Quick Fix for a Ripped Hem and Other Wardrobe Emergency Tricks

Tell me this hasn’t happened to you before.  Half way through your workday or just as you’re running out the door to a meeting, the hem in your pants starts to come undone and snags on your heels.  Sound familiar?  Happened to me this morning and without thinking I reached for my stapler. It seems weird because staples will leave little holes in your clothes, but pins do the same thing, and people use pins on clothing all the time. So if a hem or a seam rips, just staple it back together but make sure you use a staple remover later when you take them out or you’ll rip the fabric.

If you find yourself in a wardrobe emergency, in addition to stapling your hem here are a few other tricks I’ve learned over the years.

To Loosen a Stuck Zipper, Use a Pencil. The graphite in a number-two pencil can act like lubrication. Just rub it across the teeth of the zipper a few times, and it should help loosen it up.

If You Stain Your Shirt, Use Dry-Erase Board Cleaner to Clean It. The main ingredient is rubbing alcohol, which can remove small stains. Just blot the stain using a paper towel, and be careful you don't get it near your eyes. But test it on a hidden part of your clothing first, and make sure it doesn't cause the color to run.

Use a FedEx or UPS Packing Pouch to Remove Pet Hair. If you realize your shirt has cat hair all over it, take the paper strip off a packing pouch so the stick part is exposed. Then put the pouch on like a glove, and run it over your shirt a few times. If you don't have a packing pouch, you can do the same thing with a regular piece of packing tape.

Use a Sharpie to Fix a Scuffed Shoe. You'll need the right color, but you CAN use a Sharpie on shoes. Just don't use it on clothing or it'll stain.

If You Lose the Back to an Earring, Use an Eraser. You could also just not wear earrings for the rest of the day. But if you absolutely MUST, a piece of eraser can hold the earring in place. It won't even turn your skin green the way earrings with nickel do.