Ordinary Household Objects That Can Be Used In Secretly Extraordinary Ways
Sometimes you go to complete a household chore and realize you don’t have the right tools for the job, so you have to make a trip to the store. Or so you think! In reality, you might already have what you need laying around at home. There are lots of ordinary household items that have dual purposes and can be used in truly unexpected, helpful ways. In this article we’ll show you how, and the great thing is that anyone can make use of these hacks — regardless of money, creativity, or skill level. So next time you go to add new cleaning products or DIY tools to your shopping list, check out these at-home alternatives instead.
1. Composting Coca-Cola
How many of us have poured a large bottle of Coca-Cola down the kitchen sink when it’s still half-full? Sure, no one’s a fan of flat Coke, but it doesn’t need to go to waste. There’s a surprising use for your leftover flat Coca-Cola, and that is composting. Yes, really!
Pour that unwanted soda to your compost heap, and it will work wonders. Why, you ask? While the sugar in Coca-Cola is not good for our teeth, it’s great for nourishing good microorganisms in the compost and boosts its acidity, enabling organic material to decay quicker. Cool.
2. Use socks for dusting blinds
Sure, window blinds are super functional, but they can be really tricky things to clean. Getting in between all those slats is not a fun job! So once we learned this neat blind cleaning hack, we never looked back. It’s so easy, and all you need is an old, preferably soft, socks!
Place the sock over your hand, and then get to work dusting your blinds, smoothly gliding over those awkward, hard-to-clean slats. This will give you a lot more control than using a regular duster, and the sock will expertly collect up all that dust. Then, when you’re done, you can just toss it in the washing machine!
3. Keep bugs away with lemon
Ever been outside painting on your porch or somewhere, when a load of insects turn up uninvited and land on your painted wood, or the paint can? For some reason, pesky winged insects are attracted to freshly painted surfaces. It might be the color, odor, or moisture that makes it so alluring to them, but either way, it can ruin your painting project. However, there is a great hack to stop this from happening.
All you need is some lemons from the fruit bowl in your kitchen! Lemons are an effective, natural, non-toxic way to ward off bugs. Just squeeze some of the juice from lemons into your can of paint before you start painting, and this should keep the insects away. Result!
4. Kitchen foil for dull scissors
It can be really annoying when your scissors become dull and unable to cut anything properly. But instead of investing in an expensive scissor sharpener, there’s a really simple way to give your scissors a new lease of life, and it will cost you barely anything.
All you’ll need to perform this hack is some aluminum kitchen foil, which you probably have already in a draw somewhere. Simply fold a piece of foil into quarters. Then use the scissors to cut through the folded foil. This should sharpen them up nicely!