Life Hacks Only People Outside the U.S. Know About

Originally published on our site foodisinthehouse.com

We all love a good life hack. No matter what we do in life or where we live, it’s always good to know and learn new things that can make our lives easier or more productive. And the truth is that the world is utterly full of ingenious and savvy tips—from America to Asia.

Let’s take a look at some of the greatest and most genius tips from all over the world today—that you didn’t realize were missing from your life.

Salty Soup

It happens to the best of us. Sometimes, you’re cooking up a storm in the kitchen, and whipping up a tasty soup that’s going to warm your cockles on a winter night. You let the soup simmer as you do your thing, popping back occasionally to season it. But then, oh no! You suddenly realize you’ve over-salted it—oh no the soup is ruined.

Never fear—this easy life hack from Asia will save the day: slice open a potato and drop it in the pot. It will soak up the extra salt and leave your soup delicious once again.

Flower Flourish

We all love brightening up our homes with a lovely bunch of flowers. But they can take quite a lot of work to keep looking fresh, and if they start getting sad, they can really bring down the whole feng shui. And who wants to keep spending endless money for flower feed?

Well did you know that you can simply add a little vinegar and sugar in the vase before filling the water. It will keep your flowers looking fresh and healthy for much longer!

Freeze Your Fears

Isn’t it annoying when you are slicing an onion and it starts burning your eyes, tears streaming down your cheeks and you can’t see anything? So painful, and inconvenient!

But did you know there is a super simple life hack to avoid this difficult situation? Simply pop the onion in the freezer for a few mins, and it will cancel out the painful gas it releases when you cut it. Just make sure it’s only a few mins, as otherwise a totally frozen onion will be really difficult—and kind of dangerous—to cut.

Walnut Win

It’s happened to all of us—we get a brand spanking new wooden table, but after months or years go by, the scratches and dents from general wear and tear start to show through. It’s so annoying and we wish we could get it back to its original shiny and smooth state—well actually, with this hack, you can!

You won’t believe this, but if you take a walnut and rub it on the scratched wood, it helps smooth it over and reduce the appearance of the indent. Amazing.

Life Unzipped

It’s so embarrassing and awkward when your zipper gets stuck. When you are trying to dress yourself or undress, it’s not exactly the moment that you want an unexpected delay! But before you throw out those old jeans where the zipper keeps jamming, there’s a super easy hack to get the fastening opening again.

Simply run a bar of soap over the zipper, and voila! It will smooth it out and start moving nicely once again.

Milky Minerals

Though we all try to eat and drink as healthily as possible, it can be difficult buying fresh produce and making sure we use it all up before it expires. And that’s especially difficult when it comes to things like milk, which always seems to go out of date before it’s finished!

But the next time this happens, use this simple hack to avoid waste—instead of drinking the milk, you can use it as a skin-smoothing luxurious shower gel. No, really! Bathing in milk is a popular practice in many places around the world, and has been for millennia. Even Cleopatra was famous for bathing in out-of-date milk!

Bruise Easily

Doesn’t it always seem to happen at the worst times, that you slip and fall and get a terrible bruise just when it’s the most inconvenient! You have a special event or some sort of photo op, and there you are with a big bruise. Ugh!

But here’s a great life hack to help fix your bruise—in Asia, they simply rub an egg over the bruise, which helps speed up the blood clotting and healing process around the area. Perfect!

Sticking With You

Honey is a super important and of course delicious component in many recipes, but it can be so darn hard to add in precise amounts! That’s because as soon as you’ve measured out a spoonful of honey, half of the stuff sticks to the spoon and doesn’t come off into the mixture.

But did you know that there’s a simple hack to avoid this sticky situation? Just spray a bit of oil on your spoon, and the delicious honey will slide straight off. Sweet!

Classy Glass

Those of us who clean our windows regularly, know that the best way to get super sparkling glass in our window frames is to clean with a spritz spray and then scrub with not a sponge or cloth, but in fact paper. Using paper helps the cleaning agent not to smear along the glass and actually get the grease and dirt off.

