Winter Hacks to Keep Your Home Cozy and Warm
Keep Your Garage Dry And Tidy
How to make a perfectly dry and clean garage is something we don’t have to explain to you if you live in a winter area with a lot of snow. One elimination is that even if you do not survive a location with a great deal of snow, wintertime rainfalls can be damaging to a driveway. Luckily, there’s a quite straightforward and easy to make do it yourself solution to maintain those garage floorings clean. All you need is some pool noodles and a waterproof mat or tarp.
Simply placed the mat/fabric on the ground and pool noodles, as edge’s parts under them. Park your car on the top of the mat and the melting snow or dirt should fall into the mat so that your floor is as clean as before you rolled in.
Insulate Your Doors
It doesn’t really matter what system you heat your home with, some or most of that heat is escaping underneath your doors. If you have to deal with this and want to save money from your electricity bill, what you can do is to use pool noodles to be the insulators. Simply cut a pool noodle length-wise so that you have two long halves. Finally, take the noodle and slide it under your door (the long way) and that should help to keep some of that delicious heat in.
This will also be like a little door stop too. But there is going to need to be a small gap under your door in order to be able to slide the noodle under.
Avoid Slipping On Icy Sidewalks
But how do the penguins manage to walk on ice without slipping? Part of it is probably due to their flipper feet, but a lot of it comes down to how they walk. Yep, penguins walk on their toes and with their arms (or flappy wings) out. If you ever seen someone attempt to recover from slipping then you better believe they flailed their arms the same way.
Next time you find yourself in the middle of an icy sidewalk, walk like a penguin. Keep those arms back, those toes forward, and if anyone asks tell them you are waddling like a penguin to avoid busting your ass.
DIY Fire Starter
Duct tape is among the most useful things in your house. So, is it any wonder that duct tape makes for a pretty good fire starter? I will say in the beginning it caught us by surprise. But next time you’re throwing a bit of wood on the fire in the backyard, fireplace or out camping, try packing a roll of duct tape, and light it on fire as fuel.
Duct tape is very flammable and it should catch fairly rapidly and it still gives you time to toss a few more twigs on there to keep your blaze alive.
Keep Warm With Your Fan
Few are aware that their fans have a backward motion. And even less knowing the why of it. This is actually quite an easy thing to figure out. Reversing the direction of your fan blade will result in cooler air being pulled up and warmer air being forced back down to the floor. This will not only reduce your energy bill due to not having to use a heater as much, but warmer floors will also help.
Then again, if you’re still wearing those cozy winter slippers the kid bought you for last Christmas, hey, go for it. Alternatively, if you live in bare feet or socks like I do then this DIY solution your new best friend.
Use The Sun To Your Advantage
It may seem counterintuitive but chances are you’ve experienced something similar. In the summer, it means no opening the windows during hot days, while in winter you can open your windows on sunny days to keep your home warmer. If during winter you felt warm either on standing, or under the sunlight, then yeah, you can relate to this hack. Even when the outside air is physically chilled, the sun’s rays will help to maintain your home warmer.
With that said, if you literally live in like an outdoor freezer where there is hardly any sun, this may not be for you. Don’t forget to close your windows at night to let the warm air stay inside as well.
Insulate Your Garage
WANT TO ADVERTISE?If you have ever been in your garage in the winter months then you know that even in the depths of winter your garage feels almost like an ice box. Now, while most homes you will find are insulated to keep warmth in during the winter, your garage typically is not. That leaves one of the biggest rooms in your home insulated and draughting heat. Hence to avoid this, this winter insulate your garage door.
This should save you a fortune on heating and electricity, but more importantly stop you from getting frostbite if/when you forget to wear shoes and walk barefoot on your garage floor!
Make Your Own Small Heaters
A new DIY heater trend has recently come to our attention online. It also requires three simple items that you find in almost all homes. All you need is small candles, glass bowls, and a couple of ceramic flower pots. Simply put your candles into the glass bowls, or just light them up, then put your ceramic pot on top. This would make a portable insulating heater that should help you save on your electricity bill.
Should you require additional heat, stick a couple of more heating units in the area. But, ensure that they are holes at the bottom of your pots for that heat can get out.
Go Heavy On The Garlic
Garlic has never been kept as a secret as it is known for its health benefits, but few people are aware that studies have identified garlic as having antioxidant properties and boosting the immune system. Thus, double up on garlic in the winter when your immune system would appreciate some extra support. Fortunately, so many winter recipes are packed with the good stuff, like soup and pasta and garlic bread.
Studies showing garlic can also have an anti-inflammatory effect have appeared in several other studies. In fact, if the next dish you are making calls for garlic, there is literally no reason not to throw a few more cloves in.
