Tuesday Life Hack: 5 outdoor hacks to help you prep for summer

With the warmer temperatures on the horizon, leaves growing on trees and flowers blossoming, it’s the perfect time to prepare your home for summer. Whether you enjoy spending time outside your house or not, it’s a good idea to make sure it’s clean and neat. You do not have to spend a lot of time and money on this endeavour, just follow these easy outdoor life hacks:

1. Clean the oil stains on your driveway

Oil stains on your driveway might not seem like such a big deal until they build up and your driveway is covered in blotchy stains. A really easy trick is to douse each stain with cans of lukewarm soda. You could either leave the cans in the sun or warm them up in the microwave. Let this soak overnight and wipe the excess liquid away in the morning.

2. Kill weeds that are taking over your garden

Keep a spray bottle of white vinegar and spray it on the spot where the weeds are growing. Unlike commercial weed killers, vinegar is eco-friendly and won’t harm people, pets or the environment. If you have stubborn weeds, you can add salt to the mixture before removing the weeds. Just make sure the mixture doesn’t go onto the soil otherwise nothing will grow there again. Please note that any plants soaked in this solution will die.

3. Get rid of spiders in and around your home

Spiders love to find crevices and spots to make a home around your house. If you really want to get rid of them, use peppermint oil. Put some in a spray bottle with water and spray your window frames, door frames, garage, corners and crevices. Spiders hate peppermint oil so you won’t see them in those areas again.

4. Wipe the rust off items around your home:

An easy way to get rid of rust in your appliances, tools and other household items is to rub them with aluminium foil soaked in vinegar. The vinegar reacts with the rust and causes it to dissolve off of the metal. Another method is to soak the metal in white vinegar for a few hours and then scrub the rusty paste off.

5. Keep ants from entering your house:

With the warmer season around the corner, expect some uninvited house guests in the form of ants. They love to make their homes in the perimeters of your house. To prevent this, pour or spray white distilled vinegar around the perimeters of your house. You can spray the door and window frames, window sills and any points of entry. This will keep the ants at bay.

How often should you be cleaning your outdoor area?

• Make sure you sweep and clean your driveway and surfaces daily.
• Make sure you tidy the garage and take out the trash weekly.
• Make sure you wash out your outside area with a hose weekly.
• Ensure your garden is sufficiently watered and that grass is trimmed regularly.
• Declutter your outdoor area, garden shed and garage monthly.