair-up with your wireless network.
Its in-built speed of 300 Mbps will give your internet speed a boost while delivering more consistency and capacity – it can handle at least five full-speed streams at once.
So if you’re living in a house where everyone needs a slice of internet action for work, play, Hulu, or Netflix, often at the same time, SuperBoost is the device that will keep everyone happy. And it’s not expensive either.
15. Reduce your dog’s barking and improve their behavior
Man’s best friend can bring so many benefits to life, including fun, companionship and slipper or newspaper fetching skills. But sometimes a dog’s barking can get out of hand and annoy you and the neighbours.
It’s often difficult to know what to do when a dog starts a barking frenzy, charging around the house and garden. But help is at hand in the form of a hand-size device called BarxBuddy. It works by emitting a high pitched sound that we humans can’t hear, but dogs certainly can.
You simply keep it nearby, and when your dog’s barking or behavior needs to be reined-in, just press it. BarxBuddy will emit a noise that’s enough to change your dog’s behavior without harming their hearing.
Handy if a cat has just ventured into your backyard, or your beloved pet has developed a taste for chewing your remote control. A tap of BarxBuddy will soon show them the error of their ways.
16. Stop snoring ruining your sleep
Way more annoying than barking dogs is snoring partners. While they’re deep asleep, you’re struggling to get any shut-eye due to mattress-shaking, alarm-clock rattling levels of snoring. It’s likely you’ll have to wake your partner in order for you to have any chance of sleep.
And with rest so important to everyone’s physical and mental wellbeing, it’s a small wonder snoring is the subject of many life hacks.
Sleep Connection is one we like best. It’s a device that fits around the wrist of the snorer like a watch and delivers a small pulse to the wearer to alert them to their snoring. The pulse isn’t powerful enough to wake up the snorer, but will cause them to unconsciously alter their sleeping position and help clear their air passageways and stop the snoring.
So snoring never lasts more than a few seconds, which should be short enough not to disturb anyone sharing the same bed, room, house, or entire street (if the snoring is seriously loud!)
17. Coca-Cola as a cleaner
We all know Coke is a refreshing drink, tasty and neat, but also versatile as a mixer. But the contents of those distinctive red and white cans can be useful in other ways.
For example, you can pour a can down your can to give it a thorough clean if you’ve no toilet cleaner to hand. You can also remove rust from metal by submerging things like nails and screws in Coca-Cola.
And if there’s any left over in the Coke can, well, you’ve always got a tasty drink right there for you to enjoy.
18. Tone-up with Tense Bands
The cruel hands of time can see all that muscle you worked out hard and often to build up during your younger years slowly disappear. As you get longer in the tooth, it gets harder to stay in shape.
Or at least that used to be the case. Because Kore Tense Bands give you a new way to keep core arm and leg muscles toned. Ideal for home workouts, you just tie the anchor to a door or wall and then pull the bands towards you to exercise your muscles.
They’re particularly effective for core muscles that are vital for your overall health and stability. Prove age really is just a number when you workout with Kore Tense resistance bands.
19. AC just 4U
Most of us look forward to summer and trips to the beach, but many find when the weather warms up, it gets just too hot to handle. We’re all looking for shade and a break from the unrelenting heat.
Now you can get out and stay out however high the thermometers get with the personal air conditioning unit Beaux Wearable AC. Hook this life hack around your neck and let it rest on your shoulders and it will keep you cool whatever you do.
Charge it up before you go out and the battery will last you all day, keeping you feeling between 10 and 15 degrees cooler on the beach, in the city, wherever you want to enjoy the summer without overheating.
20. Home-made in-flight entertainment
For those flights where all you’ve got to keep you entertained is your phone, here’s a clever life hack that hangs your phone on the back of the seat of the person in front of you.
Sure, many aeroplanes have screens built-in to the seats in front. But plenty don’t, and the in-flight entertainment isn’t always great anyway. But using your phone puts you in control of your entertainment, and all you need is a see-through sandwich bag which you clip to your fold down table hook for on-screen, in-flight entertainment.
Having the plastic bag makes it easy to use the phone so you can play games, watch movies, whatever!
21. The Hidden BreadBoard
Space is often at a premium on countertops, especially in smaller kitchens. So space-saving life hacks are welcomed by many with open arms. Or, in this case, open drawers.
Because installing a cutting board into one of your kitchen drawers gives you a surface on which you can easily slice bread, tomatoes, fruit, whatever. And when you’re done, the board slides away, leaving you room on the countertop for other purposes.
