10 Easy Ways To Fix Household Goods

The things we use in our everyday lives tend to hold a lot of sentimental value. Having those items around becomes second nature until the tragic day when they break or get damaged. Things are just things, but when your favorite pair of sunglasses snaps or you walk outside on a rainy day and your umbrella won't open, it can really affect your mood! Not only is it annoying, but you also start to think about how much replacing everything will cost – and that makes your bad mood even worse. But there's good news! Most household goods can be fixed super easily without costing you a penny. These 10 easy repair hacks will help you keep your go-to household items around and hang on to all of your favorite things!

1. Repair Broken Glasses

You'll Need:

• dental floss
• scissors

Here's How:

Anyone who wears glasses knows that the frames are held together by a few tiny screws. Those screws always end up coming loose, and when they do, they roll off somewhere, never to be found again. But there's an easy fix! Pull some dental floss through the holes in the frames and tie a tight knot. Cut off the excess floss, and your glasses will stay together until you have time to get them repaired.

2. Mend A Snag

You'll Need:

• bobby pin

Here's How:

Knit sweaters are some of the coziest pieces of clothing you can wear, but there always comes a time when your sweater gets caught on something and it gets a big, ugly snag. Not only does it make the sweater look sloppy, the snag is more likely to get caught on something else, and eventually it will be completely unwearable. Luckily, this annoying problem is easy to solve! Hook a bobby pin onto the loose thread and manoeuvre the loop back into its original spot. Looking good again!

3. Fix A Worn-Out Toothbrush

You'll Need:

• hot water

Here's How:

Toothbrushes have a tendency to get worn out faster than you think. Constantly replacing them feels really wasteful, and the cost all of those new toothbrushes adds up! To make the bristles nice and firm again, just dip the head of the toothbrush in hot water for a few minutes. The bristles will shrink, and your toothbrush will be as good as new!

4. Fix Frayed Shoelaces

You'll Need:

• transparent tape

Here's How:

When your shoelaces get old and frayed, it becomes almost impossible to lace up your shoes. It happens to all of us – there's no need to stress, and you definitely don't have to rush to the store to buy new shoelaces. Tightly wrap some transparent tape around the scraggly ends of your laces, and your shoe-tying woes will be over!

5. Replace Missing Earring Backs

You'll Need:

• pencil

Here's How:

The backs of earrings are teeny-tiny and tend to get lost pretty often. Sometimes you're on-the-go and can't borrow the back from another pair, but you also don't want to take the risk of having the earring fall off of your ear! To make a new earring back, cut a small piece off of the eraser of a pencil and use that instead. You won't notice any difference, and your earring will stay safely on your ear!

6. Fix A Broken Umbrella

You'll Need:

• empty ink cartridge
• needle & thread

Here's How:

6.1 One of the worst feelings is stepping outside on a rainy day, only to find out that the fabric of your umbrella is torn and the whole thing won't work anymore.

6.2 With just a little bit of effort, you can save your umbrella and march through the rain as dry as can be! Use a lighter to melt an empty ink cartridge, making a small ridge on one side of it.

6.3 Cut open the side of the ink cartridge opposite the ridge and slide the new plastic cover over the end of the broken rib of the umbrella. Use a needle & thread to sew the cartridge to the fabric of the umbrella, and voilà! Good as new!

7. Repair Chipped Wood

You'll Need:

• rice
• super glue
• metal scraper
• sandpaper
• paint

Here's How:

7.1 Chairs, cabinets, and tables all experience a lot of wear & tear. You can always paint over minor dings, but when there's a big chip in the wood, the damage can seem unfixable. Fortunately, chipped wood can actually be repaired pretty easily! Start by super gluing some rice into the gap where the wood is chipped.

7.2 Carefully remove any excess rice with a metal scraper and use sandpaper to sand the area down so that the area becomes smooth. Put a few coats of paint over the damaged spot, and you won't be able to tell that it was ever chipped!

8. Fix Broken Flip Flops

You'll Need:

• rubber band or hair tie

Here's How:

8.1 Flips flops are a necessity for the summer, but they're also not a very sturdy style of footwear. When you wear a certain pair of flip flops frequently, the strap is bound to break eventually.

8.2 Luckily, there's an easy fix! Flip the flip flop over and remove the strap, then use a rubber band or hair tie to connect the strap to the sole. The repaired flip flop will be just as comfortable as it was before – just make sure you keep a rubber band around when you're wearing them!

9. Erase Pressure Marks On Wood

You'll Need:

• towel
• iron

Here's How:

It's easy to accidentally leave pressure marks on wood, especially when you're using a hammer on a wooden surface. To smooth out a pressure mark, cover the wood with a towel and iron over it. The wood will look brand new afterwards!

10. Rejuvenate A Worn-Out Purse

You'll Need:

• chewing gum
• paint or permanent marker

Here's How:

10.1 Everyone has that one purse or bag that they love more than all the others, but that kind of devotion to a single accessory usually comes at a price. If your favorite purse is getting worn-out and ratty looking, you can make those signs of wear disappear by sticking some chewing gum on the worn-out areas.

10.2 Let the gum harden and paint or draw over the gum using paint or a permanent marker that's the same color as the bag. Now your beloved purse will look as good as the day you bought it!

These simple repair hacks will not only empower you to start fixing things yourself, they'll also save you a ton of money on basic household items and accessories. If only everything in life were this easy!

Get the instructions for the Hacks That Every Woman Should Know and Hot Glue Gun Hacks featured in the bonus video.