Our favourite hot glue hacks

You can fix a wobbly bench or table with your pocket change. Add a drop of hot glue to a coin and attach it to the problem area. The coin will act like a shim, levelling out the furniture piece.

A jointer is the best tool for flattening twisted, warped boards. But what if you don’t have a jointer or the board is too wide? Set the board on a “sled,” a flat piece of 20mm plywood. Then shim the high corner(s) so the board doesn’t rock. Also shim high spots in the middle of the board. Mark the shim locations, remove the board and hot glue the shims into place. Then glue the board to the shims and the plywood with a dab of hot glue. Send that rascal through until it’s flat, then pull it free and plane down the other side.

Learn about why wood moves and why you need to know.

When you’re woodworking, you often need a temporary fence or stop on a table saw or router table or other power tools. Clamps aren’t always an option because they can get in the way, and you probably don’t want to drill holes in the machine’s fence or table for bolts or screws. Instead, use a few dollops of hot glue to hold your temporary fence in place.

It’s so frustrating when clothes fall off of hangers. Whether it’s the material or the cut, some garments just slip off of hangers no matter how careful you are when searching through your wardrobe. It’s a pain to constantly bend over to pick them up, and it’s definitely a pain to have to clean them again because they’ve picked up dust and lint and wrinkles from the floor.

This simple hanger hack will keep your clothes in place without having to go out and buy expensive specialty hangers. Apply a bead of hot glue to the top arms of the hanger and let it dry completely. The rubber-like dried glue will keep your clothes in place – even when you’re in a rush to get ready and can’t find anything to wear.

Here are more home hacks just as brilliant today as they were 100 years. ago

When you have several identical parts to make, hot-glue them together and work on them all at once. This will save you lots of time, and all the pieces will be exactly the same. Don’t use too much glue – just a little dab will do. Use too much and it can be nearly impossible to separate the parts later. Apply glue near edges so you can easily cut it with a putty knife later.

Check out our genius sanding tips you need to know.

Hot glue is a tenacious fastener. If you just pry apart the wood, you’re very likely to tear out some of the grain along with the glue. Instead, cut through the glue blob at one end with a putty knife. Then twist the boards apart to free the other end. That will break the bond without damaging the wood.

This is how to glue wood.

Here’s a great solution for organising small metal items such as tweezers, nail clippers and more in the bathroom: Hang them on magnets inside a cabinet. If your cabinet does not have a metal surface, attach the magnets with hot glue, one magnet for each metal tool.

If you liked that, you’ll love our 9 little genius bathroom storage projects.

Got a flowerpot or something else with a rough bottom that you want to set on a finished surface? Sure, you can buy special silicone bumpers, but you can also use hot glue. Just put dabs of glue on the underside of the object, let them cool for a minute, then while the glue is still soft, press down. Presto! Self-stick plastic bumpers.

Sometimes it’s impossible, impractical or downright dangerous to hold small pieces in your hand while you shape or sand them. So just hot-glue them to a temporary pedestal and clamp that in a vice while you work on them.

Stop frantically searching for different bits that belong with the many different screws in your workshop. Try this to save time: Use a bead of hot glue to adhere a magnet inside the lid of your fastener containers for holding the corresponding bits. Then you’ll always have the correct bit right when you need it.

Here are 16 more workshop storage solutions you’ve never thought of.