Let’s face it, nothing is more enjoyable than walking into your culinary den and having all your goodies placed for maximum ease. Feel like you still have a lot to learn? Then keep reading about these kitchen hacks that will transform you into a total pro.
Those Stubborn Glasses
You know that horrible frustration you feel when glasses attach themselves? It's almost impossible to separate them, even a bodybuilder doesn't have the exceptional talent it takes to separate the stubborn crystals.
Don't worry, WD-40 has got your back. Spray some in between the glasses and watch how they magically come apart!
A Chef's Kiss
It's always exciting cooking knowing that once the meal is prepared, it will be served and eaten off of a new dishware set! Whether it was a wedding gift, or you're merely updating your set - it's an exhilarating feeling.
The only frustrating thing you need to deal with is removing the stickers from the bottom of your new dishes. To avoid that sticky residue that may stay for the rest of the dish's life - use WD-40 to help the stickers easily peel off.
Helping Onions And Garlic Last Longer
Although such veggies as onions, garlic, and even shallots last much longer than their counterparts, such as bananas, apples, and oranges, there is a simple hack to further their longevity by as many as three more months. Just take a paper bag, such as a lunch bag, and using a paper punch and punch holes all in the bag. Once you have that done, fold the bag top down a couple of turns, and secure it with a paper clip.
Duct tape is one of the handiest things in the world to keep around – anywhere, really. You never know when you’ll run into an emergency situation that calls for ultimate sticky power. You’ve probably heard of some of the more basic duct tape hacks on this list, but we guarantee you’re going to discover some new ways to use the stuff that you’ve never even dreamed possible.
Open Your Jars Easily
We’ve all been in that place where we’ve got dinner going, and we’re starving, and all we need to add is just that one last ingredient – but the jar won’t budge. This sounds like a job for your handy, dandy duct tape!
Next time you can’t get those pickles to pop open for your (otherwise) amazing turkey sandwich, try this tip. Just make sure you press the tape into the can very well at first, otherwise it will just peel right back off.
Use Cupcake Liners for Your Cupholders
Cupholders are probably one of the dirtiest places in a car. They accumulate the remains of different drinks over time and inevitably serve as the place where you put everything you don’t immediately know where to throw in the car.
So, cupholders are usually very dirty with junk and gunk. But there’s an easy and practical fix! You can clean your cupholders and place silicone cupcake liners in them, so next time you go clean the car, simply take out the liners, rinse them quickly and place them back in.
Herb Organizer
As your dreams about a nice backyard keep drifting away, you realize it's time to face the reality of your teeny tiny apartment and audibly sigh. But having no yard is no excuse to not growing your own basil. Get yourself some herbs to grow in lightweight pots and start eating your greens just like your grandma told you.
So, how do you set up those pots in the kitchen, and what does a shower curtain rod have to do with any of it? First, you set up the rod in the window frame. After that, attach clips or hooks to the pots and hang them on the rod. Now stop with the takeout and go make yourself some salad.
Paper Towel Rack
Spills aren't only limited to the kitchen, and your house floor has the stains to prove it. So why not keep a crisp roll of paper towels in every room? That way you can at least pretend to have the habits of a clean person.
The way to do it would be to mount a short tension rod in the closet/cupboard of the desired room and string the roll on it. Can you hear that? It's the sound of you becoming a responsible adult.
DIY Mug Stand
Ah, coffee. Elixir of life, the nectar of gods. If coffee was a religion, we would be the first converts pledging our allegiance to those heavenly brown beans. For now, the closest thing to a coffee shrine we can have is this DIY coffee mug station.
You'll need a wooden box, some rods, and several S-hooks. After securing the box to the wall, mount the rods inside, hang the hooks, and then hang the mugs. Feel free to decorate and show your appreciation for the one thing you can't live without.
Spice Up Your Life
The way we see it, there are two kinds of people in this world — those who are willing to cook, and those who will forever order takeout. Being part of the second group, we would appreciate being introduced to someone from the first group, thanks.
Cooking lovers care more about their spice rack than they do about the new season of "The Bachelor", and that says a lot. Our guess is they would appreciate this little hack: use a suction shower rack to create an extra storage space for easy spices reach. Now go make us some food.
Dish Towel Rack
Dish towels are basically just Petri dishes in the making. Somehow, they are never dry enough, which lets any kind of bacteria that lands on them have a sweet party with all of its friends. The way to take care of your dish towels and keep them nice and dry is to install a rack.
