Do you spend all winter wishing you could hibernate the way bears do? You’re not alone! We might not be able to spend all our time curled up and hidden under blankets, but we can make this season a little easier, whether we’re dealing with the cold outside or a common cold. Household Hacker shows us how with TEN smart hacks. Watch their ideas, then read on for the full list of ideas to make winter easier.
Did you catch all of those? Let’s recap to make sure you know all the wintertime tricks you need!
- Our first trick is a classic: waterproof your shoes! Just rub them with a candle, then blast them with a hair dryer.
- Snow too wet and heavy for your back to handle shoveling? Grab a large broom and SWEEP the snow instead!
- Have to use a shovel and getting stymied by snow sticking to it? Prevent that problem by spraying your shovel with nonstick cooking spray first!
- Heating bill too high? Turn to your oven. While, no, you should never try to heat your home with your oven, you can make use of residual heat after you bake something. After turning the oven off, leave the oven cracked open as its temperature comes down to reap the benefits of the leftover warmth.
- There might be no greater battle during winter then the one over the office thermostat. Even if you and your officemates are in agreement, the building management often has the thermostat locked up— which means you need to trick it! Just put a bag of ice cubes on top of the thermostat to trick it into turning on and adding some extra heat.
- Want an easy DIY way to fight colds? Make your Vicks Vapor Rub shower bomb by mixing the rub with some baking soda and cornstarch.
- Stop air from escaping through the gaps under your doors just by using some simple pipe insulators. If you can’t find those, pool noodles work, too!
- What about those smaller gaps on the sides of doors and windows? Seal them up with molding clay!
- Need or want some hand warmers? Don’t drop a lot of dough. Just make your own by filling some small socks with rice, then microwaving!
- Want your bed to be warm as soon as you get into hit? Just hit the gaps between the blankets, sheets and mattress with a hair dryer before hopping in!
Great, frugal tricks! Have you ever tried any of these ideas before? Which ones were totally new to you? Which ones are you going to try ASAP? Share your own wintertime hacks in the comments, and be sure to watch Household Hacker’s video for the full details on these hacks!