The “Hack”: Sticking dryer sheets in air vents to make your home smell better.
Why it doesn’t work: We all want our homes to smell nice, but spending on money on candles, air freshener, or other traditional materials can get expensive quickly. So what about the house hack of putting smell-good dryer sheets in the air vents? This inexpensive idea could turn out to be a costly mistake! The sheets could end up blocking the air flow, which could cause major HVAC issues—and those kinds of repairs aren’t cheap!
The “Hack”: Adding lemon wedges to your dishwasher to get your dishes cleaner.
Why it doesn’t work: Many dishwashing liquids have a lemony smell to them, possibly because they neutralize any stinky, residual food odors. That’s about as far as the lemon’s purpose goes! Some people assume that adding a few lemon wedges to your dishwasher will actually help clean up your dishes. However, the fact that a couple of wedges are in there won’t compare with the amount of pressure and water coming out of the dishwasher jets. Save your lemons! (Alternatively, if you’ve squeezed all the juice out of your lemons, toss them in the garbage disposal instead of the trash can. They may not work too well on your dishes, but they can help your sink smell a bit better!)
The “Hack”: Spraying hairspray to get stains out.
Why it doesn’t work: The time when hairspray could get any tough stain out of fabric are long gone. Back when this hack was first used in the ‘60s, hairspray had alcohol in it. Unfortunately, this is no longer the case. So please, do not try to empty a can of hair spray onto your dress hoping to get the stain from last night out of it!
The “Hack”: Making a DIY jewelry display out of egg cartons or something equally as crazy.
Why it doesn’t work: Maybe you have some small jewelry or other things lying about that you’d like to put out for all to see—or maybe you just want to store them somewhere in your home. Oh look, there is an egg carton that will hold this perfectly, or maybe I’ll try to put it in a little frame! Before you do that, ask yourself if this is just a bigger issue with you not having space? Maybe try a really nice jewelry box so you can show off everything inside while also creating space.
The “Hack”: Buying a bed with built-in storage underneath.
Why it doesn’t work: You may think investing in a bed that has drawers underneath it is a good idea. It never hurts to have extra room, after all. However, these kinds of beds are built mainly for those who are in small living spaces and have little room to work with. Plus, these kinds of mattresses aren’t very fashionable and could make your home look more like a college dorm with these beds.
The “Hack”: Tossing a Magic Eraser into the toilet to get the toilet bowl clean.
Why it doesn’t work: Magic Erasers are incredibly efficient at removing stains off surfaces around your home and clothes. However, that doesn’t mean that just tossing it into your toilet bowl will magically get it clean. Part of the method for getting those stains off is the act of scrubbing. Try using it to scrub first and see the difference! Don’t like getting your hands that dirty? Invest a couple of dollars in a toilet scrubber.
The “Hack”: Combining baking soda and vinegar to clean surfaces.
Why it doesn’t work: Baking soda and vinegar—individually—make amazing cleaners to use around the home, particularly if you’re looking to stay away from man-made chemicals. Unfortunately, when combined, all they do is create salt water, which isn’t really known for being a go-to cleaning solution. People assume that the foam is cleaning the surfaces, but really it’s only good for unclogging pipes.
The “Hack”: Opting for open shelving vs. traditional cabinets storage.
Why it doesn’t work: If you can pull it off well, the idea of open shelving works well. It can be very eye-catching to have exposed shelves with all your dishes. If you’re like the rest of us though, you’re more than likely just shoveling cups and plates into cabinets to forget. Using open shelving means you’ve got to keep it tidy so it doesn’t look cluttered, so it’s actually a bit more work to keep things organized.
The “Hack”: Going crazy with a label maker and labeling anything and everything.
Why it doesn’t work: It can feel quite satisfying to show your kitchen off to friends and family, even more so when you love to cook! You will most definitely want to show off your fine ingredients in your perfectly labeled storage containers. However, don’t think that because you labeled a couple of things that you should label everything! Keep it to one part of the kitchen and only have a select number on display, otherwise things will start to look a bit busy.
The “Hack”: Doing a rinse cycle with mouthwash to clean your washing machine.
Why it doesn’t work: Although cleaning the washing machine is probably one of the last on the list to clean, it’s actually a breeding ground for bacteria. People have said that mouthwash, because of the alcohol in it, is the best thing at killing the bacteria. Sadly, the amount of alcohol in it is not near enough to even scratch the surface of the bacteria. Stick with diluted bleach (or vinegar, if you want to go the natural route) for your cleaning purposes.
The “Hack”: Putting wax on your stove top to make it easier to clean up stains.
Why it doesn’t work: When you start cooking for the first time after you apply the wax, you’ll soon find out that it’s actually flammable—and now your whole kitchen is going up in flames. Needless to say, you’ve over-cooked that souffle and now instead of saving some time on cleaning your kitchen you’re now planning how you want to remodel it!
The “Hack”: Sticking odds and ends on pegboards.
Why it doesn’t work: Pegboards are fun, cheap, and easy ways to dress up your walls while not losing precious storage space. The downside is that it’s pretty easy to mess it up if you don’t know what you’re doing! Less is more should be your motto when it comes to working with it. Keep composition and design simple but efficient so as to not lose aesthetic or functionality.
The “Hack”: Using mason jars to store odds and ends.
Why it doesn’t work: It’s an inexpensive and enjoyable design for any space in your home that you can take on. There’s a place for all things, however, it won’t match well in every single room. Mason jars work if you’re looking for a country home or rustic style for the design. Not so great if you’re going for a more modern setting. They do make really great additions in the kitchen if you’re looking to show off some spices and grains!