Mount a rod on the wall over the sink, hang your dish towels on it, and tell the bacteria it can look for somewhere else to party.
Restore Burned Cookware
If you have a beloved piece of cookware that endured a little too much time on the stove, have no fear, baking soda can save it.
To remove stubborn burnt-on stains, boil water in a separate pot and then add some baking soda to it while it’s still hot. Finally, pour the baking soda and water mixture over the badly burnt areas of the pot or pan you're cleaning.
Clean Your Grill
Barbecue lovers, this one's for you. Grills add a lot of culinary options and usually see a lot of use during the warmer months. (4th of July picnic, anyone?)
If your grill has seen a lot of action lately, and has some residue on the grates, just grab some baking soda and a damp brush. After a little scrubbing and a quick rinse, your grill should be all set for the next use.
Make Appliances Perform Better
Appliances that see a lot of use, like dishwashers and coffeemakers, can develop unpleasant smells and grime that hinder their functioning.
To make them look better, smell better, and function better, run an empty cycle with just baking soda and water inside. The residue that has built up should disappear and you should notice them performing better too.
Deodorize Your Trash Bin
The smell of a trash bin can quickly ruin the atmosphere of even the most beautiful house. But the quick fix is — you guessed it — baking soda.
After you take out the trash and replace it with a new bag, sprinkle a generous amount of baking soda at the bottom of the bag. As your trash fills up, you should still find that unpleasant smells are greatly diminished.
Extinguish an Oil or Grease Fire
Did you know that many fire extinguishers contain baking soda? This is because baking soda reacts with the heat of the fire, producing carbon dioxide which smothers and extinguishes the flames.
However, though baking soda can be very helpful when putting out a small oil or grease fire, it is not suggested to use this on a larger fire. If you have any doubt, it’s always best to call 911!
How to Keep Food Stains Away
One of the most reliable ways we can avoid food stains in our containers is to rinse and clean them immediately after using them, of course. But often, life gets in the way, and we don’t have the time to do it right away and end up dropping our containers in the sink until we get home at the end of the day.
However, if you fill them with hot water and a little bit of dish soap, it will make the cleaning process so much easier and keep all of the greasy and oil stains away because of the detergent. This will help prevent food stains, but it will also make it easier to clean up any excess leftovers.
Fridgin' Cool
Most of the time, our fridge is in perfect condition - like something out of a refrigerator commercial. Other times, not so much. We place one item where it's not supposed to be, and all of a sudden, things get out of hand.
At first, it may not bother you, but when spilled food starts piling up, it can smell up the fridge. Guess what eliminates those messes in a split-second? WD-40!
Grease & Grime
BBQs are one of our favorite summer activities, but cleaning a grill after a Sunday cookout can be quite an annoying task to accomplish, one that may make you wish you didn't invite 15 of your closest friends over to begin with.
The burnt leftovers can be a hard one to clean up, but WD-40 can help you out with this one too! Spray it onto the grill for an easy way to wipe away grease and grime.
Quickly Unclog Your Sink
Need a quick fix for a clogged sink? This combination is reminiscent of high school volcano experiments because the main ingredients are baking soda and vinegar. Use one part baking soda and vinegar to make a powerful concoction that will unclog even the most stubborn of sicks.
Leave the mixture in the sink and watch it clear up in a few minutes. This remedy works when a plunger has already been used and the attempt to unclog a sink has been futile.
Peel Eggs Easier
A cooking hack for people who like to consume eggs is one where the eggshell pieces come off smoothly and easily. The trick is to wet your fingers and to start peeling the egg slowly.
It's a simple trick that doesn't require any added ingredients and it truly works!
The Jar Issue
Reusing old jars and bottles is a sustainable way to store liquids and solids. For example, old coffee jars can be used for storing cocoa, chia seeds, and even nuts. You can line them on the shelf with the correct labeling so you won't end up mixing the wrong ingredients together. Keeping old ketchup and mustard bottles is a wonderful way to store pancake batter. First, make the batter using your own recipe, and then make sure the bottle is completely cleaned.
Using a funnel, pour it slowly but surely into the bottle and use it for pancakes so you won't have to create a big mess in the kitchen. This hack is a great kitchen activity to do with kids and the family because you'll always come up with perfectly round pancakes which are a great breakfast hack that the entire family will appreciate.
