Sometimes, you just can’t be bothered to make a proper snack. Or maybe you’re rushing to work and don’t have time to cook a nutritious breakfast. Either way, this hack will have you covered!

Simply pour some oats into an almost-empty jar of peanut butter. It’s delicious, healthy, quick, and easy to make, and it’ll ensure that you’re not wasting those last peanut butter drops. If you’ve got some extra time and you’re feeling fancy, you can add fruit or nuts to the jar, as well.

Most tasty dishes require fresh garlic, which can be a total pain to peel and chop. Not to mention that your hands will smell like garlic for the remainder of the day. This hack requires some prep work at the get-go but it’ll save you tons of effort later on.

Get a whole bunch of garlic, peel and chop it, and simply throw it all into an ice tray before popping it into the freezer. That way, the next time you need some garlic, it’ll be ready to go!

In order to have enough chicken for all sorts of dishes, simply buy one large rotisserie chicken. You can then cut off chunks of it and use them for several days — even a week! Want a chicken salad? No problem, you already have the chicken ready to go!

Fancy some chicken soup? No need to cook the chicken chunks, just throw them in with some broth and your favorite soup vegetables! Why prepare separate food each day when you can just get one big, multi-purpose chicken once a week?

If you love the flavor of barbequed food but don’t want to spend hours by the grill, there’s one simple spice that’ll solve that problem. Cooking smoked paprika into your food will give it that rich and heavy flavor reminiscent of a BBQ.

Is it exactly the same thing as a meal that’s been on the grill? Unfortunately, no. Is it an excellent substitute for someone who doesn’t like barbecuing or lacks the space for a big grill at home? Absolutely!

Oftentimes, frozen goods can be shockingly tasty and they’re certainly a lot less time-consuming than making your own pastries from scratch. If you still want your desserts to have a bit of a unique flavor, you can always give them your own personal touch

Add some vanilla extract or chocolate powder to your pastry before putting it in the oven. Really, there’s no limit to what you can do to make a basic pastry your own.

Instant foods, such as instant mashed potatoes, are popular for a reason! There may be a bit of a stigma against them, but, let’s be honest, sometimes you really want mashed potatoes and can’t be bothered to spend hours slaving away in the kitchen for them.

You can always add a secret spice or sauce to your instant food in order to personalize it and make it seem like you prepared it from scratch. Or just let everyone know it’s instant — there’s no shame in that!

There’s no need to spend hours preparing the dough if you want to make pizza. You don’t even have to defrost a big pre-made pizza dough — especially if you’re just one person.

Instead, use a flour tortilla or pita bread, spread marina sauce on it, add a bit of cheese, and whatever toppings you want, and put it in the oven for five minutes. There you go, you now have a personal pizza!

There may have been a time when cooking had to take hours upon hours, but not in this day and age. Nowadays, we have tons of technology to help us out. So, are you using all of your kitchen gadgets to their max?

For example, it’s no longer necessary to stand there pulling apart chicken if you need it shredded. All you have to do is use a mixer and your chicken will be shredded in seconds. To think we once believed that mixers were just for mixing!

Potatoes are extremely versatile and can be used for meals at pretty much any time of the day. Dedicate a bit of time, every now and then, to cut and boil potatoes and then keep them in the fridge.

That way, half the work will already be done when you need to make something quickly. In fact, you can always just throw them onto a pan with some butter or oil and spices for a super quick and easy bite.

Turn your popcorn to the next level and make it into a once-in-a-blue-moon snack by using instant macaroni and cheese packets to season the popcorn. Pop your popcorn in the microwave, as you normally would.

When you put it into a bowl, sprinkle the macaroni and cheese powder on top and then mix it in. Once you do that, you’ll be ready for a proper movie night, Netflix and chill, a quick snack, or all three!

Cleaning a blender can be tricky, as you run the risk of accidentally hurting yourself on the blade. However, there’s a much quicker, easier, and — most importantly — safer way to clean the blender, simply by letting it do its thing.

Fill your blender a little less than halfway with warm water (not too hot), add a touch of dish soap, put the lid on, and run the blender for a few seconds. Pour the dirty water out, rinse the blender, and you’re done!

Peeling garlic can be a serious task that leaves an even more serious odor on your hands, but it doesn’t have to be. Heating the garlic up a bit can save you a lot of time and energy.

