The best life hacks and household tricks

TOP 60 useful life hacks for the kitchen and home
In the article we have collected the best, necessary and useful life hacks for the home - 60 tips will help you with cooking, cleaning and more. Such new and long-forgotten ideas will help save your energy, time and money.

How to prepare a delicious soup for future use so that it does not spoil and make cutlets of the same size? How to enhance the aromas of spices in 1 minute, keep fried meat juicier and do without store-bought muffin tins?

You will find all the answers in the article, as well as 28 tricks that will help you figure out how to easily bring comfort to your kitchen using the simplest and most inexpensive means.

Useful for the kitchen

This section contains 22 truly brilliant ideas for cooking beautifully, simply and tasty.

Frozen broth or soup. Prepare a free time dish in a large saucepan, leave it for a couple of days, and freeze the rest that will not be eaten. This way you can diversify your menu any day with a delicious first course. This way you can save 2-3 dishes, and in the freezer the soup can be stored for up to 3 months, and the broth for up to six months. But it will be tastier to eat everything at once. Be sure to leave free space in the soup can or container - the frozen liquid will begin to increase in volume, and do not forget to label the name of the dish, as well as the date of preparation.
Use a slot in the cutting board - it will be convenient to pour chopped fruits, herbs and vegetables through it, and nothing will fall past.
To prevent the cutting board from sliding on the table, you should place a damp cloth or towel under it, or even more conveniently, a cellulose kitchen napkin. This is what professionals do in the kitchen, which is very convenient.
Enhance the taste and aroma of spices - you should hold them in a dry frying pan for a couple of minutes before adding them to the dish.
Keep greens fresh - line the container with paper towels, which will absorb excess moisture, and this way the greens will last much longer.
Freezing fresh herbs in ice cube trays – chop the seasonings and place everything in the molds and fill with water. This will make it convenient to use greens for preparing soups and other dishes, which is extremely convenient - fresh greens will always be at your fingertips.
Freezing leftover wine in ice cube trays makes it convenient to add to sauces and dishes without the need to open or buy a new bottle.
Dry leftover greens in the microwave for a couple of minutes. Next, put everything in a glass jar and you can add them to dishes. It turns out tasty, economical and at the same time healthy.
Preparing fresh meat for cooking chops - to prevent the meat from getting dirty all around, before beating, you should place portioned pieces in a plastic bag or cover with cling film.
Preparing meat so that it is flavorful, juicy and has a dark crust. Before cooking, it should be kept in brine with spices (this should be from 4 to 12 hours), and the time depends on the type of meat.
Preserving juice in fried meat - you should let the steak sit for 5-7 minutes after cooking, and then cut it, so the juice will not leak out.
Cooking meat with a crispy crust - to achieve this, you should dry it with paper towels before frying.
If you want your cutlets to be perfectly shaped - even and one to one, use a glass goblet for shaping.
There are life hacks for a meat grinder, and one of them is sharpening the knives of the device. You will need to sharpen the knife and the mesh on one side; you should always place its sharpened side towards the knife, and sharpening should be carried out on a flat surface using circular movements on sandpaper.
A glossy sauce that only a chef makes - add a knob of chilled butter when finished cooking, and don't let it boil. Once it melts, immediately remove from heat.
Soften frozen butter quickly - you can easily defrost a small piece in a couple of minutes under a hot glass. Heat the mug under running hot water or in the microwave and then cover with oil. If you need to defrost a large pack or piece, you should grate it or heat it in a steam bath. An excellent option when adding it to dough or preparing cream for a cake.
How to replace butter for muffins? Creamy. Any oil that does not have a strong taste or smell is suitable here - refined olive, sunflower or corn. The proportions are approximately as follows - 300 grams of drain oil can be replaced with a glass (200 ml) of vegetable oil, and 400 grams - with 1.5 cups of vegetable oil (300 ml).
Homemade molds from foil - if you want to make a cupcake, but there are no molds, then you can make them from cling film. You should fold it in 4 layers and wrap it in a glass or other suitable container - this will create a mold. Using a similar principle, you can make molds for Easter cakes or even a cocotte maker for mushroom julienne.
You can bake in a gas oven without a raw top or burnt bottom. If most often the bottom of your cake burns and the top is not baked, then do the following - turn on and preheat the oven for 5-15 minutes before placing the baked goods.
To prevent flour products from sticking to the mold, you should grease the mold with vegetable oil and sprinkle with flour before laying out the dough. This way, the baked goods will not burn and can be easily taken out, and it will be easier to wash the dishes.
Cutting the cake into neat, identical pieces - to prevent the knife from sticking to the dessert, you should hold it under hot water before cutting, and then wipe it dry.
Slicing soft cheese/cake using thread – silk or dental floss is ideal, but you can use any floss, as long as it’s durable.

