The Handy Hack That Will Transform A Paper Clip Into The Perfect Brush For Small Spaces

Many areas of a home are difficult to reach — including a variety of spots you may be forgetting to clean — so they may end up harboring lots of dust and crumbs. Computer keyboards, jewelry, and small cracks and crevices are often neglected, but this easy cleaning hack will help you get to the hardest-to-reach spots. With a paper clip and something soft, like a cotton ball or a paper towel, you can create a makeshift cleaning brush. The brush is easy to make, and because this hack only requires a few common household items, it's extremely inexpensive. You can find a box of 100 paper clips for less than $5 at Staples.

When you're done cleaning, you can either throw the whole brush away or save the clip for your next tough cleaning project. If you've run out of paper towels and don't have any cotton balls laying around, this brush can also be made with gauze, tissues, toilet paper, felt, or scrap fabric.

To make the brush, simply unbend a paper clip until it's straight. You can leave one end bent if it feels more comfortable to hold it with a handle. Wrap your paper towel, cotton ball, or tissue around the end of the paper clip and use it to carefully wipe dust from small or hard-to-reach places. If you find it difficult to keep the end of your brush attached to the paper clip, try using a rubber band to hold everything in place.

While any size paper clip will work for this trick, using larger ones may be helpful since they'll be longer once they're unfolded. This will give you a better reach for deeper areas. While it may seem like a good idea to use your paper clip to clean the charging port on your phone — or other electronics — think again. If the metal comes into contact with the inside of your device, it can damage it.

Getting the strands of hair out of a broom, the brush of your vacuum, or your hairbrush is another difficult cleaning job, but paper clips are helpful for this too. Once your paper clip is unbent, you can push it between your hairbrush and the hair stuck inside. When you lift the paper clip, the hair will come with it. This method is also useful for brooms and vacuum brushes, but you may need the help of scissors if the hair is really stuck.

Paper clips can also function as a replacement for tiny tools, like the screwdrivers used to fix eyeglasses. If you need to screw something extremely small but don't have a repair kit, try using the tip of a paper clip. No matter how small the object you need to clean or fix may be, grabbing a box of paper clips can make the job easier.