Just toss a head of garlic into the microwave for 20 seconds and then the peels will slip off with ease. This method will ensure that you won’t have to deal with juices, messes, or smelly hands — just some ready-to-cut garlic!

Fish can be cooked even while frozen, meaning that you can skip the stage of waiting for it to thaw. This might increase your cooking time but you’ll save more on all the time you would have waited for it to reach room temperature. So it all depends on how urgently you need it ready.

What’s nice about this method is that not only do you not need to decide in advance if you want fish, but, since it’s frozen, the spices and sauces will stick to the outside and the fish won’t get overcooked inside.

Whipping cream by hand can leave you feeling like you’ve just grown an extra bicep. Save that energy for the gym, instead, and shake your whipped cream. Pour heavy whipping cream into a jar, add powdered sugar and vanilla, close the jar tightly, and shake it until it’s nice and fluffy.

Feel free to blast some music and dance around the house while shaking your whipped cream like a maraca — it sounds like a soon-to-be TikTok trend, doesn’t it?

De-seeding pomegranates is often messy, frustrating, and seemingly impossible. Luckily, there’s a trick to getting those pomegranate seeds out efficiently and without any messiness involved.

First, cut the pomegranate in half, and then soak it in some water. Pick out the seeds and let them drop to the bottom of the bowl. The pomegranate membrane and rind will then float to the top. Just drain the seeds and you’re ready to go!

Making a dish like polenta or grits can take quite a bit of time and energy. However, there’s a quick trick to getting these meals ready in half the time: add baking soda. The baking soda will get your food to the right consistency and texture, without all the effort.

Just make sure not to overdo it — you don’t need more than a pinch. For polenta, mix the baking soda with water before adding it in and your dish will end up perfectly creamy.

Certain foods, like casserole or lasagna, take ages to heat up in the oven. However, if you heat them up in the microwave, they’ll lose their original texture.

The solution to this dilemma is to defrost your food in the microwave first, and then finish warming it up in the oven. The microwave will quickly heat the insides of the dish and the oven will heat up the outside, while still maintaining the texture.

Very few things taste as good as some warm apple pie. Unfortunately, very few things require as much time and effort to bake as apple pie does. That being said, there’s a lazy option for this classic dessert.

Cut an apple into small cubes and place it into a cup or bowl. Add butter, sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Then, put it in the microwave until the apples get mushy. Finally, sprinkle crushed graham crackers on top. There you have it — five-minute apple pie!

If a recipe calls for squeezing lemons or lime, you can save yourself some time by using bottled lemon or lime juice. It’s a lot less messy, a lot easier, and won’t leave you trying to fish out the seeds.

We’ll be honest, the flavor won’t be as fresh as it’d be if you squeezed lemons or limes yourself. Therefore, you should really just use this hack for recipes in which the food is being cooked or mixed with a lot of other flavors anyway.

Leftover food doesn’t need to go to waste and you certainly don’t need to prepare a new meal every single day. But, don’t think that means you have to eat the same food every day, either! Instead, recycle your leftovers and use them for a different dish.

For example, leftover mashed potatoes can become tater tots. Leftover rice can be used for a buddha bowl or even rice pudding. Pasta can become a casserole or a pasta salad. You get the idea…

Boxed dessert mixes are often looked down on but no one can deny that they’re a true time-saver and taste just as good as something baked from scratch. You can even add your own touch to these mixes in order to personalize them.

Throw some ground coffee into a chocolate cake mix in order to give it a mocha flavor. Or splash a bit of milk into a brownie mix to make it creamier. Add chocolate chips, coconut flakes, nuts, or whatever you want!

We’ve all been in that dreaded situation in which we’ve spent time and energy baking a cake, just for it to break and ruin the whole aesthetic.

Not all hope has to be lost, though, as you can easily turn the broken cake into a trifle. Just layer in some fruit and whipped cream and… voilà! No one ever has to know that your perfect trifle was once supposed to be a cake.

Believe it or not, any pizza can be made into a deep-dish pizza — without all the effort of making the dish from scratch. Whether or not you live in Chicago, you can still enjoy a deep-dish pizza — even from home!

Buy a pre-made supermarket pizza, let it thaw for roughly 20 minutes, toss it onto an oiled pan, add whatever toppings you want, then bake it for an additional 10 minutes.

If you’ve ever cut your finger on the lid of a can, don’t worry, you’re not the only one. Lifting a can’s lid can be a dangerous task if you’re prone to clumsy accidents.