Easily Clean Your Fireplace
If you have one of those fireplaces, boy are you in luck. There are not many things as relaxing as spending time in front of a fireplace in winter. It also prevents you using your heater keeping your home warm as well as racking up a big energy bill. But if you use your fireplace as your primary source of heat during the winter, all that ashes and soot can add up quickly. Fortunately, your fireplace or hearth is easy to clean out with a simple DIY technique.
They are essentially just aluminum foil that catches any10 Dec 2020 If you have a go make sure to line the tray with foil to make it easier to get out quick.
Spray Your Shovel
Nobody likes shoveling snow. However, you likely have a basic kitchen item lurking around your house that can make the task a little less painful. Cooking spray is a great way to prevent snow from adhering to your shovel, similar to how it prevents food from adhering to your pan. Simply spray your shovel head with some before you head to the driveway and your snow shoveling will be a cinch.
A simple hack that works wonders for those who have a lot of snow every season and finds themselves out in the yard nearly every day shoveling snow.
Easily Dry Soaked Shoes
Approaching snow is a huge stress on your shoes. It can also be very cruel to your floors. Next time you come into the house with snowy shoes and remember to swaddle them in old newspapers, or place them on two layers of sheets. The newspapers should absorb most of the water right away and get some of the grime off of it. If you lay newspapers on the floor with your shoes on top, it will prevent mud from entering your home.
Also, this is a better fix than tossing your shoes in the dryer over and over again since dryers can damage footwear. And while doing so, it also provides an excellent excuse to subscribe to your local paper.
Get Rid Of Fuzz
You also have wool or cotton jackets / coats that collects fuzz over time. But, there is a really easy way to remove this fuzz and keep your jackets looking brand new through the winter season. Grab a razor and start shaving the fuzz off. Yep, it’s that simple. And it’ll keep your coats looking new all winter long. This will also apply on whomever jacket with fuzz you come across whilst thrifting anywhere.
Image courtesy of theburlapbag.com
Oh and you can use this little DIY trick on wool sweaters as well, which seem to be few of the biggest fuzz offenders.
Always Cover Your Face
Albeit protecting your face and keeping it hydrated is crucial irrespective of the season, it is even more important during winter. All that air blowing can sap the moisture from your face and make your skin crave a little rescue. Best of all, guys can just let their beards grow out during the winter so that they will stay a little warmer and be better protected against the elements. Still, however, you will always to keep your wrap up on scarf or mask.
Your skin will be grateful to you and you will at least be able to talk when you are headed to where you are going. I mean, honestly, chattering teeth are a top-five most annoying thing of winter.
Switch To Wool
One of the best things about the winter months is thick socks. They’re just so comfortable. They can, however—especially in places cold enough to need several layers—thicken your shoes into something more painful than a toe sauna. Luckily, this is easy fix to this problem. Wool socks are thinner and lighter and do a better job keeping your feet warm. Wool is one of the most oldest materials people have used to keep warm throughout the ages, and with good reason.
Sure, they don’t feel as nice as a cotton sock, but if you’re putting on tight-fitting shoes or boots, wool is much preferable to cotton.
Let The Air Circulate
It can be nice to keep your house warm in the winter. But it has also a disadvantage. During wintertime, for example, it might be harder to keep the air flowing if you open the windows less due to concerns over letting the heat out, and the air in your home can become stagnant. However, it is almost always a good practice to open your windows slightly, especially just before going to bed to allow the air to circulate a bit.
Just 5 minutes of opening your window should do and sleep much better because you are breathing real oxygen and not the air that has been stuck and stagnant in your house all day.
Scrape Your Windows Using A Card
Frost that usually forms on car windows, makes it crucial to scrape your windows before you leave in the morning. Or in fact, most of the time is not even driving but scratching the glasses before. Fortunately, if you’re in a rush or you do not have a window scraper at all then you simply can allow your wallet for help. Great to Know: Usually a credit card will do the trick to remove most of the ice off of your windows.
To be clear, you might want to pick an old card just so you still have a means of paying for your morning coffee. If you’re without a credit card you could also bring an old driver’s license.
Make the Most Of Any Sun That There Is
This one isn’t a DIY per se, but it’s something that many tend to overlook during winter time. And that is to capitalise on the sun that there is and to get it in the mornings. Perhaps putting on a jacket first thing and going for a stroll to soak up some of that much-missed vitamin D your body craves at this time of year.
It will additionally assist you warm-up pass the sun rays are most warming before the day. You will also make some memories of winter instead of just avoiding of going to outside your home.
Give Your Bike Snow ‘Chains’
However if you are living in a place where you will get tons of snow on winter, then you probably know about the snow chains for tires. But then what if you want to wind up your bike for the winter? Just because it is winter, doesn’t mean you have to stop exercising. But there is an easy way to winterize your bike tyres of which you can do it yourself. For this, you only need a handful of zip-ties. Simply zip tie your bike tires and you are golden.
