I’m the kind of person who gets ridiculously excited about discovering hacks and products that make my life a little easier. Sometimes items come recommended by friends or readers, others I stumble on myself when searching for a solution to some problem I’ve noticed. Either way I love sharing these great finds with everyone!
Here are some recent purchases I’ve found especially useful around the house.
A note about links: At the time of publishing, all items linked on Amazon.com were under $10 USD. Links are geotargeted which means that depending on where you live, you’ll be redirected to your local Amazon website. Unfortunately, that means that some of the linked items might be more than $10 in other currencies. If you look around a bit though, I’m confident you can find other versions of these same items for under $10.
1. Tongue Scraper
I bought a tongue scraper a few months ago on the spur of the moment, and I’m so glad I did! Just a couple of passes along my tongue every night, and my mouth feels so much cleaner and even my morning breath is better. So I got one for my husband too!
2. Pimple Patches
I hate that I still get zits and pimples at my age, but I hate it a little less with these pimple patches. These small translucent “stickers” are actually hydrocolloid patches that help pull out the pus, reduce redness, and promote healing. I wear them overnight, though some people also use them during the day to help dissuade picking. Seriously, these are little miracle workers!
3. Nail Catcher Clippers
If you’re tired of finding the kids’ nail clippings all over the bathroom floor and embedded in your bathroom rug, pick up a set of nail clippers with a built-in nail catcher. It’s not perfect, but it’s made a noticeable difference in the number of nail shards strewn all over the floor.
4. Dental Floss Holder
My youngest has a hard time using dental floss wrapped around her fingers, but single use dental floss picks are so wasteful. If flossing is also a challenge in your house, try a reusable Flossmate. The dental floss winds around the little “button” and stretches across the gap between the arms for flossing. Their teeth get clean, and this sturdy one-time purchase mean you aren’t throwing out pieces of plastic every night.
5. Reusable Produce Bags
We picked up some reusable mesh produce bags last year to replace all those one-time plastic produce bags from the grocery store. They come in various sizes and list the tare weight on the label so the cashier can zero the scale, but they’re so light it really doesn’t make much of a difference. Use these bags just like the plastic ones at the store and in the fridge, and when they get dirty, just throw them in with your regular laundry!
6. Kiwi Peeler
We love eating kiwis, but I don’t like trying to peel them. Yes, you can use a spoon, but the kids always make a big mess and waste a lot of the kiwi. This kiwi peeler is a simple yet clever solution. Cut the kiwi in half, push the wires through the fruit to the skin, then turn to peel and quarter the kiwi into pieces perfect for kids. Just make sure your kiwi is ripe so it’s soft enough for the wires to “cut” through.
7. Knife Brush
This little knife brush lets my kids wash the kitchen and steak knives safely. Plus it also cleans the edges of Tupperware lids and between fork tines.
8. Magnetic Wristband
We’ve been doing some upgrades around the house, and there have been so many times I wished I had a third hand to hold nails or screws or screw bits, especially when going up and down a ladder. This magnetic wristband keeps small metal pieces close to hand and easily accessible.
9. Coil Hair Ties
As anyone with long hair knows, putting your hair in a ponytail with a regular hair elastic leaves a line where the elastic pressed on your hair. These coil-style hair ties don’t do that. They hold hair securely (they’re great for messy buns!) without tangling or leaving that annoying indent in your hair.
10. Blotting Paper
Blotting paper is a godsend when you’ve got oily skin like mine. These are small sheets of highly absorbent paper you can gently press on your skin wherever you’re oily or shiny. Blotting paper takes the shine off without rubbing off or smudging make up. I keep one package in my purse and another in my car. Plus the papers are compostable!
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you.
The dental floss holder is perfect! We were using disposable plastic ones and I felt really bad about it. I have been looking for something like this to replace them and haven’t been able to find it until now!
The dental floss holder has been a game changer for my hard to reach molars!
Love these hacks! Definitely going to be looking into a few of these like the coil hair ties. As a mom of two I feel like my hair is always up then never comes down because of the hair tie line. Great tips!
II really need to buy a dental floss holder! Would be so much easier to floss my teeth! The coil hair ties are my fave!