For those who are maybe a bit less agile, we suggest using a strong fridge magnet on top of the lid to lift the lid completely off the can. That way, you won’t end up hurting yourself when trying to reach the can’s contents.

Believe it or not, potato skins actually add a lot of texture and flavor to most spud-centric dishes. Given that mashed potatoes can be quite monotonous, potato skins are a great way to break up the flavor and add a little something extra.

Furthermore, you’ll be saving yourself tons of time by not peeling all the potatoes before boiling them. You’d be surprised how being “lazy” about making potatoes can actually result in a unique and delicious dish. Just make sure to still clean them before use!

We’ve all been guilty of forgetting to put a drink in the fridge and then being stuck with having it at room temperature. Sure, you can try to put it in the freezer for a bit but that never works as quickly as you’d like it to.

However, there’s an easy way to make the freezer work much more efficiently. Wrap the bottle in a wet paper towel and then put it in the freezer. It’ll be nice and cold in just a few minutes!

Pico de gallo, aka salsa fresco, can be used instead of fresh veggies as a huge time-saver. If you have a recipe that calls for onions, peppers, and tomatoes, you can just throw in store-bought pico de gallo instead.

It contains all those ingredients already chopped and ready to go, and it’ll taste exactly the same as fresh veggies when cooked into a dish. If you’re more of a DIY person, you can always make your own every once in a while, and keep it in the fridge.

Trust us when we tell you that it’s entirely possible to make a delicious dish from instant ramen noodles. Yes, we know how that sounds but stay with us here. Add peanut butter and sriracha to instant beef-flavored ramen and your mind will be blown by how simple, yet tasty, it is!

Of course, if you’re not a fan of sriracha or peanut butter, you can add other ingredients instead. The point is that you can create a delicious ramen dish without starting from scratch.

Cooking spaghetti in a skillet, rather than a pot, will reduce the time it takes for it to be ready as the water will boil much faster. Furthermore, the leftover water is the perfect base for making a sauce.

It’ll be concentrated and starchy, so you don’t need to start creating a sauce from zero. When the spaghetti’s finished cooking, put it on a plate and use the same skillet to make the sauce, which you’ve already started with the water.

Separating egg yolks from the whites is no easy task… unless you know the trick to it, that is! All you need is a water bottle in order to easily extract egg yolks. Crack the eggs into a bowl, hold the mouth of the water bottle over the egg yolk, and slowly release your grip.

When you release the squeeze, the bottle will suck up the yolk. You can then deposit the yolk into a separate bowl, as needed.

Despite being absolutely delicious, many people don’t have hollandaise sauce on a regular basis because it’s such a pain to make. This sauce requires endless whisking and perfect timing, in order to come out just right.

However, if you don’t mind cheating a bit, there’s a much easier way to get this sauce. Simply mix the ingredients in a blender and, at the click of a button, it’ll be ready. Feel free to keep this trick a secret so your guests admire your expert “whisking” abilities.

Not everyone loves the taste of anchovies but if you use them sparingly, they can elevate a dish without giving off that fishy flavor.

For example, dissolving one or two anchovies into a bolognese sauce will give it that extra oomph that makes it taste like it’s from a gourmet restaurant. It’s also a wonderful alternative to salt! If you’re cooking for other people, just make sure they’re good with eating fish as they won’t taste the anchovies in the dish.

Who doesn’t love French toast for breakfast in the morning? However, who really wants to spend their whole morning cooking? That’s where French toast in a mug comes in. Rip up pieces of bread and place them in a mug.

Then, create a French toast batter (eggs, milk, sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla) and pour it into the mug. Put it in the microwave for one minute. Take it out, pour maple syrup on it, microwave it for another 15 seconds, take it out again, and enjoy your breakfast!

Remember, leftovers never have to go to waste while there’s still no need to eat the same thing every day. Making a quiche or frittata is a great way to utilize any savory foods that may need repurposing.

This whatever-goes type of cooking is also a great way to use up vegetables that are going to go bad soon. Use them in any sort of baked egg dish — it’s pretty much impossible to go wrong with those.

Cooking bacon can make you feel like you need to wear a full-body shield. Frying this delicious food will leave grease splatters all over your kitchen — and all over you.

In order to avoid the mess but still enjoy a bacon-filled breakfast, bake your bacon in the oven rather than frying it. Line a baking pan with tin foil (you can also use a cooking sheet), put the bacon on it, and pop it into the oven. There you have it!