But did you know that in Asia, instead of forking out for loads of paper towels, they use their old newspapers? Stop press—that’s a great idea!

Clump Free Club

We all know that feeling of reaching for the salt, trying to pour in on our food and the whole thing is completely stuck! Either nothing comes out at all, or the whole thing comes out in a huge go and totally ruins your food into a huge salty mess.

This usually happens because the salt has soaked up moisture in the air, and stuck together in a big wedge. But you can avoid this by simply inserting a few grains of rice into the container, which will draw any moisture to themselves and keep the rice dry. Genius!

Glue on the Go

This one is rather niche, but it makes sense when you think about it. Sometimes we can be deep into the exciting business of arts and crafts, and then suddenly run out of glue. Oh no! What to do?

Before you panic and run out to the store, you actually don’t need to tear yourself away from the project at hand, but all you need to do is quickly boil up some sticky rice! As you can imagine, this nifty hack originated in Asia.

Chop Chop

We all have stashed away a pair or two of chopsticks after a delicious takeout, haven’t we? They often end up never being used and sitting in our drawers for evermore, but don’t fret—there are actually tons of ways you can put them to good use!

Because it’s not just food you can use chopsticks for—but rather, they can come in handy for all sorts of tasks that you might not want to get your hands dirty for. Just think of them as natty little disposable tools! Lovely.

Appley Days

How do you like them apples? Certainly not brown and gooey looking, which is what tends to happen if you slice them up into lovely bitesize portions but then don’t manage to eat them right away. But don’t despair! There’s an easy way to keep your apple slices looking lovely until you are ready to enjoy them.

Simply squeeze some lemon juice on top of them, and the acid stops them from going brown due to the exposure to oxygen. This brilliant hack works for avocados, too!

Sock Puppet

When we are suffering from general aches and pains, be it a stress headache or repetitive strain injury from sitting at the computer all day, we often assume it will be necessary to reach for medication or some sort of expensive accessory to fix the ailment.

But did you know you can actually make a very useful pain relief method on your own? Simply fill a sock with rice and add some essential oils. Pop it in the microwave for 30 seconds, and you’ve got your very own muscle relief pack. Amazing!

Pain in the Neck

This one is truly amazing! We all love the rush of a retail therapy splurge once in a while, coming home laden with bags and full of new goodies and clothes for ourselves. But one thing that can take away from the joy of the whole experience is surely the pain and inconvenience of having to try on all the clothes—taking things on and off so many times, it just gets annoying and sweaty!

So here’s a hack—did you know that your neck is almost exactly half the size of your waist? So instead of trying on jeans, just hold the waistband around your neck to see if it fits. How ingenious.

Origami Trash Can

We already heard about how you can save money on paper towels by cleaning your windows with old newspapers. And that’s not the only amazing use you can find for these versatile items! Because once you are done reading, you can also fold them up like this into a little box, and use them as a trash can on the go.

Perfect for when you’ll be snacking out and about in areas where they don’t have a lot of trash cans, but you don’t want to be a litterbug.

Tea Toes

Everyone at some point in their life, has experienced the misery and yuckiness of super stinky feet. Whether it’s your own feet or someone else’s, the cheesy odor of a funky foot is pretty much sure to ruin your day. But there is hope! If you have tried all the odor eaters you can think of, why not have a go at sticking some tea bags inside your shows.

Believe it or not, tea bags can soak up the moisture from your sweaty feet, and also absorb any yucky smells. Sounds just like our cup of tea.

Sizzle and Chop

You won’t believe it, but we actually have another hack for you regarding chopsticks! That’s right, these Asian accessories are a lot more than just cutlery—you can use them for all sorts of culinary-based tasks. For example, when you are frying something in oil, you want to make sure you’ve heated it up properly before dropping it in.

So an easy hack is to poke a chopstick into the oil—if it bubbles around the chopstick like it’s being fried, then you know it’s ready.

Ant Eaters

Euch! Everyone knows the pure terror that comes when you slowly realize your food has been infested by ants. First you see one, then two, then suddenly before your eyes you see an entire civilization of the little wriggly blighters.

