15 Clever Alternative Uses for Household Items
February 28, 2018
Is the ironing taking too long? Tired of finding pet hair everywhere? Always misplacing your makeup brush? Then read our 15 clever uses for household items and start getting more out of your everyday essentials! From time-saving tips to stylish storage solutions, we’ve pulled together our favourite life hacks for you to try this year
1. Can Opener
Great for: Opening plastic packaging
There’s nothing worse than buying a shiny new gadget only to be thwarted by tough plastic packaging! To cut out the hassle just grab a can opener and tackle it as if it were a tin of tomatoes.
2. Food Tongs
Great for: Juicing citrus fruits
Forget juicing by hand, this is an easy and far more efficient way of getting extra juice out of your fruit. Simply cut your fruit in half and give it a good squeeze between a set of food tongs.
3. Salad Spinner
Great for: Hand washing clothes
If you’ve ever shrunk much-loved delicates in the wash then this laundry life hack is a must. Salad spinners are designed for rinsing and drying, so they’re ideal for clothes too.
4. Toothbrush Stand
Great for: Holding your makeup brush
Always scrabbling around to find your makeup brush in the middle of the morning rush? Then commandeer a toothbrush stand and keep those beauty essentials right where you need them.
5. Shoe Organiser
Great for: Storing household supplies
If you’re short on storage space, declutter your life by using a simple shoe organiser to logically lay out all your cleaning products, stationery, make up and gardening tools. They even make a great place to start your very own hanging herb garden if left out in the sun!
6. colander
Great for: Creating an impromptu ice bucket
If you’re hosting a party, this handy hack is a great way of making your ice cubes last longer. As they melt, the water drains through the holes in the colander, leaving only ice around your bottles instead of water, which melts the cubes faster.
7. Kitchen Roll Holder
Great for: Holding bracelet
Simple, stylish and practical, using a kitchen roll holder to house your bracelets is a lovely low-cost solution to keeping your jewellery neat, tidy and in one place!
8. Squeegee
Great for: Getting pet hair out of carpets and furniture
We all love our furry friends, but constantly finding their hair everywhere can get a bit wearing! With a standard squeegee all you need to do is run the rubber end over your floor or upholstery and the embedded hair will come loose in easy-to-pick-up clumps.
9. Tin Foil
Great for: Ironing clothes faster
Tin foil is a fantastic thermal conductor and will help you halve the amount of time you spend ironing. Simply stick a sheet of tin foil beneath your ironing board cover and marvel as you’re able to banish creases from both sides of your clothes at once!
10. Toothbrush
Great for: Cleaning cheese graters
With their unforgivingly lacerated sides, cheese graters can be infamously tricky to clean if you don’t have a dishwasher – but fear not, help is at hand! Take a toothbrush (preferably not the one you use every day...) and run it under hot, soapy water before scrubbing gently away from the blades.
11. Toothpaste
Great for: Getting out carpet stains
Not only great for whitening and brightening, toothpaste also makes a handy household cleaner. The next time you find yourself with a stubborn carpet stain, simply squeeze some toothpaste directly onto it, then scrub, rinse and repeat until it’s gone.
12. Bag Clips
Great for: Squeezing toothpaste tubes
Always struggling to get the last of the toothpaste out of the tube? Then stock up on bag clips for a cheap and super-easy solution for getting out every last ounce.
13. Lint Roller
Great for: Cleaning the inside of a handbag
Tired of finding dust and crumbs in your handbag? Keep it clean the easy way with a lint roller – they’re not just for clothes!
14. Drinking glasses
Great for: Holding candles
Are old tumblers and highball glasses cluttering up your cupboards? Then repurpose them as cute homemade holders for candles and tea lights.
15. WD-40
Great for: Removing scratches from cars
As an oil-based spray, WD-40 is not only great for keeping joints and hinges loose but it also does a great job of filling in scratches on metal and paintwork, leaving it with a glossy shine too. And because we’re feeling super-generous, here’s another handy WD-40 hint: when lightly sprayed on a tent or a pair of boots, it also makes your equipment rainproof.
