This Brilliant Pool Noodle Hack Will Keep Your Home Warm During Frigid Winter Nights

Here at House Digest, we're no stranger to a creative pool noodle DIY, but this clever idea is certainly one of the more practical uses for this simple summer staple. Instead of tossing your family's pool noodles in the shed once the swimming season is over, WeidnerApartments shared a hack on its YouTube channel that repurposes a foam noodle into a DIY door draft stopper. With a few minutes and a couple of additional materials, you can create something to protect you from an unpleasant winter chill indoors and decrease the amount you spend on bills each month.

During the winter months, keeping your house properly insulated is a great way to ensure your heating bill isn't through the roof, protect your interiors from snow and sludge, and avoid the unpleasant feeling of ice-cold flooring throughout the home. Obviously, insulation in the attic, walls, and around the windows plays a major role in helping to trap warm air inside, but, according to the United States Department of Energy, improperly sealed doors can be a serious and unexpected source of heat loss as well. Proper weatherproofing can offer a more permanent solution for heat loss, but, if you need a quick fix or are working on a tight budget, door draft stoppers can be a major help.

If you plan to build your own DIY door draft stopper out of a pool noodle, you have to first gather your materials: a pool noodle (or two), a pillowcase, and some safety pins. You'll also need something to cut down your pool noodle with but this can be anything from a bread knife to a pair of scissors.

To get started, place your pool noodle on the ground in front of the door you plan to seal and measure the width of the door to the pool noodle while adding about an inch more to ensure everything is covered. Repeat this process with a second pool noodle — or the leftovers of the first, if you have enough — but cut the second piece to the exact width of the door. The long piece should sit on the outside of the door, while the short piece will sit on the inside.

Once you have your two pieces, it's time to assemble your DIY pool noodle door draft stopper. Place your pool noodles in the pillow case, then begin rolling the first toward the center to tuck away any extra fabric. Pin it in place with the safety pins, then slide the unfilled part of the pillowcase under the door and repeat the process with the other pool noodle piece to tighten everything down. After you're done, you should be able to freely open and close the door while still blocking unwanted airflow.