Shoe Organizers Aren’t Just for Shoes
Everybody knows those plastic shoe organizers that hang on the back of closet doors with pockets for all your pairs of flat shoes. Here’s a groundbreaking thought, you can use them for storing things that are not shoes!
A shoe organizer can help you get your cleaning supplies in order. You can use it to store the smaller items and to see everything you have in a single glance. They can also be a great place to store all the different cords and plugs that can be found everywhere around the house.
Use Fabric to Improve Your Kitchen
Most kitchens are something like seventy percent cabinets. We all need plenty of space to hold plates, cups, pots and pans, and everything else our daily lives need. Old wooden cabinets start to feel drab and boring after seeing them every day for months or years, especially if they all have the same dry color.
One solution you can try out is to remove the cabinet doors and replace them with fabric drapes. You still won’t have to look at your old dishes, but you can pick your favorite pattern or color, measure out the right amount, and staple it to the top of the cabinets.
DIY Cutting Board Holder
Is there any homemade meal that doesn't require a cutting board? It's a kitchen necessary that everybody will end up using at least once or twice a day, but where do you put them when you aren't using them? Plenty of people keep them on the counter at all times, but there's another way.
Build a quick and easy cutting board holder under your upper cabinet or in another place in your kitchen with just a few hooks and some hardware. The most complicated item you'll have to use is probably a power drill. You can handle that, right?
Help Your Sink Drain With a Toothbrush
If your kitchen sink doesn’t drain quite as well as it used to, you can scrub it clean with an old toothbrush and then drop sliced lemons in the garbage disposal to freshen everything up.
It should go without saying, of course, that this should only be done with a toothbrush that you don’t plan on ever using again…at least, not on your teeth. Luckily, though, this is a great excuse to get rid of that old brush you needed to replace anyway. Besides, it’s not healthy to go too long using the same toothbrush. Even if you did use a new toothbrush for this method, though, it really wouldn’t be such a big deal. They tend to be pretty cheap, and you definitely don’t need anything fancy for this technique!
Clean Silverware With Ketchup
This may seem a little bit counter-intuitive, but ketchup actually works as an effective polish for silverware and stainless steel or copper pots and pans. Simply squirt a little on, scrub with a scouring pad, and rinse the residue away with warm water.
Who would have known that a simple condiment like ketchup could actually be such a great cleaning agent? It’s enough to make you wonder who thought of this method in the first place. How many of us see something dirty and think to clean it with the same thing we put on burgers?
Easily Clean Your Microwave
When you cook things like soup in the microwave, pops, and splatters can leave the inside looking more than a little messy. To clean it without much scrubbing, just nuke a bowl full of vinegar or a sliced lemon, then wipe down with a wet sponge!
This is definitely going to be a lot of help for any microwave owner because cleaning it thoroughly can be quite difficult. Plus, many of us live with people who don’t clean up after themselves properly, so the grime and grease can get dry and hard to clean. No longer!
Keep Your Sponge Fresh With a Binder Clip
Holding your dish sponges with binder clips is a great way to keep them on your sink without taking up so much space. And, as an added bonus, this method of storage helps air-dry them quickly—which is more sanitary and keeps bacteria from building up on the sponge.
It should also be noted that this wonderful method of air-drying your sponges, and keeping them easy to access, is dirt cheap. Binder clips cost next to nothing, and, chances are, you already have more than a few of them in your home anyway!
Scrub Produce With Baking Soda
Chemicals, huh? You can't live without them, but you also can't live with the vegan PTA mom going on and on about how your shampoo is basically poisoning you. Well, thanks to this hack, she will have one less thing to nag about. For years, baking soda has been touted as one of the most versatile must-have items for your kitchen.
By just adding a couple of teaspoons of baking soda to 1-2 cups of water, you will have yourself an all-natural produce scrub. Combine the mixture in a large mixing bowl, or add the ingredients into a spray bottle and shake well. Once mixed, you will have the perfect all-natural solution for ridding your produce of pesticides, dirt, and unwanted yuck from every nook and cranny. Once cleaned, make sure to rinse your produce thoroughly.
Hang Up Heavy Utensils Too
Once you've started sticking up hooks, you will find that you will have endless space. You can hang up bigger utensils like spatulas, strainers, larger spoons, and ladles even larger hanging knives like cleavers and chef knives.
