10 Life-Changing Life Hacks - You Can Try Right Now!

Boost the chances of finding a lost phone, and sleep better starting tonight, with 10 life-changing lifehacks you can use right now.

Also, make sure to check out my other Life Hack videos:

10 Life Hacks For Summer!

10 Life Hacks For Christmas!

Step 1: Watch the Video! :)

NOTE: These projects and results are portrayals of my own personal experiences. Your results may vary depending on your location, experience, and modifications. Use of this video content is at your own risk.

Step 2: Life Hacks in This Instructable

Life Hacks are tips and tricks to help make your life a bit easier. Sometimes common sense isn't so obvious until you've seen it.

So, in this video you'll see how to;

- Automatically block ads on smartphone apps and games

- Avoid the "walk of shame" at the gas pump

- Start your grill with potato chips

- Peel a Kiwi the fastest and easiest way

- Boost the chances of finding your phone if it ever gets lost

- Win the battle between hot and cold in the shower

- Effortlessly keep your tie straight and in place

- Keep kitchen rolls in place when wrapping up leftovers

- Get a better nights sleep without the cost of expensive pillows

- Turn your plastic bags into an instant bag dispenser

Watch the video HERE

Step 3: Instant Ad Blocker

This little trick will make it so you can play games on your smart phone without having to deal with strategically placed ads.

Simply try switching your phone over to airplane mode.

This will turn off the phones radio function, and even make your battery last longer, so you get more playing time, without the incessant distractions.

Watch the video HERE

Step 4: Fill Port Finder

If you've ever rented a car, you know the feeling of pulling in to the gas station, only to realize too late, that you forgot to check which side the fill port was on.

Rather than being caught doing the walk of shame, you can avoid the embarrassment altogether, by glancing at the pump icon on your gas gauge.

There's a little arrow pointing to the side you need to fill up on. So remember this little trick the next time you borrow a car, and you'll be a gas pump hero on the very first try.

Watch the video HERE

Step 5: Tinder Chips

It's the season for grilling, and if you want to switch things up at your next party, why not skip the lighter fluid, and try starting your charcoal with a handful of potato chips?

They make a surprisingly flammable tinder, and will easily burn long enough to light up a stack of coals.

...And this way, you won't get that lighter fluid taste in your meat.

Watch the video HERE

Step 6: Easy Kiwi

The kiwi fruit. It's so exotic and so delicious, but how do you peel it without hacking it up and leaving so much fruit on the skins?

The solution is so simple you won't believe it. Try using a spoon.

Just cut the ends of the kiwi, then push your spoon inside, making sure the back slides in along the peel.

Now carefully work the spoon around the inside edge, until the entire fruit pops right out.

It really is that quick and easy, and hardly anything gets left behind.

Watch the video HERE

Step 7: Phone Finder

Before your phone gets misplaced, take a picture of your email address, or some other contact information written in big letters.

Go ahead and save it as your lock screen photo, and now if your phone ever does get lost, the first thing anyone will see, is exactly how to get it back to you.

Watch the video HERE

Step 8: Shower Setter

Every day we face a torturous moment of truth, when we turn on the shower, and get blasted with icy cold water.

If it's not cold, then it's unbearably hot.

But you can easily fix this daily challenge with a bottle of nail polish or white-out.

The next time you find the sweet spot, mark the trim plate and the handle with a couple of dabs that line up with each other.

Now you've got the power to win this epic battle, by hitting the perfect temperature on the very first try.

Watch the video HERE

Step 9: Tie Saver

If your tie keeps getting twisted out of place, it's so frustrating to have to keep checking and straightening it all the time, isn't it?

Try rigging up a permanent fix with an old dress shirt, and a pair of scissors.

Carefully cut the front strip so you end up with a piece just a bit longer than two of the button holes.

Now then next time you dress up, simply slip one of these "tie savers" through the keeper loop on your tie.

Fasten it to the buttons on your shirt, and now your tie will always be straight, look great, and fall back into place even when it gets knocked around in the wind.

Watch the video HERE

Step 10: Roller Holder

Arg, the frustration that comes when wrapping up leftovers, because the rolls keep pulling up out of the boxes.

Sometimes they seem more trouble than they're worth, but luckily, there's a quick and easy fix.

Just get a knife and cut a downward facing arrow on the ends of the boxes, directly in the center.

Now simply push these tabs inward to secure the roll in place, and keep it conveniently in the box, every time you pull.

By the way, some boxes already have little push tabs built right in. So start using them, and make make your life that much easier.

Watch the video HERE

Step 11: Sleep Support

Do you wake up in the morning with a stiff neck and a headache?

It might be because your pillow is cranking on your spine all night long.

But before you spend loads of money on specialty pillows, try lifting your head a bit and tucking the edge of your pillow, under your neck.

Lay back down, with the corners over top of your shoulders, and you've just made an ergonomic support for your neck and head.

This will help straighten out your spine, and instantly make any pillow you're using, feel like it should have cost a lot more.

