What ingenious little life hacks would you like to share?

[Rainbunny]

Apparently I have vastly improved the quality of a friend's life by sharing my method of storing (for disposal) used tampons. It's probably not original but simple and easy. I throw them into scented biodegradable doggy poop bags (I buy the them in bulk anyway so they're really cheap). Then they can be thrown into the kitchen trash without any unpleasant sights or smells. Very useful when we're staying as guests at other's homes. My friend is preparing to temporarily move in with her inlaws and has actually been a little worried about this since her inlaws are maniacally houseproud and any reminder of human presence is frowned upon . Just wondered what other little things people do to make life easier?

[NaiceVillageOfTheDammed]

Make more use of your freezer.

• made a large lasagna/pie/stew/sauce etc... Cut into servings and freeze extras rather than have seconds. Good for waist, pocket and when you can't be bothered to cook.
  
  
• using small bits of lemon/lime in a recipie - cut the rest into wedges and freeze. Good for G&Ts (and water) instead of ice and you don't waste bits of fruit.
  
  
• when you are chopping onions, chop a couple more. Freeze in individual bags.
  
  
• wine - pour a small glass into bag and freeze, so you've got some instead of having to buy and open a whole bottle for a dish.#
  
  

I recommend saving the wine before drinking rather than (non existent) leftovers

[Seeyounearertime]

Potato peelers make great cheese slicers when making sandwhiches.

When your car is covered in ice and everyone is scraping their little heads off. Use a bottle of ordinary tap water thats a few degrees warmer than the cold tap. pour it on windscreen, watch it defrost it all, turn on wipers. (don't use hot water, it may crack window)

To clean a slow cooker, 2 drops of washing up liquid, fill it half way with water, turn it onto high. Wash everything else up you have then turn off slow cooker and easily wipe it all away.

Use a small, square, cheap tent as a sand pit. It will zip closed to keep leaves and rain out, it offers shade whilst child plays and it keeps all the sand inside.

[PeggyBlomquist]

I wash and tumble dry everyone's underwear in net bags so no sorting is required, just chuck it at people to put away.
Dd's school lists events on their online calendar at the start of the year , but only puts them in the newsletter with a weeks notice so people don't forget. So every few weeks I browse the calendar far in advance and sort clothes and stuff ready for events and list it all down.

Toothpaste on insect bites stops an itch for longer than bite creams.

[celeste83]

Some good tips here I'll have to think of some of my own and return.

[LeaveMyWingsBehindMe]

Naice you mean there are actually people out there who have to go out and buy wine and open it just to put some in a recipe?

[Quietlifenotonyournelly]

Does anyone know how to get that awful glue stuff off those Douwe Egberts (coffee) jars?

[Skiptonlass]

You can remove water rings from wood furniture with olive oil and a hairdryer

Playdoh will pick up glitter if you spill it .

A squeegee or a rubber soled trainer rubbed on carpet/rug picks up hair much better than any vacuum cleaner

Oily marks on leather - cover with corn starch, leave a few hours, rub gently Roth a damp cloth with washing up liquid on. Repeat until the stain is gone

Oily stains on clothes - rub with chalk before washing

Black banana stains - tea tree oil

Any protein based stains (like blood) need to be soaked in cold water and scrubbed first. Washing in water above 30 will set the stain in.

[SoupDragon]

Quietlifenotonyournelly Sticky Stuff Remover.

[Trills]

My "top tip" is to stop saying "life hack" - it'll massively reduce the number of people who want to murder you.

[pinocchiosnose]

I put each duvet cover , sheet and three pillow cases into another pillow case so I can find them easily. I'm quite disorganised when it comes to bed linen so it's really helped me save time when I'm changing the beds. I'm stealing lots of ideas from this

[PennyHasNoSurname]

We do the bed linen in a pillowcase thingy - my mums been doing it since I can remember

[PlaymobilPirate]

Olive oil removes sticky stuff nelly

[QueenLaBeefah]

Don't have children. Freeing up thousand of hours and pounds a year.

[Ginslinger]

trills i love you -

[Holymoly321]

brilliant ideas!

[Boozena]

Quietlife I used white spirit on a little kitchen roll- used loads of douwe egberts coffee jars for my wedding centre pieces and it worked a treat.

[Kitsandkids]

I read the bedclothes in pillow case idea on a similar thread a couple of years ago and have been doing it ever since. It's really handy when a child wets the bed in the middle of the night and you blearily need to change the bed quickly so they (and you) can get straight back to sleep.

[Trills]

QueenLaBeefah

I am definitely enjoying the benefits of that tip.

[witsender]

Olive oil mixed with soda bic removes nearly all sticky labels.

[villainousbroodmare]

Put four or five bin liners into the bin at once.

[Quietlifenotonyournelly]

Thanks, will try those ideas

[InsufficientlyCaffeinated]

A little bit at putting bank details and passports on Google docs, it's so hackable! Hope you're at least using 2 factor authentication but I wouldn't put personal things like that anywhere near free cloud storage. Pay for encrypted storage if you need it remotely accessible.

My 'hack' was to sell the car & cycle. Saves me a fortune, never get stuck in traffic & haven't seen inside a gym in years. Have a constant supply of naan breads too

[LadyB49]

I freeze 2 litre cartons of milk.

Use rubber bands to close bagged lettuce, anything really.

Freeze ham and cheese sandwiches.

All important docs are scanned onto computer ......passports,, travel insurance, birth certs, driving licence, car insurance but I also emailed them to my own email and also to dh email. Then flag them. They can then be accessed even if not at home.

An old sponge is great for getting pet hairs off a mat.

[honeylulu]

If you don't have a kitchen funnel and need to get (dry) ingredients such as pre measured formula milk powder or sweets into a narrow vessel (ie a bottle or narrow necked jar) use a clean piece of paper folded down the middle.
Got this tip from my dad (retired pharmacist who used this method to fill pill bottles).

[DropYourSword]

Sadmother

When serving a share bag of crisps open the top and then push the bottom of the bag up and keep curling it under and in. Creates a bowl from the crisp bag. As the crisps go down, keep rolling (classy me!). Not sure if I've explained this very well, but everyone I have shown has found it life changing!

Peel a banana from the bottom rather than the top - much easier to get rid of the horrible stringy bits.