Thanks to a magnet, drill bits adhere to a cordless drill

Ingenious life hacks with magnets

Solve a common problem with little effort: Life hacks are simple tricks - though someone has to come up with them initially.

Magnets work well for this type of application as they help to quickly attach and remove objects.

We searched through our customer projects for the tried & true and compiled ten practical magnetic life hacks for you.

Cosmetics tubes attached upside down to a shelf with binder clips

More space in the cabinet

Bathroom cabinets, in particular, are often cluttered, and the height between the shelves can not be optimally utilised.

This life hack solves both problems. It involves attaching self-adhesive magnetic discs to the underside of the shelf.
Next, clamp metal binder clips onto any tubes and then hang the clips on a disc magnet.

A spoon with honey placed over a beaker using a knife and magnet to catch drips.

Clean honey spoon

A slice of toast spread with honey is often part of a hearty breakfast. When clearing the table afterwards, the question arises of what to do with the sticky spoon. It would be a shame to simply wash off the honey.

Since most cutlery is made of a ferromagnetic material, the following trick can be used: Attach the spoon to the tip of a knife using a small super magnet. Then place the knife on top of a tall jar or container. The honey can now simply drip off the spoon.

Fabric is cut with scissors that use magnets as spacers for precise cutting.

Cutting aid

This particularly simple life hack will save you time when sewing or during its prep work.

Before an individual piece is cut from the fabric, a seam allowance must be drawn around the sewing pattern. But you can eliminate this step:

Choose a rod magnet or a stack of disc magnets matching the width of the required seam allowance. Next, attach this spacer to the side of the scissor tip. When cutting, simply make sure that you guide the magnet along the edge of the paper – and you will have a piece of fabric that includes the seam allowance.

A hand takes a magnetic storage tin from a metal surface, another stays attached.

Storage tins within easy reach

Do you want to have frequently used foods, spices or coffee capsules close at hand – without worktop clutter? This is quite easy to achieve: Apply a piece of self-adhesive magnetic sheet to the bottom of smaller storage containers. This way, they will stick to the refrigerator or other metal surfaces.

Extra tip: If you lack ferromagnetic surfaces, you can create them yourself with ferrous tape, for example.

A screw is tightened with a magnetised screwdriver.

Magnetising a screwdriver

When using screws for assembly, it is not easy to hold them in the right place prior to screwing them in. It is especially difficult when you have to hold an object with your other hand. There are two possible solutions to this problem:

1. Attach one or two disc magnets to the screwdriver. The magnets make the screwdriver itself magnetic, and the screw will adhere to the tip.

2. Place the screwdriver (with a piece of cardboard in between) on a large super magnet. It will cause the molecular magnets in the screwdriver to align, and it becomes magnetised.

Scissors, tweezers and hairpins hang on a magnetic strip in a cabinet.

Mirror cabinet organiser

Certain items, such as scissors or hairpins, are often hard to find when you need them. These small items tend to get lost among other grooming utensils or lack a specific storage place.

There is an extremely simple solution for both: Stick a strip of self-adhesive magnetic neodymium tape to the inside of the cabinet door. Now, metal objects like hairpins, scissors and tweezers can adhere to it.

A kitchen roll hangs on a string that is attached with hook magnets.

Kitchen roll holder

Whether you are pouring milk into your coffee or ladling soup, no doubt, spills happen in the kitchen. So it is helpful to keep a roll of kitchen paper handy. If you are looking for a budget-friendly way to hang it within reach, use this hack:

Tie the ends of a piece of string together and pass it through the opening so that the knot is not visible. Next, stretch the whole thing between two magnetic hooks to hang the kitchen roll on the fridge, for example.

A key hangs from a pot magnet that is attached to a string.

Key rescue

Murphy’s Law states that a piece of bread always lands butter-side down when it falls.

And when it comes to keys, they tend to fall through a grate or other hard-to-reach place.

But don’t worry, magnets come in handy here too. With a ring, eyelet or hook magnet attached to a string or rope, a bunch of keys can be fished out quickly.

Incidentally, most keys are not ferromagnetic. Fortunately, key rings are, and so the retrieval does work.

Two disc magnets are used as a bookmark.