Watch the video HERE

Step 12: Instant Bag Dispenser

Plastic grocery bags. They're worth hanging on to, but they can quickly take over your drawer space.

To eliminate the clutter simply flatten them out, and fold the bags in half lengthwise.

Now lay them in a straight line, with the handles overlapping the bottoms of the previous bags, then roll the whole thing up.

You can add as many bags as you want, and in a couple of minutes, you'll have an instant bag dispenser that will take up very little space.

Now if you put this in some kind of container, it will dispense one bag at a time, whenever you need it.

Watch the video HERE

Step 13: More Videos

Well there are 10 life changing life-hacks that you can try right now.

These are all Life Hacks that I personally use all the time, and I recommend you to try them as well.

If you liked these projects, perhaps you'll like some of my others. Check them out at www.thekingofrandom.com

Comments

[IvanW30]

Most hot water tanks come from the manufacturer preset at 160 degrees F.

Stepping down to 140 F will reduce your monthly hydro bill

Stepping down to 120 F, is a no no, it is not recommended, due to insufficient temperature needed to kill some of the harder to kill bacteria that are in our environment.

Single handle taps can, & should be set to the specific location on the dial, that will be the maximum temperature that the homeowner decides is a comfortable temperature for the whole family.

Regardless on how far anybody turns the handle, it will stop at the preset position, which is the maximum temperature that was predetermined.

This should be on all single handled control taps.

It is a safe guard to prevent accidental burns from turning the handle to far, possibly exposing a child, or non-suspecting adult to the maximum hot water temperature range.

If needed; identify the manufacturer, & then going online to there website.

There you will find the necessary instructions on your make & model, & how to set the position of the handle to the maximum desired temperature.

Accident is just a word until it happens

[ccmrry]

A better idea for the right temp for your shower, and your whole house: adjust the thermostat on the water heater so that it's no more than 120°. No one will ever get scalded again, and the hot water at the lavatories will be safe for children. Why would you heat water up, only to have to add cold water to it? That's a waste.

[RichardS50]

The reason for having hotter water in your heater is to avoid disease. If your water is kept at 120F bacteria will be able to grow very quickly. I seem to remember that you should keep your boiler at minimum of 80C (I think that's about 175F).

[John T MacF Mood]

US Water heaters can only go to 140°F for safety reasons. (Regulated by law.) If you "hack" your heater and get 180°F out of it, stand by for some lawsuits from guests in your home. According to the http://www.burnfoundation.org,

Hot Water Causes Third Degree Burns…
…in 1 second at 156º
…in 2 seconds at 149º
…in 5 seconds at 140º
…in 15 seconds at 133º

And I have mine set at 140°F, and the reason being, I have a large tub, (I'm a large person) and I can't fill it with a sufficient quantity of water to bathe properly. And mixing a cold and hot stream to get the temperature you want or need isn't a waste. If you're arthritic (I am), and need a large quantity of hot [not scalding] (105°F to 108°F) water, you're going to step up the temp, and mix it to a safe reasonable temperature.

Don't be ignorant, LOOK IT UP!

[ccmrry]

I don't quite understand the "don't be ignorant" remark, as it's never my goal. Obviously, no suggestion works for everyone, and mine is intended for the average person's showers and lavatories. The needs of large arthritic people did not occur to me, and was not a consideration. I can sympathize with your arthritis, as I suffer a bit from it myself. I do hope you can find ways to relieve it. If my suggestion doesn't work for you there's no need to defend your own practice. But, if you still have to mix cold water with your hot you've probably heated it too much. Some experimentation might yield a lower setting that could work. I realize that saving energy is not important to everyone. Take the suggestion or not.

[John T MacF Mood]

It's been proven you can fix ignorance, by education. You can't fix stupid. Setting a water heater at 170°F to 180°F as suggested by some contributors, well, that's just way beyond safe. It's dangerous.

As to the 140°F setting on my water heater, if I use it at the suggested lower temperature(s) then I CANNNOT mix to a comfortable use temperature. With my water heater set to 120°F, it will not render a tub full of water at a temperature over 98.6°F. It's a large tub.

I also do not feel comfortable washing my clothing and dishes with water that won't help sanitize them.

Saving energy, good idea. I have a heavy insulating jacket on my water heater. I use it for hot water during off hours (our power provider has a higher price for power used during peak hours), and I use what I need, and don't over do it.

I've tried the lower temperature, and it doesn't clean my clothes, dishes, or myself as well as sanitary rules require.

The Canadian standard (very similar ti US standards) for hospitals is:

For use in cleaning hands, etc and preventing any growth of bacteria in plumbing the standard is 60C (140F) for hospitals. This is a minimum requirement for infection control, etc.

Typically for laundry and commercial dishwashers the temperature standard is 82C (approximately 180F) again by hospital standards.

(Alberta Health Services construction standards for new hospitals).

[thormj]

That's my favorite thing about my tankless heater: hot showers forever (as long as I pay the gas bill)!