But you don’t have to despair of the state of your kitchen forever—use this simple life hack from Singapore. Because over there they know that ants are totally put off by the smell of Szechuan peppers—leave a few of these in your pantry to keep them ant-free!

Air Dry Your Face

We all want to know the best way to ensure smooth and radiant skin. But generally, we tend to focus on how best to wash our face, and then we think less about actually how to dry it!

Well, a useful life hack to know is that rubbing your face dry with a towel can actually undo some of the good you’ve just done to it with whatever lovely face wash you have. It’s actually better to leave it to dry naturally.

Band Together

This one is amazing! Hasn’t everyone experienced the maddening frustration one time or another, of not being able to open a super tightly shut jar? I mean, why do they even MAKE them so darn hard to open?

Well, here’s a foolproof hack that will keep you from ever losing your temper while trying to open tough jars again—simply slip a rubber band around the lid. This will increase your grip and allow you to open it much more easily.

Spoon Me

We often think of wooden spoons as being one of the most old-fashioned and staple part of any kitchen. And that is certainly true, in all corners of the world! But did you know that the old wooden spoon has more uses than simply using it to stir the pot.

Another useful thing you can do with a wooden spoon is lay it over the top of a boiling pot, and it will stop any liquid from boiling over. We are not sure how it works, but it really does!

Ice Ice Baby

Any good cook knows the power of batch cooking in advance and freezing staple items. But often we tend to focus on cooking large things like meat and vegetables or even entire meals—when we actually can make our lives even easier by freezing things like pre-prepped herbs and spices.

Next time you’re prepping for the week, why not wash and cut a bunch of cilantro, and then put it in ice cube trays with a bit of water. Then you can just take them out and add them into your evening curry!

Soybean Salve

We all know that soybean and its associated products are super healthy and a great part of any diet. Soy milk, soy burger, soy protein—you name it, there’s something delicious and nutritious you can make with it!

But did you know that soybeans also have another use? That’s right—you can mash them into a paste to make a super effective and natural disinfectant, for applying to wounds and injuries without having to head to the pharmacy. Genius!

Pungent Pot

This next hack is pretty amazing, but might end up a little stinky afterwards. Because have you ever wondered what to do with a beloved pot when you are pretty sure you’ve totally ruined it? If you’ve ever burnt food to a crisp and you can’t get it off the pot, don’t despair.

Simply fill the pot with vinegar, or at least fill it enough to cover the burnt bit, and boil it like that. It will smell quite a lot, but it will get it sparkling clean!

Corn Silky Smooth

Have you ever woken up the morning after the night before with a bit of a puffy face? How about after watching a heart-wrenching movie that left you crying your eyes out?

Whatever the reason, we all can end up feeling a bit swollen or sensitive from time to time. A great hack is to brew up some corn silk tea, which is well-known for its anti-inflammatory properties. Take a few sips of this to restore your face to its original smoothness.

Ceiling Fandom

You might think that you have the cleanest apartment for miles around, but how many places do you not even realize need a good dusting from time to time? One of these places that people often forget to clean is none other than the ceiling fan, which stays high up and out of sight, but certainly gathers a large amount of dust.

One thing you can do to clean a ceiling fan, is enclose it in a pillowcase. Then pull the case off from below, and it will take all the dust with it! Just make sure it doesn’t get in your eyes.

Paint Pain

Have you ever spruced up your room or apartment with a fresh lick of paint, only to find yourself feeling kind of dizzy and weird from the strong smell and fumes? We tend to think this is just part of the process, but there is actually a way around this yucky or sometimes even dangerous side effect of painting.

Did you know that if you leave some onions lying around your house, they will absorb a lot of the chemicals from the paint, and the smell will go away, too? genius!

Collar Up

We know how important it can be to keep our clothes in tip-top condition, when we want to make a good impression at a job interview or formal event. But it can be super hard keeping everything smooth and wrinkle-free—or getting them that way in the first place!

