Life hacks FACTS

Tips, tricks and remedies that will change how you go about everyday tasks, for the better.

Removing pet hair

As much as we love our four-legged friends, pet hair can accumulate quickly. Skip spending extra money on tools and special attachments and use this simple hack to clean up after your fur babies. Simply wear rubber household gloves and run them over the surface of your furniture. The rubber will cause the pet fur to gather into a ball that can be easily thrown away. bhg.com

DIY rice bag warmers

Because rice retains and radiates heat for up to an hour, it is an e ective and a ordable ingredient in homemade heating pads. Make your own by sewing two 8” x 10” pieces of flannel together on three sides. Fill the bag with four cups of dry white rice, and then sew it shut. When you need extra heat, place the rice bag in the microwave for one to two minutes, then tuck it between your sheets or on top of your shoulders or slippers while you’re watching TV. bobvila.com

CLEANING UP AFTER KIDS

Get non-washable crayons o the walls with a blow dryer. Instead of spending hours scrubbing o what took your toddler two minutes, fight back in only two minutes with a hair dryer. It will heat the wax of the crayons right up. Just have a towel or paper towel handy to wipe your walls clean. homemadesimple.com

FAST FACT

Food scraps make up 45 per cent in weight of rubbish collected kerbside which is why composting your food scraps is the way to go.

Auckland Council has begun to roll out new food scrap bins as part of their refuse collection service. It’s estimated that in the first year of service 39,000 tonnes of food scraps will be collected and converted into renewable resources instead of going to landfill.

Farmers’ market trumps supermarket

A recent survey by Farmers’ Markets New Zealand (FMNZ) shows that buying fresh food directly from a grower or producer costs less money than buying the same basket of goods from the supermarket – up to an 18 per cent saving.

Food from farmers markets is also much fresher, meaning it lasts longer once it’s taken home. eatnewzealand.nz

Drink up

People who don’t drink enough water during the day can feel the cold more acutely. This is because if you become dehydrated it can be more di icult to regulate your body temperature, which can make you get chilly faster, even when you’re not in a cold environment.

Great ways to keep hydrated include keeping a bottle of water handy to sip on throughout the day, hot herbal teas, and clear broths. health.com