Let's look at how to keep the kitchen tidy.

Quickly peel boiled eggs

Popular culinary tricks and life hacks for the kitchen are associated with such a process as peeling boiled eggs. There are many ways, but we have chosen the most effective tricks:

Read also:
3 unusual ways to cook eggs that few people know about
Before cooking, put a slice of lemon in cold water, or add a little vinegar or baking soda, this will make the eggs easier to peel.
Place the boiled egg in a glass jar and fill it with cold water until it covers the egg. Close the lid and shake until the egg hits the sides of the jar. Open the lid and try to remove the shell - it comes off easily!
You can also hit the egg on the board and roll it slightly, slightly pressing it to the surface. Now the shell will be separated in an almost solid layer and much easier.

Of course, these cooking hacks mostly apply to hard-boiled eggs, which is about 12 minutes.

How to keep your kitchen tidy

We have collected 11 best tricks for you:

Containers for storage and sorting - jars for spices, for confectionery powder, trays for the freezer and refrigerator - will greatly simplify the life of the housewife. The products will be folded beautifully and compactly. And everything will be at hand.
Stationery clips - they will be convenient for closing already opened bags of sugar, cereals and spices. They also help secure the bag to the trash can so it doesn't slide around.
Line the trash can with several bags at once - you can choose any convenient number and do not need to lay a new one. Plus, if the bag leaks, the bucket will still be clean because there are others underneath.
Among the useful life hacks for everyday life, we will highlight the use of ground cloves against food moths. You just need to put it in fabric or paper bags in the middle of the cereal, and this method really helps. Each bag lasts for ¼-½ year.
A vinegar solution against dirt and grease - it cleans the kitchen stove, including handles, faucets, tiled aprons, and also disinfects. To do this, prepare a solution - mix 1 glass of 9% table vinegar and 1 liter of water, and then pour it into a spray bottle and treat the surfaces. Next, wait a few minutes and rinse off.
Lemon juice is pure and natural. It helps clean the stove, tiles, and when adding salt, also the cutting board. You can also grate half a citrus. And the tiles and stove should be cleaned like this - rub with lemon or pour in juice and leave for 10 minutes, and then rinse.
The cling film will not tear or stick to your hands - just store it inside the refrigerator.
You don't even have to wash the dishes! The method is suitable for cold and warm dishes, and before serving food, you should put a food bag on the plate, then throw it away, and the plate will remain clean.
Washing the faucet with toothpaste - rub the faucet, leave it for a while, and then rinse. The faucet will sparkle!
Baking powder for dough as a means of combating grease on the stove door - moisten the door with boiling water, pour in the powder, and then moisten it with water from a spray bottle. After 1 hour, wash everything off.

Here’s a home trick for those who love to sew: if you have a large countertop in the kitchen, you should use it for cutting.

How to decorate the kitchen with your own hands

We should also highlight a few simple and budget lifehacks that will allow you to decorate your kitchen:

If there are open shelves, then it is better to store spices, cereals and other bulk products not in boxes, but in beautiful jars. For convenience, they can be beautifully signed.
It is better to place the original service and kitchen utensils in a visible place, placing them on a shelf, hanging them on hooks or using special stands.
To avoid empty, boring walls in the kitchen, you can attach photographs to them, hang open shelves or a clock.
If possible, it is recommended to purchase bright furniture or repaint old ones. This will lift the mood of the housewife and household members while preparing dishes or eating.