22. Thumb-Friendly Hammering
Home improvement tasks often require a hammer, and it’s your thumbs that are most at risk when this tool comes out of the toolbox.
But help is at hand when those pictures need hanging, as a humble clothes pin comes in handy. Use one to hold the nail in place, so you can take a swing at that nail without worrying about what happens to your thumb if you miss the target!
23. Drip-free painting & decorating
And now for another home improvement life hack. Anyone who’s painted a wall or another surface will know the problems caused by paint dripping off your brush after you’ve dipped it in the paint point.
These drips can cause a real mess and give you extra cleaning up to do when you finish. But you can drop the drips by wrapping a rubber band around your paint pot and using it to remove excess paint from your brush after you’ve dipped it in the paint. Easy.
24. Safely Store Data On The Cloud
Devices these days are amazingly advanced. But that doesn’t mean they’re immune from crashes that can lead to a loss of data and a total nightmare!
Thankfully, help is at hand in the form of a device that plugs into desktop computers, laptops, tablets, and smartphones, whether they’re PCs, Mac, or Android. And it’s called Infiniti Kloud.
You’ll need to set up an account, choose how much storage space you need and then copy the items you want to back up. It’s a private cloud which can only be accessed from your Infiniti Kloud device, giving your data an outstanding level of security.
So if you’re someone with a lot of sensitive data that needs storing safely, this is the kind of life hack that helps you sleep more soundly at night.
25. Car Cup Holder
Most cars have cup holders these days, but these can often be used by other passengers. Older cars might not have any holders at all. But that’s not a problem with this life hack.
As every passenger will be wearing shoes which they’re unlikely to need while in the car, you can use a shoe to hold a cup. The larger the shoe, the better, but it all depends on the size of the cup that needs holding.
It might not look great, but no one’s asking you to drink straight out of the shoe. And if the cup fits snugly, you’ll save on spillages and the annoying cleaning up that follows.
26. Turn your toaster into a cheese griller
Many life hacks involve turning expectations on their head. This one requires you to turn your toaster on its side to make delicious grilled cheese on toast.
Be sure your toaster is unplugged when you flip it on its side, then slide in your bread with the cheese on top and toast as normal. Not just easy, but perhaps the tastiest of all the life hacks in this article.
27. The ice pack life hack
How many times have you been out and about in the heat and wish you’d had an ice pack to cool you down? Ice packs are also great to reduce swelling around injuries, but often, there’s one around when you need one.
But you can make your own using a Ziploc freezer bag, rubbing alcohol and some water. Simply pour 3 parts water and 1 part alcohol into the bag and freeze it.
Then just pull one out and take it with you, and it’ll be ready to cool you down when you need it. You can even decorate your bags to make them look more attractive.
28. The topping up your engine oil tip
There’s rarely a funnel around when a warning light on your dash tells you your engine requires more oil.
But here’s a hack that lets you add oil spillage-free when you can’t find a funnel for love or money.
Simply dip into your toolbox for a screwdriver, insert it into the oil and inlet, tilt it and let the oil flow down the tool into the engine without a spill in sight.
29. The trash can trick
Everyone’s trash can has the potential to be an eyesore and a real challenge for noses too.
A lot of the problems are caused by juices leaking out of the foods you throw away all running down and congregating in the bottom of the can. We can almost smell it from here!
This hack can limit the mess and stench these liquids make. It simply involves lining the bottom of your trash can with newspaper that will soak up the excess liquid.
Your neighbours will thank you, and you’ll be grateful yourself when the time comes to clean your trash can, as all you need to do is gather up the old newspaper, throw it away, and lay down a few fresh sheets.
30. Keep cables tidy
The future might be wireless, but right now, there are still many devices that require wires. And wires can easily get tangled up, leading to a messy home and office.
But help is at hand with this hack, and what you need is likely to be stored in one of your office desk drawers.
A heavy duty paper clip will keep your cables tidy. Simply feed the cable through the metal hook at one end of the paperclip. This will hold your cables until you need them, easily and tidily.
31. Keep cables tidy part 2
The above hack is great for cables that you’re using, but what about those you’re not? Well, we’ve got a neat hack for that too, because those wires can look really messy as well.
All you need to do is get a shoe box and toilet rolls. Use the toilet rolls side-by-side in the shoe box to create storage tubes for the wires, which you can easily retrieve anytime you need them.