Precise bookmark

At some point, even the most exciting book has to be put aside. Maybe duty calls, or perhaps the postman rings the doorbell. In any case, a bookmark is needed. Often, people improvise and resort to a piece of paper, such as a receipt for example. But two mini magnets are a better choice. On one hand, you can use them to mark a specific passage of text. On the other hand, you never have to worry about losing this bookmark, as you can simply "park" it on the first pages of the book when not in use.

A hand operates the dishwasher, which is labelled empty with a green smiley face magnet.

Dishwasher info

Does this happen to you? Your family members or flatmates put the dirty dishes in the sink instead of directly into the dishwasher. The reason given is that it was unclear whether the dishes in the dishwasher were clean or not.

This excuse is now a thing of the past. A sign clearly indicates the status of the dishwasher contents for everyone to see. In case your dishwasher does not have a decorative front that covers the ferromagnetic surface, you can simply use magnetic sheets to your liking.

A headphone cable is attached to the clothing with two small disc magnets.

Securing headphone cables

The big advantage of wired headphones is that they do not require a separate power supply compared to Bluetooth headphones. Their disadvantage, however, is that the cables get easily tangled through movement. In addition, in-ear headphones are sometimes pulled out of the ears by the weight of the cable. Both can be prevented with the help of ring magnets.

Simply pass the cable through one or two ring magnets and attach the assembly to the clothing using a counterpart.

Remove batteries

Exchanging or removing batteries is tough sometimes, but it doesn't have to be.

Magnets can provide a quick solution:

Instead of trying to get batteries out with a nail, simply pull them out with a magnet.

Life hack 2: Fashion a cable holder with a magnet and a ballpoint pen spring

Cable/Cord holder

This hack makes sure you always have charging, USB, and other cables and cords handy:

First, wrap a pen spring around the cable. Alternatively, you can also glue a magnet on the cable head.

Then, place a self-adhesive disc magnet on the table edge and attach the cable to it.

Life hack 3: Clean a bottle with cleaning sponge and magnets

Clever cleaning

It is hard to clean the inside of bottles or jars with a narrow neck. Try this easy way:
Cut into a piece of cleaning sponge and place a neodymium magnet inside (glue or sew in). This cleaning utensil goes into the bottle. You can move the sponge with another magnet from the outside.

Secure a tablecloth

The wind often causes tablecloths on outside tables to shift around.

Here is how you can avoid that:

Simply stick the corners of the tablecloth between two water-proof magnets.

If the table has metal parts, you can just attach the tablecloth with a magnet.

Life hack 5: Always have nails within reach thanks to a magnet on the hammer

Nails on a hammer

So simple, yet so helpful:

A neodymium magnet that sticks to a hammer head can hold several nails.

This way, you'll always have nails handy when you are hammering.

Picture stand

You don't always need a picture frame. Just stick a postcard or photo between two rod magnets (a few cube magnets work as well) and you have a minimalistic picture stand.

You also avoid the annoying reflections from polished glass.

Life hack 7: Hang cans and screw top jars underneath shelves

More storage space

More room for groceries in no time:

With magnets, you can hang up tin cans, screw-top jars, and bottles with metal lids on the bottom side of shelves.

With metal shelves, you don't even need adhesive or Sugru.

Life hack 8: Use a magnet to rest a paint brush on a paint can

Clean and dripped-off brush

Where to put a brush when you take a little break during painting?

With a magnet on the inside and outside of the paint can, you can attach the metal part of your brush to the inside magnet.

When you have a metal paint can, a magnet on the inside is enough.

Life hack 9: Pins stay put thanks to a magnet

Keeping fixing pins together

If you don't want to get upset anymore about dropped or scattered fixing pins or other needles:

Glue a magnet to the bottom of a little bowl or saucer and you'll have your needles together.

Life hack 10: Use magnets to attach clothes to a radiator

Warm clothes

It is cold and you'd love to wear a warm jumper when you go outside?

The dish towel is still wet from the wash but you want to use it soon?

Throw it on the radiator! Magnetic clasps or magnetic binder clips come in handy for hanging things up.

Can’t get enough of these clever life hacks with magnets? Neither can we! That’s why we have been collecting practical tips and tricks from our customers for quite some time now. You will be amazed to learn to what ends you can use magnets.

Additional tips and tricks