This can really take away the frustration of a messy kitchen. It's also much easier to find. Just make sure you don't hang anything sharp in places children can reach.
Avoid a Cluttered Kitchen Cabinet By Hanging Up Pots and Pans
No space for an overhead rack in your kitchen space? No problem. The best way to make space in small places is to stop stacking and start hanging. Simply place some corkboard on the inside of the cabinet and stick on adhesive hooks. You can hang all your pots and pans and have tons of space.
No need to drill holes or knock in nails. Sticking on wood is just as good and is completely hassle-free.
Throw Dishwashing Liquid into Your Blender
Cleaning a blender can be a real headache. Not only that, but it can be potentially pretty dangerous. Sticking your hand into blades can cut your hand up into ribbons. No one wants that. There are safer ways though. You can try dishwashing liquid.
Add the dish soap to your blender, two cups of warm water, and blend it together until the food residue washes away. It's super safe and totally efficient.
Light Up Dark Cabinets with LED Lights
Unfortunately, not all of us can afford the fancy cabinet lighting that comes with our kitchen units. Some of us mere mortals have to put up with the shame of dark cabinets. This can be rather annoying when you're trying to rummage around for some cereal or a jar of peanut butter.
You don't need to walk through kitchen supplies with a flashlight or candle. You can just install some LED lights into the shelves so that you see everything clearly. They are pretty cheap and look pretty sleek if you ask us.
Messy Ceramic Top? Use a Magic Eraser
Cooktops made of ceramic are really neat and a great alternative to other types of stovetops, but unfortunately they're not great to clean. While there should be specialty-made type sponges for these types of stoves, technology isn't quite there. But there is an alternative.
Just use a Magic Eraser. The texture of the sponge is perfect for tough grease stains and oil build-up. Just a few swipes and your ceramic stover top will be spick and span.
Get Rid of Sticky Residue With Oil
It's great to re-use old jars and bottles. Those things can be really useful, but what happens when you re-label it or at least scrape off the last one and all that old sticky residue is still there from the last label.
Just use cooking oil, it's as easy as...pie. Rub some oil on the stickiness with some cotton and just watch how easily it comes off when you wipe it. Now you can repurpose old jars and stick whatever you want on them, or just leaves them clean and use them as decorative pieces on your window sill. It's great in front of the light.
Use Ice Cubes Remove To Remove Candle Wax
It sounds like a stretch, but dripping candle wax can get anywhere, and it can certainly get into your furniture. If this ever happens to you, the first thing you should know is to never, under any circumstances, scrape it off your couch. That can only make things worse.
What you should do, however, is take a plastic bag, fill it up with some ice-cubes, and gently dab it over the wax. Let it sit for a few minutes until the wax has cooled and hardened. Once that has happened, you can easily peel it off any surface.
Store Plastic Bags in Wet Wipes Container
Accumulative plastic bags can really get in the way. You can bunch it up and stuff it in a drawer, but that is never very pleasing to the eyes. What can one do with all these excess bags? For starters, you can start recycling, or you can also stop taking store bags back with you. But if you already have them, there is a better solution.
If you have a bunch of bags that you don't know where to put, you can take an old container of disinfecting wipes and place them in there. The pull and grab system is super convenient and you can store it wherever you like.
Command Hooks Help Keep Bin Liners in Place
Your old plastic bags, which we assume are now in a neat tissue box, can be used as bin liners. But the downside to doing that is that heavy items can cause the bag to go in the trash along with them. You can keep them in place by using Command hooks.
You stick the hooks on the outside of the trashcan on either side and put the bag’s loops around them. This will ensure that your liner stays in place and your hands can stay garbage-free!
Sharpen Your Knives Using Ceramic
Dull knives are a real no-no in the kitchen. They make it much harder to chop food and are actually more likely to cause injury than sharp knives. If you don’t own a knife sharpener or can’t find one when you need it, you can instead use a household item that you already have in your cupboard.
The bottom of a ceramic bowl or mug is a good surface to sharpen your blade on, but if you are going to try this hack at home, please do so with caution!
Use a Tension Rod for More Storage
Household cleaning supplies are usually stored separately under the sink in the kitchen or bathroom. But all the different kinds of products, plus the oddly shaped spray bottles, can take up a lot of space and cause cabinet clutter.
