Storing ice cream in a Ziploc bag will supposedly keep it soft, and 29 other lifehacks you might not know

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published 6 February 2015

Lifehacks are everywhere, but do they actually work?

In this week's video from our sister site Mental Floss, author John Green puts 30 lifehacks to the test. Some of them are successful — making a cupcake sandwich does, in fact, work pretty well — but others don't pass the test. Using a wire hanger probably won't help you open a bottle of wine, and shaking your earphones won't untangle the cord.

Green tests many lifehacks you've probably heard before, like putting eggs in a bowl of water to see if they've gone bad, but some of the lesser-known, successful hacks are pretty useful, too. Did you know you can use Kool-Aid powder to dye eggs? And to avoid freezer-burned ice cream, you can freeze the treat container within a Ziploc bag to keep it soft, though Green didn't notice much of a difference with or without the bag. Check out all of the lifehacks in the video below. —Meghan DeMaria