Peeling eggs can be pretty frustrating and time-consuming — if you don’t know the trick to it, that is. In order to peel hard-boiled eggs quickly and painlessly, put them in a jar of cold water.

Then put the lid on (make sure it’s screwed on tight), and shake the jar. When you go to take the eggs out, the shell will come right off! This trick should cut down your egg salad prepping by half!

Peeling onions isn’t really anyone’s favorite task. It’s difficult to do, it stinks up your hands, and most people get teary-eyed from it. A simple solution is to soak the onions in hot water for a few minutes before starting to peel them.

This trick will make peeling the pesky vegetable much easier and help a bit with the crying (sadly, it won’t completely eliminate the tears). Another trick to help with tears when cutting onions is to put the onions in the freezer for 10-15 minutes before cutting them.

We all want people to be impressed with our amazing cake-decorating skills. That being said, not all of us have those abilities handy. Luckily, you can fake it by placing cookies into the cake, making it look like you’ve drawn the design on with frosting yourself.

If your conscious can handle cheating even further, you can buy several different-sized cakes and pile them on top of each other. That way, it’ll look like you’ve baked a huge three-tiered cake!

A true first-world food problem is reaching for a handful of popcorn only to discover that you’ve eaten a mouthful of bitter kernels. Apparently, the bag that microwavable popcorn comes in is designed to prevent that very instance — but no one uses them properly!

The bag is meant to be opened just a small bit, at first, so that you can shake the kernels out into a bowl. Once they’re all gone, you can open the popcorn bag all the way and enjoy without fear of a bad bite.

Everyone loves taco Tuesday — except for when all of the contents of our taco fall out of the tortilla and onto our hands, that is. In order to keep your taco whole, place the tortilla in a microwave-safe cup.

Then, fill the tortilla with whatever you want in your taco. Microwave it, and only take the taco out of the cup when it’s ready to eat. That’s how you get an (almost) mess-free taco.

Most people use butter on their grilled cheese. While delicious, it’s pretty easy to burn if you’re not careful or willing to keep a close eye on it. An alternative, and equally tasty, option is to use mayo instead.

It’s a lot less likely to burn and needs less attention when being grilled. Bonus points for the fact using mayo saves you the time of needing to soften the butter so you can spread it.

When it comes to onion and garlic, powders are just as good as the fresh stuff. We admit that, at first, they’re a bit less flavorful. However, that can easily be fixed by simply mixing the spices with a touch of water.

Anyway, you won’t really notice if the recipe in question calls for the onions or garlic to be cooked into something. Powders will save you the time you would’ve spent peeling and chopping, and they’ll also save you a whole lot of mess.

Certain ingredients can make any basic dish seem fancy. For example, sun-dried tomatoes have the magical power of always feeling gourmet. Figure out what your “fancy” ingredients are and make sure to always have them on hand to quickly spruce up a meal.

If you’ve got excellent culinary skills, you can make an actual fancy meal. However, if you’re in a rush or cooking just isn’t where you shine, fake it with a “fancy” ingredient.

Who says egg slicers have to be exclusively for eggs? This useful tool can be used for pretty much anything that’s soft and needs slicing. You can use egg slicers for strawberries, mushrooms, soft cheeses, olives, and so on.

Why sit there, spending your time chopping all sorts of foods, when you have an egg slicer that can be used for so much more than its original purpose? Feel free to find multiple uses for your other kitchen appliances as well! Get creative with it!

Caramel sauce can be a true pain to make, as it requires endless whisking, quite a few ingredients, and will burn unless you keep an eye on it. However, there’s a way for even the laziest chef to cook caramel sauce — and it only requires two ingredients.

Mix condensed milk with boiling water, let it sit for roughly three hours, and you’ll have caramel sauce! The best part is that there’s no need to stand over it while it cooks.

After you wear shoes around a lot, the shine they had when you purchased them might start to fade as they get dirty or even just more worn down. Shining your shoes is a great way to get this luster back. Instead of polish, you could always take an easier route by scooping out a dab of Vaseline and gently rubbing it on the shoes. The best part? You only need a thin layer!

If you have brows that are hard to handle, you can tame them easier than you might think. All you need is a little Vaseline to whip them into shape. To do this, just dab a little bit of Vaseline on a cotton swab or brow brush, and work it into your brows. Much like split ends, this will help hold your brows in place throughout the day.

