Ten very cool and useful tips that you will help you in a day-to-day life. How to prevent your milk from boiling over, to stop a run in stockings, or to serve condiments on a picnic more conveniently? This video will give you the answers.
Everyday tasks can be a whole lot easier. Welcome to MsMojo and today, we're counting down our picks for the top 10 Life Hacks You Shouldn't Live Without.
For this list, we're looking at hacks that just about everyone can benefit from.
#10 A Wooden Spoon to Fight Boil Over
It's an old classic for good reason: dating back to long before life hacking became a thing, generations of home cooks have been placing a wooden spoon across their pot to stop it from boiling over. Oh, it's not a magic trick and if your boil is out of control, even the spoon can't save you. But for a standard boil creeping above the rim, the spoon helps to burst the bubbles before they build up to the overflow point. As the old saying goes, a watched pot never boils. So, while you're occupying yourself with other things, why not leave your spoon behind to keep those bubbles at bay.
#9 A Can Tab to Hold Your Straw
Are you sick of trying to drink beverages out of a can with a straw, only to have that straw float up at an awkward angle or worse – fall right out? Alright, admittedly, this is a classic first world problem. But that's the beauty of a life hack – it doesn't need to solve a major issue. Often, the mark of a good life hack is that it takes a mild annoyance and eliminates it with no added effort. And that's exactly what this does. After you've cracked open the drink, rotate or bend the tab so it rests above the opening. In this position, the hole in the tab serves as a convenient and effective straw holder. Enjoy!
#8 A Stocking and a Vacuum to Find Lost Items
We've all been there before: you put your glasses on and they fall apart. To your horror, one of those tiny screws has fallen out. Or maybe it's something else – an earring or the stone from a necklace, bracelet, or ring. Point is, we've all lost tiny items before and finding them can feel impossible. If it's something precious, chances are you place a total moratorium on sweeping or vacuuming. But in reality, the vacuum is your friend. By placing a stocking over the tip of the nozzle, you can use the suction to locate small objects, with the stocking working as a barrier to stop the vacuum from sucking anything into its chamber.
#7 A Muffin Tin as a Condiment Holder for Parties
Sure, condiments already come in containers that work well enough for a single person or small group, but when you're having a party, barbecue, or picnic with a lot of people, all those squeeze bottles and containers can become a serious headache. Or rather, if you'll pardon the pun, a series of bottlenecks in the serving process. Sure, you could break out every small bowl you own to set up various stations, but why bother? Muffin tins are essentially a small group of bowls all stuck together. Use this cute little ready-made serving stations – they make it easier for everyone to access condiments simultaneously.
#6 Clear Nail Polish to Stop a Run in Stockings
In 1939, the DuPont company introduced the nylon stockings and in doing so, changed the woman's garment industry forever with this new must-have item. Ever since then, we've been living with the constant frustration of runs and grips in the material. It seems like the second you put a new pair on, the destruction begins. While there's no surefire way to stop the run from starting, once it's begun, you can at least stop it in its tracks with this nifty little hack. Brush clear nail polish over each end of the run and along the edges – this will successfully hold the wayward threads in place and stop the hole from growing.
#5 Conditioner Treatment for a Shrunken Shirt
Try as you might to treat your clothing with care, unless you live by yourself or protect your garments with a vengeance, articles of clothing that you know you have to hang dry, inevitably find their way into the dryer and, of course, shrinking ensues. Now, before you abandon all hope and throw out or give away your beloved t-shirt to your little sister, we got something for you to try. Mix hair conditioner into a large bowl or sink full of water and soak the shirt in it. The conditioner temporarily relaxes the fabric, so that after you've rinsed it, you can gently pull and stretch it out.
#4 Airplane Mode to Stop an Accidental Text
We live in an age of technological wonders, but with all this supposedly easy to use consumer tech, comes endless opportunities for blunders.
– Oh, Teddy keeps texting me to say he didn't mean to text me. He meant to text Charlie.
Texting is great and all, but there's nothing more embarrassing than sending a text to the wrong person. Especially if the text you've written was about the person you mistakenly sent it to. If such misfortune should befall you, don't freak out – act.
– No! Exclamation point! Exclamation point! Exclamation point!
Swipe up immediately and hit the little airplane mode button. This easily accessible setting stops all outgoing and incoming signals and, so long as you move quick enough, you can catch that message before it does any damage. Note that this works better with longer texts than short ones.
– I’m turning my phone into airplane mode.
– Oh my gosh, she doesn’t even do that into airplanes.
#3 Stack Your Clothes Vertically
You're in a rush to get somewhere but you can't go until you have the right outfit – and there's only one shirt that's going to complete the look. Unfortunately, that means tearing your dresser drawers apart looking for it in your stacks of traditionally folded clothing. It doesn't have to be this way though. By folding your clothing into thicker, more compact shapes and storing them vertically, you can make the process of finding that specific item much easier on yourself. It allows you to see them all at once, at least by color. And, should you need to get a better look, you can pull them out easily.
#2 Tums for A Mouth Ulcer
If you've ever had a canker sore, you know how truly miserable it can be. Really, you don't appreciate just how much you use your mouth until you're made constantly aware of it via pain. Rinsing with salt water is a good treatment to help keep it clean but it doesn't really help to ease your suffering.
– Gerry, you got any tums?
– Stomach ache?
– I drank too much water in the shower.
You’ve likely taken these chalky little tablets to soothe an upset stomach at some point. But did you know that they work minor miracles as far as mouth ulcer pain is concerned? Hold it against the wound and let it dissolve. It'll help neutralize the acids that are causing aggravation in the sore.
Before we unveil our #1 pick, here are some honorable mentions.
Use a Walnut to Fix Scratches on Wood
Remove a large piece of nut from the shell and rub it diagonally into the scratch. Pecans, almonds, and Brazil nuts will also work.
Binder Clips to Organize Cables
If you have a massive earbud collection or other cord collection, keep them straight by winding them around your fingers and then placing a small binder clip on them to keep them together and separated from other cords before storing.
#1 Plastic Cup Speaker
The built-in speakers in your smartphone are impressive but if you're with a few friends, your music is gonna be all drowned out. And while Bluetooth speakers are great and all, not everyone has one. Thankfully, you've almost always got a cup nearby. For the most basic approach, just drop the phone in a cup or bowl and you'll get rudimentary amplification. If you've got plastic cups, scissors, a paper towel roll, and a bit of tape, however, you can get some serious sound. Use the tube as a docking station and two cups as the amplification cones, and voila: an unpowered smartphone stereo you can whip up on the spot.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOj-i4iOa2Q
