100 Year Old Life Hacks That Still Work Today

If you haven’t heard the term ‘life hack,’ here’s one thing you need to know about it: it is ridiculously helpful! Life hacks are amazing, as they are the simple little techniques that just make life so much easier and better overall. Many of these nifty little tricks give us the shortcuts to life as well as the best time optimization ever, especially when it comes to life’s most dull and boring (but necessary) tasks.

Here are five 100 year old life hacks that still work today:

1. Extracting a splinter

We all get splinters every now and again and they can be pretty darn painful. But thanks to an old timer life hack, it’s easy to get out. To do this, fill a wide-mouthed bottle with hot water all the way to the top. Press the affected part of the hand directly against the mouth of the bottle. To work, the suction will pull the flesh down and the steam will be drawing out the splinter.

2. How to best keep an egg

Eggs are essential to many of our diets – they’re often the staple to the most important meal of the day: breakfast! To preserve eggs, they first of all need to be newly laid. You put it into a box or a tin of dry-salt burring eggs right in the salt and storing in a cool, dry place.

3. How to stop an attacking dog

As much as we love dogs, there are still those we don’t like us and will want to harm us. Should an angry, vicious dog attack you somewhere, just remember this: you should carry around walking stick and hold your jacket and maybe even a hat out before the dog. The walking stick should serve as a defense if you need it – in many cases you will.

4. Lighting a match on a windy day

Lighting one of those small bad boys can be tricky when it’s windy. Cut the shavings of the wood of the match into thin shavings toward its striking end.  Upon lighting, the match and the strips will probably catch fire once, especially if the flame is stronger.

5. Properly boil a cracked egg

Cracked eggs can be the worst because most of the time you’ll throw it away. Should your eggs crack during the cooking process, all you need to do is to simply add vinegar to the water used for hard-boiled eggs. Adding the white vinegar assists the egg-whites to coagulate faster.

(Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)