Ten Small Tools Every Apartment Should Have on Hand
Most apartment problems are small: a loose outlet cover, a charger that slides off the nightstand, a bag of chips that will not stay closed, a couch covered in cat hair. None of them need a full toolbox. Here are ten compact items that fit in one drawer, grouped by what they fix.
Fixing and fastening
1. Mini stubby screwdrivers. A 3.2 inch driver with a magnetic tip reaches the screws a full-size screwdriver cannot: outlet covers, remote battery doors, laptop backs, eyeglass hinges. The flat and Phillips stubby pair lives in a kitchen drawer and covers most of them.
2. A keychain multitool. Bottle opener, hex wrenches from 3 to 13 mm, a small flat driver. It tightens a bike seat, a wobbly chair bolt or a bed frame nut without a trip to the storage unit. The 18-in-1 stainless multitool comes in a pack of three, so one can stay on the keys and one in the drawer.
3. A multi-bit screwdriver. For flat-pack furniture and anything with square or hex screws, one handle with a set of interchangeable tips beats a bag of loose drivers.
Cords and cables
4. Adhesive cable clips. Peel-and-stick clips route a charger along the edge of a desk or nightstand so the cable stays where you can reach it. They also hold LED strip lights flat under a shelf. The 100 pack of white cord clips leaves plenty of spares, and they come off without drilling, which matters when a deposit is on the line.
5. Mini spring clips. Clear plastic clips the size of a thumbnail hold photos on a string, close a bag of coffee, or keep a cable coiled. Fifty of them cost little and disappear into every room.
Kitchen and food storage
6. A heat sealer. A small corded sealer closes plastic bags with a strip of heat, so chips, coffee, frozen vegetables and rice stay fresh in the bag they came in. The mini corded heat sealer is about the size of a stapler and sits in a drawer until needed.
7. Melamine sponges. Wet one and rub; no cleaner needed. They lift scuffs off painted walls, marks off a fridge door and residue off a stove top, the list a move-out inspection covers.
Fabric and pet hair
8. A metal pet hair remover. Sticky rollers run out. A metal-edged brush with a wooden handle is reusable and pulls fur, lint and pilling off couches, blankets and car seats in a few strokes. The two pack of metal lint and pet hair removers means one can stay in the car.
9. Extra-large safety pins. Three-inch stainless pins hold a hem, close a duvet cover, secure a blanket on a couch or pin a curtain until you get to the sewing machine. Small pins bend on heavy fabric; large ones do not.
Cleaning and wiping
10. Cotton huck towels. Lint-free, washable and larger than a dish towel, they polish glass, dry a bike, and wipe up a spill without leaving fibers. A dozen in a bin under the sink replaces a lot of paper towels.
Where to keep them
One drawer or one shoebox, kept together, is the point. A tool you have to hunt for does not get used. Keep the screwdrivers and multitool at the front, the clips and pins in a small container, and the sealer and towels behind them.