The zip-ties will create some grip for your bike to prevent it from sliding around in every direction, and you while at work or simply getting some exercise;
Take Cold Showers
But this next hack isn’t going to appeal to a lot of folks. But hot showers in the winter can dry your skin and in some cases cause a cold. Peradventure, this is why many tendtowarm or cold showers in the winter. This will not only help prevent your skin drying out as bad, but will also help adjust your body to the cold and wake you up in the mornings.
But of course, if you’re too cozy to take a cold shower in the winter then that’s understandable. However, give it a go at least once, you may find after that initial shock that you appreciate it.
Run Some Hot Water
This hack has a couple different methods to attempt. Sure, you could run yourself a hot bath, but that is slightly extravagant. Alternatively, you could also remain left the bath water in the tub after taking a warm bathroom. Either way, you’re getting the same result. If you pour hot water in your tub and let it rest, you will get a hotter house.
The hot water will provide heat and provide a more humid and hotter air in your home. All I ask is that you drain it right after the effect wears off.
Wear Cleats
Cleats aren’t only for athletic use. These can actually be really helpful for just walking or running in the winter months. A number of places do sell cleats that cater to just such activities. But, do your best and grab the metallic-spiked ones as they will get you better adhesion—plastic cleats usually slip much more easily on ice as they cannot sink into the ice quite as efficiently.
If you don’t want to go and forever spend money on cleats, you can also just use a few screws, and make your own. However, make sure you do not screw them too far in there.
Use Cat Litter On Your Driveway
Well, many of us that live where roads need salting might already be familiar with this homemade fix. If you wake to find your driveway coated in ice, then sprinkle down some cat litter as it offers a bright extra traction and can keep you from spinning out or sliding through your neighbor’s mailbox. It is also nice to just have a spare one in the car with you.
If you ever find yourself stuck on a road covered in ice, you boast cat litter to help get you unstuck by pouring some under and around your tires to provide traction.
Invest In Warming Bags
For those not acquainted, hot water bags, are usually sold in most places and do as the name suggests. It creates heat by pouring boiling water into them. They’re typically used for relief of soreness and other concerns. They also double as a great little heater during the winter though. Cuddle one, or stick it under the covers with you when you head to bed — whatever.
If you need a bit more warmth or don’t want to switch on the heater when walking inside your house, you can also simply wrap them tightly. Add more for more heat.
Better Preserve Your Boots
This list actually has a few uses for pool noodles. But this one probably caught you by surprise. So how exactly do you store your boots using pool noodles? Well, actually you can use pool noodles to store your boots better. Simply snip up a few pool noodles, pop the pieces inside your shoes and It prevents them from cracking, but also assists them in maintaining their structure, which can be severely compromised by water and snow in winter.
At least boots are costly, might as well get as much value as you can from them. In addition, who doesn’t love a good pair of winter boots?
Clear Ice From Your Doorway
My icy patios and sidewalks — this is particularly dangerous early in the morning when you may not be awake yet. But you likely have a couple of easy substances lying around the house that will clear ice from your sidewalk in no time. You just need a teaspoon rubbing alcohol and dish soap, a bucket and warm water. Combine all ingredients in the bucket, first.
It will remove ice that is there and prevent ice from forming shortly after the sidewalk Get to pour the mixture out on your sidewalk.
Make A Pair Of Gloves
You do not need to be a knitting expert in order to create your own set of gloves. Simply used long pair of socks that are old. You can chop them just above the ankles and then you use the long piece as a glove. If you dont have a pair of usefull gloves this is an especially great DIY solution. Which also means the other piece functions as a sock.
And there you go; now you have socks and gloves to match. All I ask is that you score the long strips for your thumb and other digits. Two simple holes should do.
Wrap Your Shoes In Plastic
Now, some of these tips on this list are for keeping water & snow outside of your floor, but what if you want to keep water & snow on the outside of your shoes? Good and you only need with two sacrificial. plastic bags. Simply pack your footwear in the bags and tie up the end and thats your shoes waterproofed for a fraction of the price. You can also wear plastic bags before wearing shoes.
It won’t help keep your shoes dry but it will help keep your feet dry. You also don’t want your shoes tearing holes through the bag to get your feet wet.
Redirect Heat
If your heater is not pointing into the room, then you are probably losing a lot of heat. That however, is not the case when there is a simple do-it -yourself solution available to keep your room warmer and save on your energy bill. First we need to put a strip of aluminum foil behind your heater. If you make use of foil, it will ensure that the heat is being reflected towards your room, as foil is the perfect material that can trap heat and diffuse it perfectly.
And, it’ll save you some cash, your heat won’t have to work as hard to keep your home nice and toasty. But simply ensure that that strip of foil is broad enough to truly replicate the warmth.
