25 Life Hacks

Life Hacks are just simple ways to save you time, hassle and money.

1. Rub the inside edges of new shoes with Vaseline - it stops them rubbing and prevents blisters.
2. Use the sticky part of a Post-It note to clean between the keys of your keyboard.
3. Cut the ends off flowers and dip into boiling water to make them last longer.
4. Use an empty plastic bottle to separate eggs. Crack the egg into a bowl, put an upside down empty plastic bottle over the yolk and watch it get sucked up inside.
5. A spritz of hairspray removes ink and permenent marker from hard surfaces.
6. Use toothpaste to clean hazy car headlights. It works on swimming goggles too.
7. No eggtimer? Get Google to do the job by typing 'set timer (XX) minutes/seconds' in the search bar.
8. Hang a tennis ball on a piece of string from the ceiling of your garage at the exact point you can drive without bumping into the wall.
9. Stretch a rubber band from top to bottom around an open paint tin to wipe your brush on and keep paint off the side of the tin.
10. Remove chewing gum from an item of clothing by putting it into the freezer for an hour, then pick off the gum.
11. Iron shirts from the inside to make pressing the button area easier.
12. Stack your folded clothes vertically in a drawer so you can see them all.
13. Fill a water bottle a quarter full and freeze on its side. Then fill with water and have it ice cold on the go.
14. Know the 9 times table trick? Hold out both hands, put down the digit you want to multiply 9 by, and count the total number of thumbs/fingers still up. For example, hold down 5th finger of left hand and there are 4 digits to the left and 5 to the right, so the answer is 45. (9x5 = 45).
15. To remove a cherry stone, use a straw to push it out.
16. A small dish of bicarbonate of soda in a wardrobe will absorb extra moisture and keep clothing fresh and dry.
17. If you want to conserve a phone battery, turn the screen brightness down, close any apps running in the background that you don't need, and turn off 3G/4G as these all sap power.
18. Kill weeds in paving by pouring boiling water on them.
19. Fill a bowl with water, pop in half a lemon and microwave for two to three minutes. The steam will loosen any dried food particles for easy microwave cleaning and the lemon makes the oven smell really fresh.
20. Use a clothes peg to hold a nail in place while hammering.
21. Use a strand of spaghetti as a taper for candles and avoid burned fingers.
22. Tangled jewellery? Keep thin chains knot-free by threading them through drinking straws, then fastening.
23. Use a slice of white bread to remove grimy marks from non-washable wallpaper.
24. To keep CDs from skipping, clean with car wax, dry and buff outwards from the centre.
25. Freeze grapes to chill white wine without watering it down.

Feature in Good Housekeeping September 2014