Start a fire in a flash

Save used wine corks in a sealed jar filled with rubbing alcohol. When it is time to light a fire, place one of the corks under the pieces of wood (or charcoal). The alcohol will make the cork catch fire quickly and stay lit long enough to ignite them.

Grilling hot dogs

When you are grilling hot dogs for a big party, it is very likely to forget which ones you already flipped. To prevent that from happening, just arrange 2 skewers, soaked in water, in a parallel position and thread each hot dog horizontally onto both sticks. Place the racks on the grill, turn them once, and they will end up evenly cooked!

Keep plants healthy

To keep your plants healthy, save the water next time you boil eggs, and use it to water the greens after it cools. The fluid will be rich in protein and lecithin, excellent nutrients for your plants.

Homemade ice pack

To keep your food cold outdoors, make your own ice pack by soaking a paper towel with water and placing it in the bottom of a plastic food container (in a size that fits your needs). Freeze the container for at least a half hour, seal your food in a zip plastic bag and place it inside the frozen container. Later you can use the damp towel for cleaning, if you wish.

To repel mosquitoes

In a spray bottle, mix 1 tsp of vanilla extract with 1 cup of water and spritz some of the mixture onto pulse points. The sweet smell tricks their antennas preventing the bugs from finding human prey.

Improve a compost pile

Add some cola soda to your compost pile once a week to help material decompose faster. Sugar in the liquid feeds useful microorganisms, and cola increases the acidity of the pile.

Ant control

To get rid of an ant hill, just saturate the area with cola soda. Acid in the carbonated drink will kill all ants.

Trapping wasps

Use a glass filled with cola soda to attract and trap wasps. They will drown and die in the liquid.

Snails and slugs in the garden

To eliminate snails and slugs from your garden, place a small bowl filled with cola soda around the area. The liquid will attract the animals and its acid will kill them.

Remember where you parked your car

After parking your car in a big parking lot, use your smartphone to snap a few pictures of your location and markers around the spot. You will easily find it again later.

Prevent ski goggles from fogging up

Cut a row potato in two and rub the fleshy part of one half on the inside of the goggles. The starch in potatoes leaves behind an invisible film, preventing water beads from adhering to the lenses.

Keep glare out of the eyes

When doing outdoor activities, keep the glow from interfering with your vision with this athletes tip. Burn the end of a cork and let cool, then rub the singed end under your eyes. The dark charcoal will help to deflect the sunlight.

Against Mosquitoes

Mix 1 part garlic juice with 5 parts water, put the solution in a spray bottle, and spritz yourself as needed.

Beautiful and healthy plants

To keep outdoor (or indoor) plants healthy, crush leftover eggshells and sprinkle over the soil. The calcium in the shells will help them to grow robust and gorgeous.

Frost-free windshields

To prevent icy windshields next time you know that snow is coming, just rub a halved onion over them before flakes fall. Sulfuric compounds coat the glass and stop ice from forming.

Frost-proof car windshield

Keep snow, ice and frost off your car windows in the morning. Fill a spray bottle with a saltwater solution and use to spritz the windshield at night. Reapply every night.

Kids playing on your lawn

When you have children running and playing on your lawn every day, the soil gets compacted making hard for moisture and food to reach grass roots. Have them wear soccer cleats when playing, to create pores in the lawn that allow water and nutrients to soak into the soil.

Dogs versus garden

To prevent dogs from digging in flower gardens, sprinkle some cayenne pepper over the areas that pets like the most. The spice will tickle their noses making them to sneeze, and the sensation will keep them away.

Fog-proof swim goggles

Cover the inside of the mask with a thin layer of toothpaste, then rinse with warm water. The paste will leave behind an invisible coat of fluoride, which will dissolve water molecules on contact and prevent vision-blurring condensation from forming.

Against wasp

Many kinds of wasp (not all) are extremely territorial and will not build a nest within 200 yards of another one. Build or buy your own fake nest and it will work just like a scarecrow. Hang one in the front yard and one in the back, and you will be all covered.