Use Tire Tracks
And no one wants to be left stranded in the snow, more so when you are travelling to a far off place from home. Which is why it’s best to always have the essentials ready, especially during winter. Tire tracks are one of the best tools you can have in your car if get stuck. This gives you a little extra traction under your wheels to get you out of a slippery situation.
Simply lay them ahead or behind your tires — depending on the direction you want to go — and they should allow the tires to grip.
Don’t Skimp On The Vitamin C
However, to be honest, there are many people who just can’t escape the clutches of the cold once in the winter. But there is one ancient piece of wisdom that you should not forget and can reduce the severity of a cold, preventing it from getting worse. Be sure to get plenty of vitamin C as well, which the average person consumes in fruits — and we recommend you do, too.
Most fruits are high in vitamin C, but you usually think to eat oranges or drink orange juice when you need a little vitamin C kick, plus they taste great!
Prevent Windows From Icing
You can always scrape the ice off your windows in the morning but this is sometimes a lengthy process. Fortunately, there is a relatively easy do-it-yourself way to prevent the ice from forming on your windows in the first place. There are special covers which you can buy and that can be used to keep the ice away from the windshield and you can just peel it off in the morning. If you are trying to cover your side mirrors then you can use covers or plastic bags of your own.
Either way, having a cover is better than running out to scrape ice off your windshield first thing in the morning, especially if you are running a bit late.
Warming Up With Calcium Chloride
Calcium chloride may sound like a thing you wouldn’t want to touch, however, it’s quite safe to use on your hands in winter. Also, it makes it SUPER easy to do for an at-home hand warmer. Basically just fill some bags with calcium chloride. Simply place the calcium chloride in a small bag and the large bag with water. Slips the calcium chloride filled back into the big bag and you have a hand warmer.
Others use simple zip lock bags, but basically, as long as you have something that can hold in the water, it works. If you do, but use a zip lock bag, just be sure that you are using something else that enables the water to actually touch the calcium chloride.
Use Bubble Wrap To Keep Warm
Apparently bubble wrap’s not just good for popping. It also helps you maintain your house insulation since plastic works great for heating insulation. For instance, take a piece of bubble wrap from a parcel and stick it to your windows. This should minimize heat loss through your windows, which tend to be some of the worst offenders for keeping heat in your home.
If for some strange reason you don’t have any tape, you can just bubble wrap your windows with a bit of water spray. Then it should enable the bubble wrap to attach to them.
Don’t Fall Victim To The Flu
The flu in winter is terrible enough already, but if you catch a cold too, it is all the worse. Which is why you should take preventative action when winter roll about. Combine three tablespoons of Vicks VapoRub, cornstarch and the corresponding amount of warm water to do so, Form the mix into small balls and toss them in the shower next time you take one. It will open the Vicks and will aid in keeping you from catching the cold and flu.
These are also something you can batch to only do once. It seems like a lot, but well better than going through a fever and or worse.
Keep Wipers From Sticking
Having a car to drive is never a convenience, but winter can definitely make that task a bit more involved. Which is why before preventive measures are advisable to take. Whatever the case may be, you need to make sure everything is squared away, because the last thing you want to experience is the snow starting to fall while you’re half way to work and realizing your windshield wipers are frozen to your windshield. And all it takes for this preventative measure is a few pairs of old socks that you are no longer wearing.
Make sure all you have to do before going to sleep or arriving home that they will prevent your wipers from freezing to your windshield is to just cover your windshield wipers using the old socks.
Use The Sun To You Advantage
That brings us to tip number 11: If you’re really not down for any other tips on this list to keep ice off your windshield, there’s another way to go. And that is to just park your vehicle with the front facing the sun. It will not work 100% of the time, but it is a simple and helpful thing to remember. Early morning sunlight will aid in melting thin ice sheets on your windshield.
Once more, this solution does not work every time. On cloudy or snowy days you are probably going to be left scraping ice and frost, but when it does work it can save you some time.
Alcohol Works Wonders As An Ice Remover
More than one entry on this list features alcohol — and justifiably so. Alcohol in it self has some anti-freese quality To start with, if you ever get locked out of your house, or worse, your car due to a frozen lock, well, just grab some alcohol and defrost it instantly! Hand sanitizer works great for this if it includes alcohol. Just apply this into the keyhole and it will unfreeze any icy formations found therein.
And this is because ice freezes at a lower temperature than water, and it is also a preventative (anything it is placed on will be resistant to freezing for a short time).
Blow Some Bubbles
For the kids (apart from, hopefully, having a blast lobbing snowballs at each other and building snowmen), we have an idea. Take them out to make some bubbles with ice. Using only soap, water, a spray bottle, and a bubble wand. If you don’t have a bubble maker you can make your own using wire. All you have to do bend one of the ends into a loop.
Combine and go outdoors to blow bubbles. The bubbles should freeze to create ice bubbles that look really cool and will bring the kids outside for a bit.