Split ends can be a hassle, especially if you can’t go get a haircut right away. That doesn’t mean that you have to deal with their appearance until your next trip to the salon. You can change the appearance of your split ends by putting a bit of Vaseline on your fingers and working it into the ends of your hair. This simple hack will help your hair stick to itself, giving it the appearance of united strands.

When you paint your nails, it’s often a challenge — especially when you’re painting your dominant hand. Even the most skilled among us sometimes gets nail polish outside of the lines. Luckily, you can use a little Vaseline to help keep nail polish in its place. By applying Vaseline on the skin around your nails, you won’t have to worry about any polish sticking in places you don’t want. Simply add a touch of the petroleum jelly around your nail and paint away!

Over time, leather tends to look old and worn just like anything else. This means that your favorite leather bag might look a little worse for wear as time goes on. You can use a little Vaseline to make sure that your leather goods look as good as new. Just rub on a layer of Vaseline and massage it into the material. After you’re done, remove any excess with a towel. Afterward, your leather goods will look years younger!

Lip stain is one of the best pieces of makeup to have in your collection. It can help add a natural pigment to your look and it’s designed to stay on all day. Yet, beauty supplies can come at quite the cost. That’s why DIY makeup has become so popular throughout the years. That being said, you can replace an expensive product with one simple hack — Vaseline mixed with Kool-Aid mix! This will give you a simple and easy lip stain that will last throughout the day.

Itchiness is never any fun. Whether it’s from bug bites, hives, or another source entirely, it can leave you feeling uncomfortable. Rather than scratching your skin raw, try putting a little Vaseline on the spot that’s bothering you. It will help moisturize your skin and lessen the unbearable sensation of being itchy. This is a much better solution than scratching annoying spots to the point of pain. Plus, moisturizing is never a bad thing!

Using jewelry to accessorize can go a long way in amplifying a look and making it more dynamic. That being said, you probably don’t want to keep a ring on forever. Even if you love a ring, it can get damaged if you wear it while washing the dishes or showering, so it’s best to take it off beforehand. It’s easy to get a ring stuck on your finger, though. You can use Vaseline to help lubricate it and get it off.

A lot of people dye their hair at home rather than opting for a salon experience. A lot of times, this leads to beautiful results — boxed hair dye can go a long way in revolutionizing the way you look. Unfortunately, it’s often a messy endeavor that ends up dying your skin as well as your hair. You can skip this untidy experience, though. If you apply Vaseline to your hairline, it will prevent the hair dye from tinting your skin while coloring your luscious locks of hair.

Wooden furniture has been in style for a long time. One disadvantage to it, though, is that it can get damaged rather easily. While Vaseline can’t help much with large jobs, if you have a small scratch in your wooden table, you don’t need to start looking for replacements quite yet. Rather, all you need to do is put some Vaseline on it and leave it for 24 hours. Then, wipe up the excess and you should be good to go!

Wearing fake eyelashes to give yourself a fuller, more lush set has been a trend for years. That doesn’t mean that it’s always easy to pull off, though. At the end of the night, you might find yourself having trouble removing those lashes and the glue it takes to hold them on without pulling on your real lashes in the process. By adding a bit of the jelly to your lash line, slipping faux lashes and lash glue off has become that much easier. Thank us later…

Especially now that summer’s in full swing, it can be difficult to avoid chafing. However, you can apply Vaseline to help reduce the effect and keep you from experiencing major discomfort. For example, a common problem area when it comes to chaffing is on your thighs. You can counteract this by applying a little bit of Vaseline to the area before a bike ride or long day outside. This will lessen how much your skin directly rubs together by offering a buffer, which will relieve the issue!

Dandruff is caused by dry skin on your scalp and it can be a real nuisance. It can cause side effects such as itchiness and messy flaking. The good news is that Vaseline can go a long way in reducing and preventing dandruff. All you have to do is work it into your hair at your roots. Just like it works well at hydrating your skin, it will help hydrate your scalp and reduce the production of dry skin or dandruff.

If you want to keep your skin soft and healthy when you shave, Vaseline can come to your aid here, too. All you have to do is apply it after you shave and dry off. With the help of Vaseline, you can reduce how dry and dehydrated your skin is after you shave. In addition, the petroleum jelly can help relieve any shaving irritation you might have such as bumps or burns. In no time, this routine will ensure that your skin stays soft, smooth, and hydrated.