Ironing especially can be a bit of a tricky job, and the collar of your shirt is for sure the hardest bit. So why not try giving the collar a quick swipe over with your hair straighteners? It will be so much easier and it’s really effective!

Pantyhose Pedi

We all love to make sure our feet look their best at all times. Whether it’s getting a full pedicure or cleaning the feet, we always want our tootsies to be in the tip-top condition. And so it makes sense that we also want our shoes to be perfectly spruced—and we bet you didn’t know this hack for keeping them shiny and new looking.

Because the best thing to polish your shoes with is in fact not a rag—but old pantyhose! That’s right—hang on to that old hosiery to keep your shoes shining.

Flour Power

D’oh! We all say this when we drop a glass and smash it everywhere. Isn’t it so annoying—not just because our glass is broken and we can’t use it anymore, probably spoiling the entire overall collection, but also because there’s little bits of broken glass everywhere! D’oh indeed—but dough is the answer!

That’s right—make a quick dough out of flour and water, and use that as a sort of sponge-cum-handle to pick up all the glassy shards. It will find everything. Brilliant!

Water Therapy

This is a very weird one, but it works! We all know how difficult it can be to take your little baby out in public. They need so much taking care of and so much to pack into the baby bag, just leaving the house is half the battle!

And then when they are out, they start making a huge racket and crying uncontrollably. Next time that happens, try taking a little bit of water and swishing it around in your mouth, close enough for the baby to hear. Apparently, it mimics the sound of the womb, and will calm them down! How ingenious and also sweet.

Watermelon Sugar

We all love to tuck in to a refreshing slice of watermelon during the hot weather, don’t we? But did you know that this amazing fruit also has another use for the sunny summer months? That’s right!

In the U.S., we eat the watermelon and toss out the rinds. But in Asia, they keep it for use as an effective aftersun treatment. Rub a bit of watermelon rind on your sunburn, you’ll be amazed how quickly and effectively it brings relief.

Cool as a Cucumber

It’s almost kind of a rite of passage, isn’t it, to get bitten by a mosquito on your vacation. If you don’t live in a tropical or hot country, you might not encounter these little blighters too often, and so they become part of everyone’s travel experience.

But don’t think that you have to suffer in silence while they nosh away at your body and you get itchier and itchier. No! instead, do what they do in Asia and squeeze some cucumber juice on the affected area. It works really well and super quickly!

The Sweater Song

Isn’t it just so devastating when you pull your clothes out of the washer or dryer and realize you’ve accidentally put a delicate woolen sweater through the cycle? Nooooo! You cry, as your sweater is now the size of a tiny lamb, and you’ll never be able to fit into it again.

But don’t despair! Because you might be able to save it with a long soak in water and hair conditioner. It might not come back to exactly full size, but it will definitely stretch it back out a bit.

Cool and Collected

Asian culture is known for being pretty organized and methodical. Marie Kondo’s effective way of purging belongings to leave you with a clean and stress-free house is now a bona fide global sensation!

So you probably won’t be surprised by this life hack we found in Asia, which is that people label and organize all the items in their freezer in little bins and pots. Try it, it will really make your life easier.

Best Foot Forward

Have you ever laid down in bed, and found yourself feeling dizzy or a sort of spinning-around feeling once you close your eyes? It can often happen when you’ve had a bit too much to drink, or after a long day in the hot sun.

But one thing you can do is employ this Korean life hack, which is stick one foot out of the bed and hold it to the floor. It really helps you get a feeling of balance back.

Plan Ahead

Everyone loves a nice steaming plate of perfectly cooked rice. Isn’t it just the best? And it can be hard to make it perfectly every single time—some times are just better than others.

So here’s a brilliant hack to make your life easier—whenever you make rice, make it in large enough quantities so that you can eat some, but put some in the freezer! That will really take the pressure off those pivotal rice-making moments in life.

Corn Off the Cob

We are not so sure about this hack. Sure, it’s nice to eat more daintily and politely, and corn on the cob can definitely be one of the messier things to eat. Not to mention how much it gets stuck in your teeth!

