Pool noodle hacks that will improve your life

Those colourful foam pool toys are useful all around the house and with a few tweaks, can be even MORE fun in the water. Check out these tips for using your noodles at home, in the garage, around the yard and at the pool!

Keep your wrists from getting fatigued during a long day at the computer by making this pool noodle wrist rest. First mark where you want to cut the noodle. For the wrist rest shown, we made the height slightly less than half of the full noodle diameter. (You could cut the noodle exactly in half and make two equally sized wrist rests.)

Here’s a trick for keeping that pesky door from banging into a piece of trim or wall while you’re running in and out. Simply cut a slit lengthwise in a short section of pool noodle and slip it onto the edge of a door, cupboard or gate to guard against marring walls.

I have always hated the way drawer organisers move around when you open and close a drawer. I solved the problem at my house with a pool noodle!

I measured the distance from the back of the drawer organiser to the back of the drawer and used a utility knife to cut the noodle to size. The pool noodle fits snuggly in place, so the drawer organiser doesn’t move around anymore. You could also cut the pool noodle in half lengthwise to reduce the amount of space that it takes up. — Roy Allison

Discover more kitchen organisation ideas you can’t believe you lived without.

“I needed to pick up a ladder from a friend. To keep the luggage rack on my new SUV from getting scratched, I covered the bars with pool noodles. I just slit the pool noodles down the side with a utility knife and taped them on. The cushion of foam also kept the ladder from rattling. Don’t forget to strap down your cargo before you go!” – Gerald Ruppert

I noticed several dings on my car door from opening and banging it against the garage wall. My grandkids had outgrown their pool noodles and I was about to throw the pool noodles away, but then I thought, “Whoa, this could be the solution!”

I cut the pool noodle in half, the long way, with a utility knife and fit it onto the studs in my garage. The pool noodle should stay put on its own, but for a more permanent solution, you can adhere the pool noodle to the studs with construction cement or a couple of nails. — John Greene

“I got sick and tired of my fishing rods getting tangled, so I came up with this easy fishing rod organiser. All you need is a length of 8cm-diameter PVC pipe and a foam swimming pool noodle. Drill 2cm holes spaced every 10cm in the PVC pipe. Use a utility knife to cut slits in the foam noodle, spacing them 10cm apart. Line up the pool noodle on the wall so that at least two of the slits sit over studs. Pull those slits apart, slide in a fender washer, and screw the noodle to the wall with 5cm screws. Then screw the PVC pipe to the wall beneath it at a comfortable height and insert your fishing rods. Look Ma, no more tangles!” — Brian Jones

Follow these 43 tips for a cleaner, more organised garage right now.

Here’s a simple way to cover trampoline springs to guard against pinched fingers. Cut a pool noodle into short sections, slice lengthwise and slide them over the springs.

“When you open the lift gate of your van or SUV, it’s easy to hit a cross brace of the garage door and chip the paint on the gate. Protect it by using a swim noodle as a cushion. Just slit the swim noodle with a utility knife and slip it over the brace. You can also use pre-slit foam pipe insulation. If it slips off, use double-face tape to hold it in place.” – Mary Sprang

Discover more extraordinary uses for the junk in your garage.

Ahoy there, mateys! Just tie these pool noodles together for a fun water raft that won’t deflate! You’ll need five large pool noodles (10cm diameter), two medium-sized noodles (5-6cm diameter), 180cm of 1cm PVC pipe, 1.1metres of nylon cord.

To begin, lash the five large noodles together using a double half-hitch knot. Next lace the cord in between and around each of the noodles, securing them together into a raft. When you get to the noodle on the end, turn around and lace them again back to the beginning. End with another double half-hitch knot. Cut the cord close to the knot. Now cut the smaller noodles to get three lengths equal to the width of the raft. Thread three PVC pipes through the holes in the three smaller noodles, then thread the cord through the PVC and use nylon cord to attach each short noodle to the large noodles. Tie one noodle at each end and one in the middle to increase stability and make the raft more rigid.