- Whether you’re prepared or not, winter is here – it officially starts on December 21.
- Here are the best tips for surviving winter this year.
- For example, if your car is stuck in the snow, use kitty litter for traction.
- Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Winter is coming.
While you may feel like it’s already here, the first official day of winter, the winter solstice, is Saturday, December 21.
Here are some helpful hacks for staying warm, and keeping your house, shoes, and even your bike in top top shape.
If your car is stuck in the snow, use kitty litter for traction.
Kitty litter is a great alternative to salt. While it doesn’t help melt the ice, it will help your car get some traction on icy roads and driveways to prevent sliding.
Turn old sweaters into mittens.
Even if crafting isn't your strong suit, turning sweaters into mittens is surprisingly simple, as well as cheap. All you need is a mitten template, scissors, and a thread and needle.
You can also make socks.
Invest in an electric blanket and a hot water bottle to save money on electricity.
If astronomical electricity bills got you down, invest in an electric blanket, which will keep you warm without breaking the bank. Here are Insider's picks for the best ones.
Hot water bottles are another option for keeping you toasty at night. They have a few other uses too.
Protect your pets' paws from the salt on the ground with Vaseline.
Just like us, dogs (or cats) can get dry skin in the winter, exacerbated by the ice, snow, and salt on the ground. To avoid painful skin cracking or peeling on your pal's paws, apply Vaseline before taking them outside.
Take shorter showers to avoid drying out your skin.
Even though taking long, hot showers sounds like the best way to fight the cold, it's actually drying out your skin, as hot water will strip away skins' natural oils.
Dry oil is another solution to this problem - many beauty products have added it to their products.
Use sandwich bags on your socks to keep your feet dry.
Investing in a good pair of snow boots is probably a good idea, but if that's just not in the budget this year, layering socks and plastic bags is a quick and easy alternative.
Keep dry shampoo in your bag to avoid hat hair.
Unless you plan on wearing your beanie all day, hat hair is a problem that many people face every winter. To avoid greasiness and/or flatness, a quick spray of dry shampoo will have your hair looking clean and voluminous.
Snow proof your bike tires with zip ties.
While sliding around in your car is terrifying, sliding on ice while biking is worse. A simple way to help your bike get some traction on slippery roads is to attach zip ties around your tires.
Use cooking spray to help clear your car of snow and ice.
Yup, you can use cooking spray (non-stick, obviously) to keep the snow and ice from sticking to your shovel.
Organize your scarves in a closet organizer to stop them from getting all tangled up.
Every minute counts when you're running late in the morning. To avoid grabbing a scarf and accidentally pulling out every scarf you own, store them in a closet organizer.
Use old orange peels to start a fire in no time.
Save your orange peels. They're full of oils that make them flammable, making starting a fire a piece of cake. Bonus: it will smell citrusy.
Drive over a penny to check whether your tire tread is safe enough for winter.
"The Penny Test," as it's known, tests if your car's tires still have a deep enough tread to make them safe enough for winter driving (tread is what gives the tire traction).
In the US, tire tread depth should be 2/32" minimum. To check whether your tires need replacing, place a penny between the tread ribs with Lincoln's head pointing down into the tread. If his head is visible, it might be time for a new tire.
Use a razor to free your sweater of pills and fuzz.
Pilly sweaters are annoying. To give your sweaters a face lift, scrape the pills off with a razor.
Put screws in your shoes to avoid slips and falls.
Simply drill screws into the thicker parts of your soles as you would into a wall for extra traction. It's actually pretty simple.
Keep your toilet seat warm with socks.
A cold toilet seat can put a damper on any morning, but socks can help. This will only work if your toilet seat is U-shaped, not a complete oval, but all it involves is taking a pair of socks and popping them on the ends of the seat. This should keep your butt warm through spring.
Warm up your eyeliner to make it go on more smoothly.
If it feels like you're taking an actual lead pencil to your eyes, your eyeliner is too cold. There are two solutions to this problem: one is washing your hands, taking the top of your eyeliner between two fingers and holding onto it for around 20 seconds, and the other is using a blow dryer to heat up the tip for two or three seconds.
Use a spatula or a credit card to free your windshield of ice if you don't have an ice scraper handy.
In a pinch, anything with a hard plastic edge can be used as an ice scraper.
Switch the direction of your fan to save on your energy bill.
You can potentially save up to 15% on your energy bill by "winterizing" your ceiling fan - aka simply switching the direction it spins in. Blades are angled, so in the summer, running counter-clockwise will push air down. In the winter, the fan should run clockwise, thereby drawing colder air up.
Park your car facing east to minimize ice.
By parking your car east, the rising sun will help defrost your car. It's just basic science.
Cover your windshield wipers with socks so they don't get stuck.
Pull your windshield wipers so they're sticking straight up in the air, and then put socks on them.
Make your own hand warmers to keep your hands toasty.
Instead of buying hand warmers, consider making your own. Thanks to peel-and-stick hem tape, they're no-sew. All you need is the tape, some fabric, rice, and scissors.
Rice has great heat retention, so these little guys will stay warm once you pop them into the microwave for 30 or so seconds.
Make clay pot heaters to warm up a room.
There are a lot of videos on how to make clay pot heaters, but this one is simple and easy to follow.
With a pot, some screws and a couple of candles, you have a cheap and aesthetically pleasing mini space heater, as the pot will capture the candles' heat, letting it slowly build up.
Cover your car mirrors with sandwich bags to protect them.
Scraping off snow and ice from your side mirrors can be more annoying than your windshield, simply because they're easy to forget about. But, if you cover them with Ziploc or sandwich bags, they'll be protected from the elements.
- Read more:
- The 8 worst mistakes people make while driving in the winter
- 10 of the biggest blizzards to ever hit the US
- 15 of the most festive holiday-themed world records, from the tallest Christmas tree to the most valuable dreidel
- THEN AND NOW: How the holidays in New York City have changed over the last 100 years