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Posted in Arkansas April 11, 2016 by J.B. VanDyke

13 Life Hacks Everyone In Arkansas Really Needs To Know

Want to make your life easier? We’ve compiled a list of hacks sure to simplify your day-to-day activities. Arkansans tend to spend a lot of time enjoying the Natural State, so most of these life hacks have to do with the great outdoors.

1. Dab Orajel onto mosquito bites to stop itching immediately.

2. How to spot poison ivy: As our grandmothers say, “Leaves of three, let them be. Leaves of five, let it thrive.”

3. To cool down your beer quickly, fill your cooler with ice, water, and plenty of salt. The ice will melt faster, but your beer will be about thirty degrees in five minutes.

4. Pour a bit of olive oil in standing water to keep mosquitoes from breeding in it. The olive oil will form a sort of skin on the water, which mosquito moms don’t like.

5. Always carry fresh water with you, especially in the summer. You never know when you’ll need it, and Arkansas summers are hot.

6. Park your car facing east on cold nights so that the sun can defrost your windshield as it rises.

7. Get rid of gnats and fruit flies with a piece of citrus fruit, a disposable cup, a rubber band and saran wrap. Simply cut up the fruit, place it in the cup, band the saran wrap over the top of the cup and poke small holes in the saran wrap. The pests will enter, then suffocate.

8. Got a cough from those Arkansas allergies bothering you? Put mentholatum or Vicks Vaporub on your feet and then put socks on over them. You’ll sleep better.

9. Organize seed packets in a cheap photo album. They'll fit perfectly in 4 x 6 slots.

10. Making strawberry shortcake this summer? Use a straw to remove the stem from your strawberries.

11. Use clear nail polish to suffocate chiggers and make the itch stop faster.

12. Make a paste from water and meat tenderizer to take the burn out of wasp stings.

13. Tape a dryer sheet to the front of your window unit to freshen up a funky room. You can also tie a dryer sheet to the back of a fan, just be careful not to block the airflow.

Had you heard of these before? Do ya’ll have any more suggestions?

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J.B. Weisenfels has lived in rural Arkansas for three decades. She is a writer, a mom, and a graduate student. She is also an avid collector of tacky fish whatnots, slightly chipped teapots, and other old things. In her spare time she enjoys driving to the nearest creek to sit a while. If you were to visit her, she'd try to feed you cornbread.