Bright chairs will enliven the monotonous interior of the kitchen.
Information from the article on life hacks for kitchen design will allow you to save money and properly organize the space in the room, feel comfort and make life a little more pleasant.

Tips to make cleaning, ironing and washing easier

You should definitely familiarize yourself with these life hacks to keep your home cozy and tidy. Surely you will find something useful that will simplify your life.

Shiny windows without streaks - an old method, but it works perfectly. You should wash the glass with detergents and then rub it with dry newspaper.
Stains of any origin on fabric can be removed with laundry soap, just wash in cool water.
How to stop ironing - things should be wrung out delicately so that there are no creases. Or you can just hang them on hangers to let the water run off. If you have wrung out items, you should shake the item several times - this will straighten the fibers and avoid creases. Shirts and blouses should be hung immediately on hangers, buttons fastened, collars straightened and given the desired shape. The item will dry as required even without a single touch of the iron.
A hair dryer is a replacement for an iron - use it as a steamer (another life hack for home and everyday life). This option is not suitable only for thick fabrics, but for everything else it will work perfectly. Advantages of the method - it will help you out in a couple of minutes when things are creased and you are in a hurry. This will also not spoil delicate fabrics made of wool and silk, you can quickly dry clothes and linens, and it also simplifies steaming clothes with complex draperies and folds. If you really don’t have time or are too lazy, hang things up while taking a bath or shower (or while water is running into the bath), and they will straighten out under the steam.
A miniature trash can is at hand - you should have it for yourself, and you will no longer need to run to the kitchen for every little thing. So, tubes, napkins and pieces of paper can be thrown there.
Cleaning small, hard-to-reach places - there are plenty of them in the house, and professional maids in this case use ordinary cotton swabs.
Vinegar and baking soda against the yellowness of the bathroom and dirt on it - you should apply this mixture for a few minutes, then brush it with a brush and you can rinse it off. In addition, the mixture perfectly cleans tile grout, but you will also need an old toothbrush.
Hydrogen peroxide to fight for cleanliness - a 3% solution of peroxide and water in equal measures helps to update the bathroom curtain. You should soak it in it, brush it and rinse it - this way you will have a curtain without yellowness and dirt. Peroxide also helps fight limescale. To do this, spray it on the bath, wait ½ hour and rinse.
To save your washing machine from scale – pour 70 grams of citric acid into the powder receptacle, and then set the “cotton” washing mode, which heats the water to +90 degrees.
To prevent the mirror from fogging up, you should rub it with a bar of soap or shaving foam, and then rub it with a rag. The effect lasts for 1-2 weeks.
To remove stains from microfiber furniture - spray alcohol onto the dirt from a spray bottle, and then wipe with a sponge.
“Scent bombs” for the toilet - you can make them yourself by mixing 3 tbsp. l. soda and 1 tbsp. l. citric acid. Also combine ½ tbsp. l. vinegar and 1 tbsp. l. 3% peroxide. Next, gradually add the solution to the mixture and add 10 to 20 drops of your favorite essential oil. All that remains is to roll balls with a diameter of 2-3 cm and dry them; if you throw 1 piece into the toilet, it will start to hiss, clean everything and smell nice.

Useful tips for tidying up

In addition to general tips, there are many life hacks that can make cleaning your living room, bathroom, and kitchen easier.

Rooms

Tips for cleaning your room:

when cleaning the room, take with you not only a rag and detergents, but also a garbage bag - this will allow you not to waste time walking around the apartment to throw out another piece of trash or small debris;
if you need to clean upholstered furniture or a mattress, pour vodka mixed with water in equal proportions into a spray bottle and irrigate the entire surface with it - the alcohol will disinfect the sleeping area and destroy bacteria that cause an unpleasant odor;
for wet cleaning it is convenient to use gloves rather than an ordinary rag; they can be sewn from microfiber - this way it is much more convenient and faster to wipe surfaces, for example, vases, figurines, chandeliers;
It is convenient to sweep away dust from hard-to-reach places with a brush - the thin handle is able to reach places where a regular rag cannot be reached;
washing curtains and curtains is quite labor-intensive, but at the same time a lot of dust accumulates on them - you can deal with the problem using a vacuum cleaner;
A cleaning roller for clothes with a sticky surface will be an excellent assistant in the fight against dust on lampshades, decorative pillows and other fabric surfaces.

