GTKY- Life hacks

jc_twomamas · January 2017

I love a good idea, and we all sometimes need extra help so we can make it through the day semi smoothly.

Tell us all your tips, tricks, cool Pinterest idea or short cuts to every day life tasks. Do you know the fool proof way to remove a red wine stain from carpet? Perfect organization tip? Taught your baby how to change their own diaper?

Spill all your best kept secret life hacks!

I dont GIF, but if I did, there would be a "My Big Fat Greek Wedding- Put some windex on it" GIF.

jc_twomamas · January 2017

Mine are likely well known and simple, but I'll start it out...

1) Roll the end of toothpaste up after every few uses to help squeeze remaining toothpaste towards the top. (They also make clips for this).

2) Put 3-4 extra trash bags in the bottom of your bathroom trash can, ready for replacement!

3) When traveling with kids, pin a map to the ceiling of the car and highlight your completed route along the way. And give them a roll of scotch tape. Entertainment for hours...and hours. (I take this one from my mom)

kfry22 · January 2017

For baby stuff:
-Layer crib sheets and mattress pad protectors. When baby has a leaking diaper, spits up, or is sick, you only have to strip the top
-Soemtimes you have to change a diaper when a trash can isn't available. Keep a roll of the doggie duty poop bags in your diaper bag to seal up the dirty diaper until you can find a trash.
-The colored linking rings for babies to play with make good cabinet locks

Elyse1384 · January 2017

Forget the Windex... Just use baby wipes! I swear those things clean all kinds of shit (pun intended). This weekend we were painting and DH majorly hit the baseboard. He didn't realize it until I was checking an hour later to see if we needed a second coat. Nearly dry paint? No issue for the wipes! Took off the paint and left the white finish on the baseboard intact. Wipes also saved our table when DS came right off the coloring book with his marker.

Wino0920 · January 2017

Coconut oil for everything lol! I use it as diaper rash cream, things I would normally butter (like grilled cheese) and oil pulling (swish a tablespoon around in your mouth while hungover and it really does take some nausea away.

c1tym0m22 · January 2017

Muslim swaddle blankets are a mom's windex and should be kept in a diaper bag at all times. I've used them as playmats on airport floors, to clean up spills, nursing covers, and even as an actual blanket. DD now uses them to cover her dolls or as a "picnic" blanket.

Also, this isn't my discovery but it works and is amazing: stick a removable hook on the back of your high chair and hang bibs there. Always there when you need them!

anitamargarita_82 · January 2017

Spray pam to foil when baking foods. It keeps the foil from sticking to your lasagna or whatever you're making. Spray the side touching the food that is!

email2ash · January 2017

Peel and freeze very ripe bananas for smoothies and banana bread. Yum!

I always preferred receiving blankets as burp clothes because they were more absorbent for spit up. With other burp cloths I noticed it would just bead up and roll off. Yuck!

CapricaAndrea · January 2017

If you use fresh ginger for recipes, it's much easier to grate it once it's been frozen. Even using a lemon zester works fantastically, we keep all our ginger in the freezer.

alm52386 · January 2017

My friend uses oxy clean for poop/spit up stains. As soon as the clothes come off they go to a bucket of warm water with a scoop of oxy clean!

ellie111227 · January 2017

I freeze lots of things on cookie sheets and then throw them in freezer bags once they are solid. Then it's easy to take out what i need and cook it quickly. I do this with balls of cookie dough, enchiladas, lasagna rolls, lots of fresh in-season produce (blueberries, blanched green beans, corn cut off the cob after par boiling, etc), meatballs, and probably other stuff I can't think of right now. This stuff was great to have in the weeks after dd was born especially. I'll definitely ramp it up before this kiddo comes.

Kylieslip24 · January 2017

For wine spills- cover the entire spill with a hill of table salt. It will absorb it back out of your carpet or clothes. Let sit for 15 min at least. Then vacuum or shake off and spot clean.

We use apple cider vinegar for everything in our house! The last few days I have been washing my face with it to even skin tone. Looks better already!

