DIY
One man's trash is another man's treasure, and we've always been fond of finding MacGyver-like uses for anything and everything—right down to dryer lint and used candy wrappers.. Here are our top 10 favorite hacks for things you thought were headed to the garbage. 10. Make a Waterproof Fire Starter Out of Dryer Lint For all the laundry we do in a week, we accumulate a massive amount of dryer lint.
Top 10 Clever Hacks for Things You Thought Were Trash
Create an Electricity-Free Refrigerator with Flower Pots and Sand
If you're hanging outside and don't want to rely on inefficient coolers to keep your drinks cold, you can make this surprisingly effective refrigerator out of a few flower pots. For this project you'll need two terracotta pots, one larger than the other, as well as some sand, water, and cloth. To make the "fridge", you just put one pot inside the other, and fill up the spaces with wet sand, which keeps the inside of the pots cold. You'l also need to put a wet towel over the top to keep the warm air and light from getting in. It's incredibly cheap, very effective, and doesn't require any electricity, which is perfect for those outdoor summer days.Par Korben Des chercheurs de l 'Université de l'Illinois ont mis au point une encre conductrice plutôt impressionnante, qui packagée dans un "stylo" permet de dessiner les circuits électriques de votre choix. Ce genre de choses existaient déjà, mais ici, l'encre accroche mieux (y compris le papier) et conduit encore mieux le courant.
Dessiner un circuit à main levée
Liquid to Light Designer Ed Chew takes a green step in the right direction with the TetraBox lamp, a light object made from discarded drink packets that would have otherwise ended up in landfills already packed to the brim. The design is achieved by unfolding the packets and refolding them into hexagonal and pentagonal sections that are then pieced together to form a geodesic sphere or any other desired shape. Here, the Epcot-like ball makes an attractive overhead light and casts an impressive web of shadows and shapes on the surrounding space. Designer: Ed Chew
TetraBox Light by Ed Chew
Things break down, whether due to accidents, negligence, or just plain wear and tear. Instead of shelling out for an expensive repair or replacement, though, you can often fix the problem yourself for much less. Here are 10 repairs you should never pay for. Image from Refat/ Shutterstock
Top 10 Repair Projects You Should Never Pay For
The Transformer Bed Workspace
Reader William Robinette wasn't satisfied with his desk options, so he hacked his IKEA bed to pieces, picked up some extra wood, and made himself a desk. Audio controls are embedded. It has built-in speaker stands.
Today's featured workspace turns an Ikea wall-mounted drawer into a sleek hideaway for a Mac Mini and peripherals. The unit, meant to hold DVDs, is just the right size to fit the computer, keyboard, external hard drive, router, etc. and also hold two monitors on top, without taking up a lot of space. Ikea Hacker Shaun Bowman says the Ikea Besta Burs wall shelf , which runs $100, is sturdy and the hinges heavy duty. He drilled some holes to pass the cables through and anchored it to his wall studs. This would be a neat solution for workspaces that have to be out in the open or you'd prefer to close up your desk at the end of the day. If you have a workspace of your own to show off, throw the pictures on your Flickr account and add it to the Lifehacker Workspace Show and Tell Pool .
The Suspended Hidden Workspace
Make Quick and Dirty Fire Starters Out of Egg Cartons, Drier Lint, and Candle Stubs
Need to start a quick fire? If you've got an empty egg carton, some drier lint (who doesn't), and candle stubs you can make a fire starter that'll burn for a long while. DIY living blog Root Simple outlines the process: To make a wax and lint fire starter, save up the ends of a few candles and a bunch of lint from the dryer. Take a paper egg carton and put a big wad of dryer lint into each cup of the carton.Make Your Own Metal Polish with Salt, Vinegar, and Flour
Most people don't keep a bottle of tarnish remover or polish under their sink until they need one, but if you need one and don't have time to buy one, a mixture of salt, white vinegar, and flour will get the job done too. The trick is that the salt works as a mild abrasive, and the vinegar is acidic enough to clean off the tarnish and restore your brass fixtures to their former glory. Just blend the ingredients, pour the mix over the fixtures, and let them sit overnight. Then just wash off the mixture and enjoy the results. Have you tried your own homemade polish before? Share your experiences in the comments.
Exercise equipment can be expensive. If you work out at home, chance are, you have some weights and plates that can be repurposed into a DIY kettlebell for only $10. Tim Ferriss, author of The 4 Hour Body shows you exactly what you need to do to build your own kettlebell , which is a weight that extends from a handle that you swing in order to build strength. To get started, you will need a few lengths of plumbing pipes from the hardware store. Once you have all the required parts, assemble them as instructed in the tutorial video.
Make a DIY Kettlebell on the Cheap
The DIY Stain Removal Infographic Is a Quick Reference for Cleaning Common Stains
Despite how careful you are, stains happen. This handy infographic notes the most useful household items for removing common clothing stains. DIY tricks abound for cleaning stains, but if you don't feel like Googling around, the infographic to the left will tell you the household stain removers for some of the most common stains, like ink, coffee, grass, sweat, or even tomato sauce. If you've got something a bit more complicated, you can always hit up the previously mentioned Stain Solutions search engine, but this is a nice little cheat sheet you can stick inside your kitchen cupboard for quick access.From Wired How-To Wiki Rock out, DIY style. Photo by Aidan Collins If you know how to solder and plug some components into a breadboard, you have all the skills you need to build your own homemade guitar amplifier.