The document provides 15 life hacks or productivity tips for various tasks around the home. Some of the tips include using uncooked spaghetti to light candles, using lemon juice to remove highlighter stains from books, creating a slow feeder for puppies from PVC pipe, and using zip ties to create a smartphone stand. The tips cover a variety of topics from gardening to cleaning supplies to home renovations.

1. Life Hacks - Maharashtra Today
A life hack (or life hacking) is any trick, shortcut, skill, or novelty method that
increases productivity and efficiency, in all walks of life.
The term was primarily used by computer experts who suffer from information overload or
those with a playful curiosity in the ways they can accelerate their workflow in ways other than
programming.
The original definition of the term "hack" is "to cut with rough or heavy blows."

2. 1. Pasta Lighter
We’re sure you’re stocking up on sweet smelling candles to make your home extra cozy
for the colder months. But, if your candles are burning too low to reach the wick, there’s
no reason to go without your favorite scent.
Instead of burning your fingers, light a piece of uncooked spaghetti. It’ll reach into those
deep candles and burn long enough to light the candles on grandpa’s birthday cake!
Everyone enjoys saving money, especially when it comes to improving your home.

3. 2. Remove Highlighter Stains
Ever wish you could remove highlighter marks from a book? Lemon juice fades highlighter
enough to make it virtually undetectable.
Cut a lemon in half and get some juice on a cotton swab. Run the swab over the highlighted text
and watch the color fade.
Lemon juice from a container also seems to do the trick. Though not quite as well on the pieces
we tested, and the older the mark, the more stubborn it is to remove.

4. 3. Puppy Slow Feeder
My puppy was eating his food too fast, resulting in him vomiting it back up. Instead of buying a
slow-feed bowl, I drilled holes into a 12 in. length of 2 in. PVC pipe and capped the ends.
I fill the tube with puppy food, and he has to roll it around to get the food to fall out of the holes.
My puppy gets all the food he needs without the mess that comes from eating too fast. Be sure the
holes are large enough for the food to come out.

5. 4. Keep Seeds Fresh
If you don’t use up all of your seed packets, store them in an airtight container with silica
packets to keep them fresh for next year.
The silica packets prevent the seeds from germinating or getting moldy.

6. 5. Renew Your Furniture in Minutes
My son plastered all of the furniture in his room with stickers from skate shops,
arenas and gumball machines.
Once he moved out, I wanted to use his furniture in the new guest room, without
the stickers.
I peeled off all the stickers using a putty knife in combination with hair dryer, to
soften the adhesive. Some are harder to remove than others, but I had them all off
in a couple hours.

7. 6. Zip-Tie Phone Stand
When referencing projects plans or a photo for inspiration while working on a DIY project, most of
us use our phones to display images or instructional videos. The only problem with this method is
that our phones don’t prop themselves up, making it difficult to see at the images while working.
You can make a smartphone stand out of just about anything these days, but it doesn’t get much
simpler than looping zip ties around your phone (1 on each side). All you have to do is tighten the
zip ties until they are snug to the phone with the zip-tie heads facing down and near the edge of your
phone. Now you can watch video instructions or look at project drawings without having to hold it
in your hands the whole time.
Plus, the next time you are charging your phone in the car you better think twice!

8. 7. Easy Mulch Spreading
Getting mulch up close to flowers and bushes is easier if the mulch is in a small container.
So I place buckets and pails in my wheelbarrow and fill them up with mulch. It doesn’t matter
much if the mulch misses the bucket and lands in the wheelbarrow.
Once you’re done dumping the buckets, dump what’s left in the wheelbarrow in an open area
and spread it out.

9. 8. DIY Car Mats
One simple way to keep your car clean is to cut scraps of old carpet to fit on the floor as mats.
We found our carpet scraps for less than $2 at Home Depot. And when the DIY carpet scraps
inevitably get all dirty with mushy winter snow or summer sand, you could either give them a
wash or toss them out and make more.
A word of caution, do not put these DIY car mats on the driver’s side of the car unless
grippers are attached on the bottom side to ensure that the mat does not slip forward while
driving.

10. 9. Get Dents Out of Wood
Dents in wood surfaces can be annoying. But fret not, they can be fixed! Simply soak a
washcloth in water and ring it out a bit so it’s not sopping wet. Put the damp washcloth on
the affected area.
The water will wick through the wood, and that’s fine. Now, with your iron on its highest
setting, place it on the damp washcloth over the affected area, and make small movements
back and forth and in circles.
Press down firmly and continue until your washcloth is dry. It won’t take long to evaporate.
At this point, the wood fibers are absorbing the water and should expand back to where they
were originally. Continue this process and repeat by adding more water until the dents rise
up to be flush with the rest of the material.

11. 10. Use a Ceramic Mug as a Sharpening Stone
The bottom of most ceramic coffee mugs have a flat, unglazed ring that is the perfect surface for
giving that dull knife or blade a quick sharpening.
And if you find yourself in need of sharpening a utility knife, pocket blade or scissors and don’t
have access to a sharpening stone, you can simply flip over a ceramic coffee mug and use the outer
edge of the bottom, the non-glazed part, as an emergency sharpening stone.
Just run the blade across the bottom of the mug at a 45-degree angle, working from the one end of
the blade to the tip. Next, slide the blade downward in one direction, keeping your fingers out of
the way as you work.

12. 11. The Ultimate Extra Hand
Carrying a sheet of plywood by yourself is awkward and hard on your back.
The best method I’ve found is to make a loop from an 18-ft. length of rope and wrap it around
two corners.
Now I can use the rope as a handle.

13. 12. Plant-in-a-Pot Landscaping Design
Ever wish you could reorganize your garden after seeing how the mature plants look? Here’s a
clever way to do it. You’ll need a bunch of pots of the same size, so they’ll nest in each other.
Put your plants in doubled pots, and then bury them at ground level. Whenever you want a
change, lift out the top pot and put in a different one.
This method is also really slick for bringing plants indoors over the winter. This method is great
for quickly changing out seasonal plants, and allows for easy experimentation with color and
placement of plants and flowers.

14. 13. Grow roses from cuttings
Here's a great tip for growing roses from cuttings. Before planting, push the bottom ends of the cuttings
into small potatoes.
Moisture and nutrients in the potatoes will allow the cuttings to develop healthy roots.

15. 14. DIY Drip Waterer
Here’s an easy way to turn any hose into a drip-watering hose. Drill 1/8 in. holes every 2
in. and screw a cap the end. Weave the hose around your plants and turn on the spigot.
You’ll have to do some testing to figure out the right setting.
To make watering even easier, I added a programmable faucet timer to the hose.

16. 15. Clean Up Paint in Carpet
I used to think dropping a loaded paintbrush on the carpet meant replacing the carpet, until
a former foreman told me this little tip.
Pour some denatured alcohol onto a rag and scrub away the paint.
Use a rag that is as close in color to the carpet, as the alcohol can transfer some of the rag’s
color to the carpet.

17. WE ARE ALSO AVAILABLE ON SOCIAL SITES
TO GIVE YOU THE DAILY UPDATES
https://www.facebook.com/maharashtratoday
https://www.instagram.com/maharashtratoday/
https://twitter.com/mtnews_official