Despite what you may think, Vaseline isn’t just limited to helping you with faux lashes. If you want, you can also use it to make your lashes look thicker and shinier. To do this, the steps are fairly close to using Vaseline to remove your fake lashes and lash glue. Just apply it the Vaseline to your lash line but make sure that you don’t go overboard. You don’t want clumps of Vaseline on your lashes but rather just enough to give your lashes a volume boost.

Perfume is a great way to add dimension to your style and make sure you stay smelling great throughout the day. Unfortunately, it tends to fade after you wear it for a while. However, you can make sure you stay fresh by applying a little Vaseline where you apply your perfume — behind your ears and on your wrists — will help it last throughout the day. Since Vaseline doesn’t have a scent, it won’t detract from your perfume either!

If there’s a beauty trend that seems like it’s here to stay for quite a bit, it’s contouring. This means using light and dark makeup to highlight areas of your face and add shadows elsewhere. If you don’t have any highlighter lying around, though, you can rely on the jar of Vaseline in your medicine cabinet. By applying Vaseline to your brow, cheeks, and eyelids with a gentle hand, you can add a dewy highlight to your look.

As we’ve discussed, how quickly beauty products fade can cause a problem. This is especially true if you have a long day ahead of you and you need to look your best the whole day. Another way that Vaseline can help with this is by aiding in keeping your eyeshadow on longer. You can use it as a primer to help your eyeshadow stay. However, you’ll want to make sure that you only use a little. If you opt for too much Vaseline, it won’t work.

As we’ve looked at, Vaseline and nail polish are great partners for getting the look that you want. They’re even great partners in making sure everything that you need stays functional. For instance, if you get a little nail polish around the lid of the bottle, you might run into the problem of the top drying to the bottle, practically sealing it shut. You can avoid this scenario by applying a little Vaseline to the top of the nail polish bottle to prevent polish from drying there.

Scrubs that include salt and sugar are great for exfoliating your skin and lips. Yet, you need the right ingredients to make sure you get the results you want. You can actually use Vaseline for the base of your lip scrub since it will help hold the ingredients together and moisturize while you exfoliate it. There are plenty of different recipes that you can use for a scrub but generally, you’ll want to mix salt or sugar in with your Vaseline.

Acne can be a huge problem no matter if you’re a teenager or well into adulthood. If you struggle with acne, you’ll want to find something that works for your skin. If you have dry or combination skin but find that the moisturizer you’re using clogs your pores, this is likely part of the problem. Instead, try putting on a little bit of Vaseline. Again, you’ll want to apply it in a thin layer that will absorb fully into your skin.

Slugs and snails are common in gardens but they aren’t always welcome. Not only are people generally grossed out by them but they also may eat your plants. You can prevent snails and slugs from getting into your garden without harming your plants by grabbing a bit of Vaseline. To start, mix Vaseline with salt to make a combination that’s dangerous and aversive to slugs and snails. Then, rub the mixture around the edge of your planters.

If you’re trying to put in your favorite pair of earrings but you’re having trouble putting them in comfortably, Vaseline can work as a good lubricant to help you out. That being said, this is for piercings that are still open — it won’t help you out if the back of your ear piercing has healed shut. It’s a similar concept to people who are stretching their ears using ear butter to reduce friction as they put new jewelry in their ears.

Vapor rubs are a popular remedy for ailments such as a bad cough or a stuffy nose. If you want, you can even make your own with the help of Vaseline. To make your DIY vapor rub, you’ll want to mix your Vaseline with your favorite essential oils. Popular ingredients for these vapor rub recipes include essential oils such as tea tree, coconut, eucalyptus — as well as carrier oils, like sweet almond or olive oil.

Ants can be a pest in even the cleanest of homes. Especially during the summer, these little pests are apt to invade homes for food — even if it’s just the tiniest crumb. Your pets aren’t immune to this either and noticing ants infestations in pet food bowls is a rather unpleasant experience all around. To help prevent this, add a little bit of Vaseline to the edge of your pet’s bowl. It won’t disturb them but it will keep ants from marching in.

Dry, cracked heels can be unsightly and painful. However, they can also seem hard to handle if you aren’t quite sure what to do. The good news is that Vaseline can help moisturize your feet and restore a healthy appearance. To do this, all you need to do is apply it to your feet overnight until you notice your feet aren’t cracked anymore. Since Vaseline can be a little messy, it’s a good idea to sleep with socks on!