I keep it at 140F because we have dogs and you have to get above 130F to kill fleas that they might bring in and put on the laundry my son leaves strewn about. Any lower and there is a low black cloud in his room, despite me using Frontline.

[MatthewN32]

Same, but mine stopped working and we could do a warm load in the washer or take a shower warm enough for me to be comfortable with for days

[JimmyM92]

I recently moved into a new home where the previous owner had the thermostat set as high as it would go. I had neglected to check it first and it ruined my new DISHWASHER AND SEVERAL LEAKS IN VARIOUS PLACES. It literally melted the workings on my dishwasher and expanded all gaskets in the faucets. It's extremly dangerous.

[Katie5757]

Seriously...you need to upgrade your water heater to a greater capacity, or get a smaller tub. Those high temperatures are dangerous in a domestic situation. I hope you dont have children. I have a peripheral nerve problem, and am advised to regulate water very closely as far as temp goes, though I never use a bath.

I am sorry about your physical disability, but you need to be safe. I never use hot water in my washing machine...and a dishwasher heats its own water.

[JimmyM92]

I totally agree with you, 175* is very dangerous. 140* is plenty hot enough.

[JimmyM92]

175* is extremely hot. No need to say about the chances of a major explosion if it ever overheats. 125* to 140* is very adequate, I do plumbing and have seen major burns from even 140* hot water.

[Androgynous14u]

Avoiding disease with water temperature has more to do with food rather than showers. As a veteran chef I just figured I would attempt to cure your fear of bacteria. Also, to truly avoid this bacteria that seems to concern you, use boiling water via your stove or microwave, which in effect uses less electric than setting your water heater at a specific temperature. Obviously you wouldn't be soaking in a tub of boiling hot water, right? I know it certainly would never make it's way through my shower head. Just information for the weary...or should I say worried?

[Phantom5582]

Don't forget that most houses only have one water heater that is not only used for bathing and cooking, but also for washing clothes and dishes. High temps are good for making sure said clothes and dishes are cleaned. Personally I would rather turn up the temp to my water heater just so that I can get a good shower and not worry about the dishwasher or laundry machine ruining said good shower. This applies even more so when you are in a house with 4+ people or that one roommate that loves making the bathroom into a sauna whenever they shower.

[ClintM11]

The suggestion to keep the water temp lower is not just one of safety, but for the environmentally concerned. Washing clothes in hot water is a practice many discontinued long ago. Modern detergents work very well with cold water. My comment was not directed toward people who would turn a bathroom into a sauna, or who think only of themselves. I wouldn't know how to address that kind of person, or say anything that would get them to change their wasteful behavior. Having said that, I offer this from the NY Times:

"About three-quarters of the energy use and greenhouse-gas emissions from
washing a load of laundry come from heating the water--a practice
that, scientists say, is often wasteful and unnecessary."

[doxiepoo]

The key word here is "often". I an not a stickler on msny things, in fact it would be better if i upped my game where i eould keep things s little more organized. But i am a believer in hottest wster i can stand to do my lsundry and cleaning. I even have to wait about 15 minutes before i can put my hsnds into dish wster ( yes. I actuslly hand wash most if my dishes becsuse i never hsve enough dirty at the same time to use a dishwssher.)

[Katie5757]

#doxie.. like you I dont have a dishwasher. However, my hot water is 60C and way too hot to put my hands in it for hand dishwashing...I use a delay and dishbrush for the majority... research today's technology with regard to laundry products....very few instances of requirement of high temperatures, unless you are dealing with "medical" laundry i.e soiled bed linen, reusable bandages, etc.

Occasionally I will put some towels through a hot wash, but only if there has been some infection around, and there is a recommendation that shared items be given some special attention.

[Anne46]

I thought most washing machines (for clothes) were cold fill only now. Certainly new ones in the UK are as far as I'm aware.

Great tips btw, KoR.

[blueye81]

A little bit late maybe, but talking about bacteria, you mean "legionella"?

Legionella [...] [are] common in many environments, including soil and aquatic systems, with at least 50 species and 70 serogroups identified. The bacterium, however, is not transmissible from person to person:^[2] furthermore, most people exposed to the bacteria do not become ill.^[3]

Moist heat sterilization (superheating to 140 °F (60 °C) and flushing) is a nonchemical treatment that typically must be repeated every 3–5 weeks.

Risk factors for infection include older age, history of smoking, chronic lung disease, and poor immune function.^[6]
It is recommended that those with severe pneumonia and those with
pneumonia and a recent travel history be tested for the disease.[7]

[Katie5757]

Dishwashers apparently dont use hot water, they heat the water in the machine. You too need to upgrade the capacity of your water heater, and maybe instal a sauna...that is so wasteful. A friend of mine has a timer on the shower to limit the luxury of steamed up bathrooms. His family doesnt like it, but unless they share the electricity bill, that is the way it is....soon learn to have a quick and vigorous shower.