32. Furniture restoration hack
Wooden furnishings are prone to scrapes and scratches that can make them look unsightly. Too many blemishes can lead you to retire the furniture from public display and hide it in the garage.
But there’s an easy way to fix those scratches, using, wait for it — a nut! Walnuts are best. Simply rub the nut over the scratch for several minutes, and watch as the damage disappears before your eyes, saving your furniture from the scrapheap.
33. Faster freezing for cooler drinks
You want the meat to be hot and the drinks to be cool during your BBQs. But it’s not always easy keeping those beverages cool and refreshing, and that’s something this life hack addresses.
You can quickly cool down your drink by soaking a napkin and wrapping it around your drink. Then transfer it to the freezer where the napkin will speed-up the freezing process, so you get ice-cold drinks in half the time it takes if you just put the drink container straight into the freezer.
34. Never get into a jam opening a jar again
Some jars seem as hard to get into as Fort Knox. And for many people, there’s pride at stake when asked to open a jar and shame if you can’t.
This hack proves that opening a jar is less a test of strength and more a matter of grip. Most often, the solidified residue under the lid will be causing it to stick and making it difficult to open.
The life hack here is to apply adhesive tape to the lid to give you a better grip, so you should be able to release the lid more easily.
35. Disguise your beer
First up, let’s make it clear. We’re not suggesting anyone should bring alcohol into alcohol-free zones.
Disclaimer over, because as life hacks go, we’re sure this could be a popular one. To make your can of beer look like a can of soda, you’ll need to cut an empty soda can in half, then wrap that can around your beer can.
What you get is the great taste of beer you can drink from a can that, as far as everyone is concerned, looks like soda.
36. Easily Access Rigid Plastic Packages
Parents with kids eager to get their hands on new toys will recognize the frustration caused by rigid plastic packages. While they might protect whatever’s inside, they are virtually impossible to open easily.
Usually, a sharp pair of scissors is required and even then, the sharp edges of the plastic pose a risk to fingers. The solution comes in the form of a can opener.
Treat rigid plastic like you would a can and use the opener to cut open the package without endangering your fingers. It’s a good idea to have a can opener to hand on Christmas morning or birthdays to ensure those eager kids don’t get frustrated.
37. Carry more shopping. Make fewer trips.
Do you find yourself limiting the amount of shopping you buy on each trip so you don’t fill more bags than you can carry?
That usually means more trips to the shops. However, taking a carabiner with you on your next trip will help you carry more bags. Simply open the carabiner and attach the grocery bags to it.
So instead of holding all the individual bag handles and having them cut into your fingers, all you need to hold is the carabiner handle which spreads the weight of your shopping more evenly, making it easier to carry more goods.
38. The stay cool, have fun, homemade sprinkler
Why save sprinklers for your lawn of garden plants and flowers? They’re great fun for kids and a good way to keep everyone cool. And this life hack shows you how easy they are to make yourself.
All you need is a garden hose and a 2 litre plastic bottle. You should make as many holes as you can in the bottle, as these are going to be where the water comes out. You then need to insert the hose into the bottle neck and ensure it’s firmly attached with tape.
Then connect the hose to your water supply and you’re away. A sprinkler system that’s sure to give your kids hours of fun while keeping them cool in the sun.
39. Safe money storage
We all know how important it is to keep our cash safe, especially when we’re away from home. Knowing how much cash you should leave in your hotel room and where you can safely leave it are tricky questions to answer.
Most rooms have a safe, but some don’t. So you need to be clever and not too obvious when it comes to storing your cash. A good solution is to tightly roll up your bills and slide them into an old chap stick container.
It’s a receptacle that many criminals won’t immediately think contains money, so they’re unlikely to bother. Meaning you can keep a selection of your holiday money safe, and it’ll stay dry in these water-tight containers.
40. Vacuum-up dirt, not valuables
No one’s saying vacuuming is the highlight of the week. But there’s definitely a sense of satisfaction when you see the improvement to your house after a good clean.
However, there’s always the danger that your vacuum cleaner sucks up more than you bargained for. So this handy hack is designed to ensure your cleaner only cleans up small particles, not any valuables.
And all you have to do is line your vacuum’s nozzle with a stocking. Those smaller particles will get sucked up, but anything too big and potentially more valuable won’t.
And that reduces the chances of items blocking your vacuum, or valuables such as jewellery being sucked up and lost forever!
Final Word
That’s our top 40 life hacks. We guarantee you’ll be itching to try one or more right now. So go, go! And thanks for reading.