One of the most common Halloween traditions is the practice of carving pumpkins that you can decorate your doorstep with. The biggest problem with this tradition is that jack-o-lanterns aren’t well-known for their long lifespan. When you carve your next pumpkin, apply Vaseline to the cut-out edges. This will help elongate your jack-o-lantern’s life and prevent it from shriveling before the big night. It’ll also help you avoid the scariest task of all for a while — cleaning up rotted pumpkins.

Taking care of your cuticles is important for both looks and comfort. However, it can be a challenge to keep your cuticles healthy. Once again, you can turn to Vaseline for a solution. The key to success here is to put Vaseline directly on your cuticles. To see lasting and consistent results, though, you’ll need to make sure that you apply the Vaseline to your cuticles multiple times a day. This will help hydrate your cuticles and keep them healthy.

We already looked at what Vaseline can do for you when you’re trying to paint your nails but it has a lot to offer when you’re painting a room as well. Accidentally painting a bit of a window or dropping paint on a doorknob can make a room look like an amateur DIY. To avoid this and get a professional appearance on your own, add Vaseline to these areas and wipe them down when you’re done painting.

We’ve already covered that Vaseline is great for removing fake lashes and lash glue but its functionality as a makeup remover doesn’t stop there. You can also use Vaseline to remove other hard-to-remove makeup such as eyeliner. All you have to do is use a cotton swab to apply it gently to remove the makeup. Then, just wash your face as you normally would and you’ll see your makeup wash away in no time.

There are certain hairstyles that you might be trying to attain but it can be difficult to find the right product and technique. If you want a messy or choppy look, some Vaseline might be just what you need. To use Vaseline for styling a messy look, start by putting a little bit of Vaseline on your hands. From there, scrunch your hair up in your hands as if you were applying a curling gel. Voila!

Getting the perfect smokey eye isn’t always easy. It can be hard to make your eye makeup look a little messy when you worked so hard and so long at perfecting it. The best way to get a smokey eye is to apply dark, usually black, eyeliner after you apply your eyeshadow. When you do this next time, try putting a small dab of Vaseline on top of the look. This will help you smear the makeup without things getting out of control.

As you get older, there’s one beauty topic that gets increasingly brought up — trying to prevent wrinkles. There are plenty of solutions out there and some are prohibitively expensive. Again, you can circumvent this cost and difficulty with the help of Vaseline. All you need to do is apply a thin layer of Vaseline where you have wrinkles such as on the fine lines around your eyes and on crow’s feet. If you leave it overnight as a nightly routine, you’ll see results soon.

If you have a squeaky door, you probably need to oil the hinge. At this point, many people reach for a bottle of WD-40. Yet, not everyone has this readily around the house. Don’t worry if you don’t because, once again, you can grab your handy jar of Vaseline. You just need to apply some Vaseline to the hinge — you can be as liberal as you want. It will lubricate the hinge and let the door move freely without creaking.

There’s nothing quite as inconvenient as getting shampoo in your eyes while you bathe or shower. You can avoid this by adding a little Vaseline to your brow. This will help divert the water from running into your eyes and catch any soap, shampoo, or conditioner before it gets into your eyes. This is especially a great trick to use during bath time for young children to help during bath time. It’s a great way to avoid stinging, burning eyes thanks to wayward shampoo.

Blackheads can be a huge pain. They linger for long amounts of time and can be damaging to extract. Next time you find yourself plagued by blackheads, try putting a little Vaseline on them. The Vaseline will gloss over your blackheads and reduce the way they look. This is a great trick if you get caught right before going out. Just be sure not to use too much, or you could cause a breakout!

Rust is ugly and unsafe. Having rusty surfaces on anything you own is a bit of a drag. Using Vaseline can help protect your metal goods and prevent them from rusting. Simply spread a light layer of Vaseline on whichever surface you wish to protect. Be careful of painted metal, however, as Vaseline can actually end up pulling the paint off!

Zippers are really convenient. They help you fasten your clothes, after all! That being said, they can become a pain in the neck when they get stuck. You can end up stretching or even tearing your garments, not to mention breaking the zipper itself. Using just a little bit of Vaseline, you can lube up those zippers to help the get unstuck. One bonus to this method is that it also protects your zipper from rusting!