Mtnmommy · January 2017

The Wet brush to brush my toddler's hair. It's seriously magical when it comes to easily and painlessly brushing out tangles after a bath or the pool. Also, DD has super curly hair. So I put about a quarter sized dollop of conditioner in a squirt bottle and mix it with the water to spray on her hair for easy detangling on days I don't wash her hair.

Stankonia2014 · January 2017

Cookies - use Crisco instead of butter, makes them less flat. Also, put pieces of bread under the cookies under plastic wrap to keep cookies moist.

In the winter carry a dry sheet in your pocket to reduce static, you can also rub on your hair if your hair is staticky.

Chalk gets oil/ grease stains out of clothes. Use plain old white chalk and color the stain, rub it in and let it sit for a few, then wash as usual.

Homemade Draino - 1/2 c of baking soda plus 1 c of vinegar.

mombod · January 2017

I know its a bit of a joke but like coconut oil, breast milk for everything! Teething, pink eye, scrapes, eczema, raw nips...

ellie111227 · January 2017

Kylieslip24 said:

For wine spills- cover the entire spill with a hill of table salt. It will absorb it back out of your carpet or clothes. Let sit for 15 min at least. Then vacuum or shake off and spot clean.

We use apple cider vinegar for everything in our house! The last few days I have been washing my face with it to even skin tone. Looks better already!

This reminds me that during my last pregnancy I washed my face with coconut oil. Just moisen face, massage in coconut oil and wipe back off with a warm wet washcloth. I didn't use any real soap on my face for months, and my skin looked awesome and wasn't greasy like you would think. It did take half a minute more than soap though, and I stopped bothering when dd was a newborn. Then I guess I forgot about it until now!

michaela0704 · January 2017

@ellie111227 I do the baking sheet/'flash freeze' thing too... I make a ton of stuff this way so I can pull it out and cook for easy weeknight dinners, esp. after trips to the farmer's market. I'll get 4+ lbs of ground turkey, season it, and make turkey burger sliders that you just toss in a skillet or pop in the over. I cube up sweet potatoes, winter squash, etc.

Also, cloth diapers for the win, for pretty much everything... we use our larger size prefolds that our boys never needed for EVERYTHING... spills, cleaning, etc. they are like gold in our house.

HgPa · January 2017

@ellie111227 Coconut oil is the best face wash! I do the same thing when I'm not too lazy.

I keep big bags of mozzarella cheese in the freezer, so I'm always ready for pizza. I find it goes bad before I can use it if I keep it in the fridge. Freezing doesn't affect texture or baking time, you just get cold fingers while assembling the pizza.

Totally taking notes on salt for wine stains and chalk for grease - my mortal enemies.

swanbrooner · January 2017

One of my favorite hacks is using the bread hook attachment of my KitchenAid mixer to pull/shred hot meat. It is quick and both literally and figuratively painless!

tmrussell · February 2017

I love the idea of the hook on the high chair.

Not my original idea, but my day care provider uses an old tee shirt a couple sizes too big as bibs for messy toddlers. Works great. I always wondered how she kept my son so clean!

keniialise · February 2017

The chalk on grease stains is a life saver during pregnancy, when all the spills are caught by my ever growing belly!

Pants/shorts hangers from clothing stores, we bring them home and break off the two ends and use them as chip clips.

NarrowHouses · February 2017

It took awhile to get adjusted to it, but only washing my hair every other or every three days saves me some time in the morning. I use dry shampoo before bed and just let it rub in over night.

I agree with @Elyse1384 baby wipes are a life saver. I was picking up a catering order of Mediterranean food for work and spilled an oil based sauce on my cloth seat. I used baby wipes immediately and it came out! Also worked on deodorant marks on a shirt with no residue/spot.

Xath · February 2017

https://www.boredpanda.com/shitty-life-pro-tips/

kahlan82 · February 2017

Diaper sprayer attached to the back of your toilet. Super cheap and even if you don't cloth diapers, it is great for spraying off anything (poop, vomit) off and into the toilet.

Mesh bag for socks in the laundry, so you don't lose them.

Freeze homemade baby food in ice cube trays.

jc_twomamas · February 2017

@swanbrooner I used my bread hook to shred chicken for my buffalo chicken dip yesterday. Props to you on the life hack. Worked like a charm! I told everyone who came over yesterday they have to try it!

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