A tension rod can really help with this problem. You can find them at any hardware store, and they don’t cost much. Hang one high at the front of the cabinet and you can line up your spray bottles on it, making them more accessible and creating more space underneath.
Use a Tissue Box As a Holder for Plastic Bags
It seems like every household has its own secret stash of never-ending plastic bags. They are good for picking up after your dog, lining garbage cans, and a million other things, but are usually an unsightly mess in and of themselves.
You can up-cycle an empty tissue box by putting plastic bags inside and turning it into a bag holder. You put the bags in with the loops sticking up and fold the end of each new bag into the loops. That way, each time you take out a bag, another one will already be waiting for you!
An Egg Carton Is the Perfect Holder for Near-Empty Condiments
There are few things more annoying in life than trying to squeeze the last few squirts of ketchup or mustard from the bottom of the bottle. You know there is plenty left in there and you don’t want to be wasteful and simply throw it out.
We have all tried to balance the nearly empty bottles upside down just to have them fall over time and time again. An egg carton will help you keep the condiments with the lid down and hold them steady so that you can squeeze out every last drop.
Desk Organizers Can Be Used in Other Parts of Your Home
Despite your best efforts, pantries can quickly become cluttered and messy. Open bags and boxes of food become mixed with various spices and soon you can’t find anything, or even worse — have everything topple when you reach for something.
Old and unused desk organizers can actually solve this problem. You can use them to organize some of the smaller items inside your pantry. If you have the room and a little technical skill, you can even attach them to your wall, freeing up more shelf space to accommodate larger items.
A Wine Cork Can Also Serve as a Chip Clip
Whenever you need to close an open bag of chips or some other half-eaten snack, you never seem to be able to find any of your chip clips around. If you don’t feel like searching your entire house again, there is a way to make your own clip from an old wine cork.
All you have to do is slice half the cork down the middle and use the slit you created to close your folded bag of chips.
Flatten Your Ground Beef Before Storing
Ground beef is a great thing to have around for a last-minute dinner fix, but if you are in a hurry, it may feel like forever while waiting for the beef to thaw out. You can speed up the process by flattening your ground beef in a gallon-sized freezer bag before putting it in the freezer.
The flat surface area of the beef will cause it to thaw out faster and it will also take up less room and be easier to stack in your freezer!
Use a Pringles Can to Store Spaghetti
Spaghetti noodles usually come in plastic bags that are almost impossible to reclose once you have opened them. If you only cook some of the noodles, the noodles that are left in the bag become a bit stale and also have a tendency to start falling out into your pantry.
Next time you are snacking on some Pringles, keep the empty can, clean it out, and it becomes the perfect container for noodles. It is just the right size, has a lid and will save you the trouble and expense of getting a special container.
The Way of the Fridge
Much like organizing your tool shed, everything has its place but what does that mean for a fridge? Your fridge is best set at 40°F and the freezer is best at 0°F. The top shelf, being eye-level and the warmest part of the fridge should be dedicated to your open containers (like yogurt or dips), cooked foods, leftovers, and beverages – the things that should be consumed in the next few days. Since warm air rises which forces the colder air to the lower parts of the fridge, you should consider packing your raw meats, eggs, and dairy products on the lower shelves.
Those two drawers for the fruit and vegetables are called the Crisper Drawers and are kept separate for good reasons. Depending on your fridge, most of them have the option to control the humidity in either crisper drawer; the drawer with the lower humidity is better for fruits and the drawer with the higher humidity is for your leafy greens and vegetables.
Fresh Herbs Can Be Stored in the Freezer
If you love to cook then you probably purchase fresh herbs fairly often. The problem is that it seems almost impossible to use the entire amount you buy at the supermarket before it goes bad. Instead of throwing them in the trash, you can put them in the freezer!
As soon as you get home from the farmer’s market or pick your favorite herbs from your own garden, simply chop them up, put them in an ice cube tray with some olive oil and you have some seasoning ready for every occasion.
Use Binder Clips in a Whole New Way
A pyramid is usually a pretty stable shape. (Just look at how long these monumental structures survived!) However, if you try to stack your beers into a pyramid in your fridge, you'll find that this shape is a lot less stable than advertised.
Well, a binder clip or two can solve the problem. Just use the clips as an easy stop as instructed in the above picture and stack away!