Self-tan mixtures can be really convenient. They let you get that nice, sunny, bronze look without having to actually sit in the sun. That being said, if they apply unevenly, you can end up with a splotchy look that makes you stand out. By spreading a bit of Vaseline on your skin (particularly your joints) before applying self-tan can help the creases in your skin moisturize and stay consistent. This helps the self-tan apply more smoothly and consistently.

Scars, even little ones, can be fairly off-putting. If you’ve ever gotten a little scrape or cut and been worried about whether or not it will leave a permanent mark, then here’s the solution for you! The next time you get another one of those burns or scratches, apply some Vaseline! The Vaseline will help the skin around the cut or burn stay moisturized. Keeping the skin moisturized is one of the best ways to prevent scarring.

If you’re the kind of person who likes to play around mixing different makeups and makeup techniques, then this is a great way to use Vaseline. Simply apply a layer of Vaseline on top of your favorite matte eyeshadow. Don’t be afraid to really slather it on there. It will give your eyes a phenomenal glossy look, which you can do a lot of different things with.

If you’ve ever spilled salsa or red wine on your favorite shirt, you know how it feels to have one of your favorite garments ruined. There are a lot of DIY stain removal solutions, but one of the easiest ways to remove stains is by applying vaseline. Especially if you catch the stain early on before it dries, this is an excellent method. Just apply enough Vaseline to cover the stain, and wash out later with war water and a bit of soap. Unfortunately, for more sensitive garments, you will still have to take it to a dry cleaner.

Having dry, flaky eyelids is the worst. One of the worst feelings is waking up in the morning and feeling the sting of dry, flaky eyelids. If you want to moisturize those eyelids, then Vaseline is the thing for you! Vaseline is well-known for being one of the most effective moisturizers on the market. However, some people never think to put it on some of the more sensitive areas, such as eyelids.

If you’ve still got some old CDs and DVDs lying around, it’s more than likely that some of your favorite hits are scratched up by now. If you feel distressed, and want to use your old scratched CDs and DVDs again, then fret no longer! Simply clean the surface of the disk with some ethanol, and then rub a thin layer of Vaseline over the surface of the disk. With some luck and finesse, the Vaseline will fill in the scratches and make the disk functional again.

Having a scratched up screen on your electronics is a huge drag. It can reduce the apparent resolution and distract you from whatever videos you’re watching or articles you’re reading. Vaseline can help buff out ugly scratches in phone screens. This works particularly well for small or shallow scratches. Simply put a very small amount of Vaseline on your finger or a microfibre cloth, and use it to buff out the scratches on your phone. This works on any glass screen, for electronics or what have you.

There’s nothing quite as difficult to deal with as back pain. It can come from a variety of sources too, from physical labor to an injury — or even just sitting incorrectly for too long. To find some relief from this problem, heat up some Vaseline in the oven or microwave, but just for a bit! You want it just warm enough that offers some heat without being too hot to burn your skin. Once it’s all warmed up, massage it on your back for some heated relief.

If there’s one makeup hazard that everyone who wears makeup has experienced, it’s getting lipstick on your teeth. This might seem hard to avoid, but the solution might actually be in your medicine cabinet. By applying a thin layer of Vaseline to your teeth, it will prevent lipstick from sticking to it. Since Vaseline isn’t scented or flavored, it won’t leave a nasty taste in your mouth either. Keep in mind, though, that a little goes a long way so don’t overdo it.

There are few things quite as infuriating in your — or your kids’ — hair. When your child comes to you with gum in their hair, for example, you might be perplexed as to what to do. Don’t reach for the scissors just yet, though! Instead, grab a bit of Vaseline and start to work it around the gum so you can work that out of the strands. You can also use this solution in other sticky situations such as getting tree sap caught in your hair.

If you have an old key and a rusty lock, you might think you’re out of luck in actually getting the lock open. Indeed it can definitely cause quite a challenge. Before calling a locksmith or simply giving up, try to apply Vaseline to the key and place it in the lock. You won’t want to add too much but rather just enough to offer a layer of lubricant to the process.

If you keep your candles in candle holders rather than using candles that come in their own housings, you probably already know how annoying it is when candle wax seals to the holder. Before you light your next candle, put some Vaseline on your candle holder. This will keep the melted wax from sealing to the candle holder as your favorite candle burns. In turn, you’ll have an easier time cleaning up when you go to replace the candle.