But isn’t that also part of the fun? But even so, if you want to eat a bit more daintily, perhaps if you are in polite company, you can actually just use your finger to pop the corn off line by line, and eat it politely from a bowl. Good to know.

Rice is Nice

We know that rice is a staple food in Japan, and basically forms part of almost every traditional meal. And why not—it’s delicious and nutritious! But that’s not all—as well as being a yummy and healthy food, it’s also a great beauty product.

Because did you know that many women in Japan use rice water for bathing their hands and skin? They also put it in their hair as well. It helps keep it smooth and supple. Try it yourself!

Steam Clean

Have you ever turned up to a hotel, unpacked your suitcase, and realized with dismay that all your clothes and shirts have got crumpled? Oh no! You desperately search for an iron, but there isn’t one. Are you going to have to wear crumpled suits all holiday? Not with this useful hack!

Simply hang your clothes up in the bathroom, and turn the shower on super-hot. The steam from the shower will straighten out all the creases.

Squeaky Clean

We all know what it’s like to open up the fridge and be hit with a waft of stinky old food. You might have just forgotten to throw something out before it went off, or it’s just regular food that happens to smell. Anyway, it’s not a nice experience.

But you can fix it or even avoid it in the first place, by putting open bowls of tea leaves out in the fridge shelves. Then it will give your refrigerator a nice smell. It really works!

Soothing Soy

We know that soy sauce is a huge staple of Japanese cuisine. Can you even imagine tucking into a plate of sushi or salmon teriyaki without it? We certainly can’t! But did you know that if you accidentally burned yourself on your dinner, in Japan you wouldn’t even need to get up from the table and run it under the tap.

That’s because soy sauce is a natural remedy for burns—so just put some on the affected area to soothe it.

Oil Be Fine

Eucalyptus oil is one of the nicest and most smoothing smells in the world. Doesn’t it just make you feel like you’re in a relaxing spa, about to have some super rejuvenating health treatments? It just exudes loveliness and wellbeing.

And actually, it’s completely correct because it’s jam-packed with health properties! Every household should keep a stash of eucalyptus oil—for use against the common cold, aches and pains, and many other things.

Fan Mail

Have you ever struggled in the hot weather with your minute and piddly plug-in fan? They often don’t really get you that cool, especially when the sun is truly blazing outside—the gentle fan breeze just can’t cut it really.

But did you know this amazing life hack—if you put a frozen bottle of water in front of the fan, it will make the gusts of air coming from it much cooler and more refreshing. Super cool!

Tie Dye

Isn’t it super frustrating and stressful when you are waiting for your bag at baggage claim at the airport, but every single bag coming out looks the same! What are you going to do, just take all of them and keep opening them to see which one’s yours? Even if you add a label, you still have to grab them off the belt to read them.

Try this life hack for size—tie a large piece of colored or patterned fabric to the handle of your bag. It will be super easy to spot from further away.

Delete For Everybody

We all know the feeling when we want to erase something. Maybe you wrote something just a little too personal in your diary, or you wrote a letter in anger that you now feel super ashamed of. Or it’s a secret code!

Anyway, the best way to erase writing is NOT to rub it out—but actually just write many new words and letters on top of it. That way, the original words will be indistinguishable from the new words on top.

Car Cologne

Everyone loves the smell of new car smell, right? But we are not so keen on the smell of old car and old car AC smell. Ew! It smells like a mouldy and stinky bit of engine, mixed up with some rotting leaves and god knows what else. But how can you possibly get rid of such a stinky smell?

The secret is in fact to cover the AC vents with dryer sheets, and turn it on! You’ll have a fresh-smelling cistern in no time. Toot toot!

Super Specs

Isn’t it annoying when you are watching or reading something on your phone, and it takes so long that your hand starts to get tired! You want to carry on with the video or phone call, but you just want to be able to prop it up without it falling over.

Well, here’s a genius hack—have you tried using a pair of glasses? You’d be surprised how sturdy this makeshift phone stand would be. Just make sure you can still read your phone without them.