The “Hack”: Getting a tall bed frame or risers to hoist up your bed, making additional room for storage underneath.
Why it doesn’t work: Putting up the bed so that you can get some extra storage space sounds like a perfectly logical thing to do! However, always think about the frame that will work best for your needs. A low bed might be your favorite but won’t give you the same kind of space. Risers will do the trick if you want that style, but the look and feel will no longer be the same. You’re better off just getting the right bed instead of trying to create space that wasn’t intended to be there.
The “Hack”: Wetting dryer sheets and using them to clean.
Why it doesn’t work: Apparently there are multiple things to do with a dryer sheet that have nothing to do with an actual dryer. Regardless of some of the life hacks you’ll find on the internet, adding water to a dryer sheet does not make it an instant remover of anything. I know we all wish this was the fix it for our cleaning chores, but it’s not. Once again, our go-to tool is the Magic Eraser! Just remember to do a little bit of scrubbing and don’t just throw the Eraser at it and expect it to work.
The “Hack”: Using coffee filters as dusters.
Why it doesn’t work: Using coffee filters for their intended purpose is enough for us. They could have no other use and we would be happy, as long as the coffee was made. Then someone had the idea to use them as dust collectors because of the texture of the material. Sadly, this just pushes dust from one place to another. Stick with a Swiffer as it’s made to actually attract and hold dust particles instead of moving them around!
The “Hack”: Sticking a newspaper in your refrigerator to absorb bad odors.
Why it doesn’t work: Keeping your goods wrapped in newspaper while it was in the fridge was once thought to help keep the smell contained and the fridge smelling clean. The thought was that the newspaper would soak up the odor, as if it’s some kind of magical device that provided both information and odor-reducing superpowers. We’re still not entirely sure where this came from, but we think it was created by the newspaper companies to sell more newspapers.
The “Hack”: Cleaning your tub with a baking soda concoction.
Why it doesn’t work: Ok, so technically this hack works. Why it makes it onto this list is the amount of time you have to wait! You can mix backing soda, cream of tartar, and lemon juice. This part doesn’t take too much time. Then you have to put the paste that you just made on the bathtub’s surface—again, not much time necessary. Now you have to wait at least 30 minutes in order to see if work. Honestly, you could have just scrubbed for the same amount of time and been done.
The “Hack”: Tossing things in boiling water to get them clean.
Why it doesn’t work: We all know that hot water cleans better than cold water. But the idea that bacteria can just be boiled away is not the safest bet. In fact, most water heaters only take the water up to 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Bacteria dies at 212 degrees. That means that you need to get the water much hotter to start killing all of those bad things! You’re better off using bleach or another chemical to disinfect your home.
The “Hack”: Using apple crates as storage.
Why it doesn’t work: We’re all about using old things, especially when they can bring a real farmhouse vibe to your home! Unfortunately, those picture-perfect homes that use them in the photos typically had way more done to them than just picking them up from the side of the road. Remember, they have professional arts and crafts folks turning these into the perfect style. Add on to the fact that you can easily end up with clutter in the boxes, which will inevitably overflow with unneeded things.
The “Hack”: Using wine racks as towel holders.
Why it doesn’t work: This looks super awesome, but we have two issues with this one. The first is that the amount of time that it takes to actually get the towel into the rack is way more of a hassle than the look is worth. The second then is that if I’m using my wine rack to hold my towels, what’s going to hold my wine?
The “Hack”: Using an over-the-door organizer to, well, keep things organized.
Why it doesn’t work: These do provide a place to keep things. However, things always seem to accumulate in these holders—and not the good kind of things. The other downside is that in order to know what’s in them, they need to be transparent, because we all know you’re stuffing it down in there. This causes an eye sore for most people, so you’re better off not trying to utilize this.
The “Hack”: Using Coca Cola to clean your house.
Why it doesn’t work: Yes, we all know you can clean the battery acid off your car battery with this. Think about that for a second. Are you sure you want to use this to then clean your toilet? The bubbly helps to remove stains, but it doesn’t help to kill germs and bacteria. You’re much better off—and safer—using regular cleaning materials to make sure that the job is done right!
The “Hack”: Placing a wooden spoon over the top of a pot to supposedly prevent the water from boiling over the top.
Why it doesn’t work: Anyone who has cooked for any amount of time has definitely had this happen to them. This usually means a bigger mess than what you started with. Supposedly putting a wooden spoon over the top is supposed to prevent this from happening, but we tried it and we still had a mess on our hands! You’re better off getting it to a boil, then turning down the heat slightly.
The “Hack”: Tying all your cords and cables together to get them out of the way.
Why it doesn’t work: Keeping charging supplies for all of your devices in one spot is a good idea if you like to have all of your cords tangled in one giant knot. This can also create issues when you need to move a cable, but you have to literally unplug every single one of them before you’re able to get to the one you actually need! Not to mention, the look of all your cables there in one spot isn’t ideal. Try to keep certain electronics in one place and others in their respective spots!
The “Hack”: Hanging up key holders so your keys are always in the same place.
Why it doesn’t work: They sell them by the dozens now! Key holders that are just stuck onto the wall. Yes, they have a purpose, but there are definitely better and more creative ways to make sure that you are show off how organized and original you are! Not to mention, most store-bought key hangers like that don’t stay for too long or hold much weight!
The “Hack”: DIYing dryer balls.
Why it doesn’t work: These balls are supposed to provider faster drying once you put them into the dryer. Supposedly they help keep the clothes separated in the dryer, allowing for improved air circulation. The hack for adding in two socks is a lie! You’re better off getting some tennis balls and adding them into the dryer than trying to create your own.