Cleaning the room is carried out according to the “top-down” rule, that is, first they remove dust from the chandelier, curtains, upper shelves, ceiling plinth, and then move lower - always moving from the window towards the door.

Kitchens

Life hacks for cleaning the kitchen:

It's no secret that dishes need to be washed immediately. If you no longer have the strength to do this, for example, after a party, you need to soak it. In the morning, all that remains is to rinse the plates, glasses and cutlery.
To make it easier to organize your refrigerator, just cut off a few pieces of parchment and spread it on the shelves. When soiled, the paper is changed. This way you don't have to wash the entire refrigerator.
In a microwave oven you can not only cook and heat food, but also disinfect kitchen rags and sponges. They are soaped, placed in a plastic bag and put in the microwave. 1 minute of operating the device at full power is enough for all bacteria to die.
In order not to waste time cleaning the microwave, you need to place a container of water in it and let it boil for a few minutes. After this procedure, all that remains is to wipe its walls with a damp cloth.
Oil that spills over the oven during frying can be easily collected with flour. Sprinkle the surface with it, and then carefully roll it up with a dry cloth or paper napkin.
The top of wall cabinets should be covered with newspapers or cling film. This will avoid dust settling on surfaces and not waste time cleaning shelves. Simply changing the newspaper sheet is enough.

Bathroom

Tips for cleaning the bathroom:

It’s not difficult to keep the plumbing fixtures clean - just fill it with cleaning gel in the morning, before going to work, and in the evening all you have to do is walk along the walls of the toilet with a brush and rinse the bathtub with a shower; the whole process will take no more than 5 minutes;
many housewives are faced with the search for rags for cleaning the toilet - in fact, it is very convenient to use wet toilet paper, you can wipe the seat and rim with it, throw it in the toilet and immediately flush it, simple and hygienic;
To make the bathroom mirror fog less, wipe it with a rag with a little shaving cream applied;
newspaper is laid at the bottom of the trash can, so you don’t have to wash it every time if the bag accidentally breaks or something leaks - to prevent an unpleasant odor from appearing, sprinkle the newspaper with soda;
If a shower cabin is installed in the bathroom, then you need to purchase a water squeegee for it, which is used for washing windows - every time after a shower, the glass is wiped with this cleaner, as a result, they will always shine clean.

You will find many useful tips for cleaning the bathroom in this section.

Windows

You can clean your windows quickly and easily using the following tips:

You need to start the procedure only in cloudy, dry weather, when there is no wind or precipitation outside. Otherwise, cleaning will turn into an endless struggle with stains and dust.
You should not immediately start cleaning windows with a cleaner. First, you need to remove all dirt from the glass. This is done with ordinary water. It is better to choose a microfiber rag.
To speed up the process, it is recommended to use a mop with a telescopic handle. It makes it easier to reach hard-to-reach places. The mop is equipped with a water squirt that can be used for washing mirrors and shower stalls.
No better device has been invented for cleaning windows than old newspapers. They do not leave behind streaks or small lint.
When washing glass, be sure to remove the mosquito net and clean it of dust. If this is not done, the windows will very quickly become dirty again.

A lot of useful information about window cleaning is presented in this section.

Lifehacks for storing things

These tips will help you make sure everything is in its place at home:

Organizers, containers with different sizes for storing things inside a closet or dressing room. Even simple boxes are ideal. It’s enough to sort everything once, but after that you won’t need to look for where the second sock or the dress strap you need is.
Vacuum bags – they are very convenient for storing blankets, pillows and winter jackets. Things in this case will take up 2 times less space than before, and they will also be protected from dampness, odors and dust.
Hanging shoe trunk - shoes will not gather dust in it and will not get wrinkled. It is hung on a door or bar and can be of different sizes.
Thin rubberized and velvet hangers help save closet space by 1.5-2 times, and things will not slide off the hangers.
A box for scarves - you don’t have to hang them somewhere or throw them on the top shelf, from where they constantly fall. You can simply roll everything up into a beautiful organizer.
Among the useful life hacks for home and everyday life, it is worth highlighting containers for children's toys - this way they will be easy to clean and store.

We hope that these life hacks will definitely be useful to you, and we hope that your life will be a little easier and more enjoyable.

Lifehacks for kitchen storage systems

No matter the size of the room, it doesn't hurt to learn a few kitchen hacks and space organization tricks. They will create comfortable conditions for cooking.

It is better to sort all products and items into categories. Pans and pots, bottles of oils, seasonings and cereals should be kept separate from each other. This will make cooking much easier, and your drawers will always be in order.

Useful ideas:

The height of classic cabinets is much greater than their width, so it is better to store items in stacks rather than in rows. Cereals and other bulk products can first be poured into plastic containers with lids.
If there are a lot of mugs and cups in the house, then you can make special hooks for them at the top of the shelves. For storage, they are hung by the handle on hooks.
There are housewives who like to write down recipes in notebooks or on paper. A great hack for creating coziness in the kitchen is to place them in a colorful box. Additionally, you can attach a bow to it and place it in a visible place. But notes with important information can be placed on the inside of the cabinet door or on the refrigerator, attaching them with a magnet.
Matches look unsightly in boxes. It is better to carefully transfer them into a miniature transparent or multi-colored jar. You will get a beautiful accessory for the kitchen. It must be stored out of the reach of children.
A special place in the kitchen is occupied by bags from the supermarket, which everyone is used to buying every time they go grocery shopping. Usually many other packages are stored in one package, but this is ugly and inconvenient. A great idea is to place them in a dry or wet wipe dispenser, or make a similar design out of a plastic bottle.
It is recommended to store onions and garlic at room temperature, but this way they quickly begin to sprout. It is better to use perforated bags for storage. Vegetables can be stored in them for several months. To save space, it is recommended to place them in shelves or drawers of the kitchen unit.
It is convenient to put dry rags in glass or plastic jars and store them in an inaccessible place, for example, under the sink or in a niche under the kitchen corner seats.

If you have a lot of jars in your kitchen, it is recommended to make your own or purchase organizers of the appropriate size for them. You can attach them to the inside of the door or the wall. It is convenient, beautiful and saves space.

It is better to fold towels, napkins and other kitchen textiles into a rectangle or roll before storing them in a drawer. This way they take up less space.

Rules for convenient storage of towels

PVC pipe ideas

Here are 3 interesting design ideas for adults. You will need PVC pipes and a little skill.

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You can make a minibar for the kitchen. Bottles are stored securely in it and do not take up extra space. Plus, the drink you need is easy to find.

Looking for folding chairs that can be easily stored away when not needed? Make them from plastic pipes and thick fabric. In summer they will come in handy at the dacha.

Another great idea is a light and spacious bookcase. As in the photo below.

Compact appliances will help save space in a small kitchen: a dishwasher, a refrigerator and a freezer.

How to organize your refrigerator

To put things in order in the refrigerator, you should use several rules:

Place meat, fish, dairy and other products in plastic containers and label them in advance.
Seal the bags using clamps and attach to the grill.
Place the sauces in a mold intended for eggs so that they do not lie haphazardly on the door shelf.
Transfer the greens from bags to jars.
Attach magnets to plastic jars and place them on the inside wall of the refrigerator.
Organize your freezer using stationery containers.

By following simple rules, you can get rid of clutter in your refrigerator forever.

Visual expansion of the kitchen

Large textures and prints are not the best choice for a small kitchen. Tiles laid at an angle look interesting; “hog” is also a popular choice. When choosing photo wallpaper, pay attention to pictures with perspective: a street stretching into the distance, a forest path or the sea coast will fit perfectly into the setting.

How to descale a kettle

Are you tired of descaling your kettle? No problem! Ordinary vinegar will help you out. Just dilute the vinegar with half and half water, and then pour the resulting solution into your kettle. Leave it overnight. By the morning you won’t recognize your kettle - it will simply shine, and there will be much less scale.