40 of the Best Upgrades My Family Has Made

The makers of this clip light sent me one to try, and I've been using it all the time since. It's a fantastic reading light, but I've found it particularly useful working in the shop. It's heavy duty, features multiple brightness and color settings, and clips anywhere so I can direct bright light right where I need it. I've shopped around for work lights like this before, and haven't found anything that compares with the combination of build quality and price. This one's a great guy-gift!

I've seen this stuff all over the internet and had to give it a try. It's basically a clean-smelling slime that cleans anything. You just mash it into hard-to-clean places (car air vents, keyboards, etc.), and it grabs up the gunk like magic. It's also addictingly fun to play with (remember Gak from the '90s? Imagine that but with a better smell).

I believe I've convinced nearly everybody I know to buy a pair of these Harperton nail clippers. They're constructed of heavy-duty stainless steel, with ultra-sharp cutting blades that give a perfectly crisp, clean cut - which was a revelation after getting by with dollar-store clippers for most of my life. An absolute steal at around $10 for the pair.

I've always claimed that I "don't care" about what pillows I use, but this set of Fern and Willow pillows changed that. They arrive rolled up in impossibly tight tubes, then loft into the full, heavy-yet-squishy pillows that we've enjoyed mostly at the (few) high-end hotels we've stayed in. They're filled with plenty of down-alternative stuffing, and unlike down, they're entirely washable, and keep our heads lofted well off the mattress.

I'm lucky enough to have an Aunt who always finds the best clever stocking stuffers, and these Wrap-Its were one of them! They're a simple-yet-brilliant solution to easy storage of extension cords, hoses, power cords, and more. I'm particularly fond of them as they're the invention of a Minnesota Dad, and the company is entirely family-run. Check them out!

I found these earbuds in an article on our own site, and at around $20, had to give them a shot. I haven't used my $150 Airpods since. They're light, comfortable, seal your ear to block out noise, have insanely good battery life and (my favorite), you can adjust the volume via their touch controls. You can't do that on Airpods! The only downside is that the case isn't quite as satisfying to play with as the Airpods is, but at $20, it's a sacrifice I'd make again and again.

Lux Decor's microfiber sheets are luxurious, soft and most importantly - they don't break the bank. Trust us, as we have vetted and tried these out ourselves. The king sheet set is made of 1800 thread count microfiber and has a deep pocket fit, to wrap easily around your mattress, which makes laundry day much easier.

As someone who's constantly on the lookout for ingenious inventions, I've been aware of Joseph Joseph for years and happily grabbed their ingenious Drawerstore for the house. This thing is great! Made of heavy, easy-to-clean plastic, its design makes incredibly efficient use of our much-needed drawer space, while keeping every utensil at easy reach. One of those little things that make daily life just a little bit easier.

These abrasive washcloths are seriously effective at scrubbing away every last bit of dead, dried skin on your body. Just shower normally, then use these with some soap and you'll start seeing hundreds of little skin-rolls amassing on yourself. Rinse 'em off and you're left with perfectly exfoliated, soft-as-a-baby skin.

These Fluffy Puffin towels are unlike any other bathroom hand towel. They’re squishy and soft add an extra flair to your bathroom. They dry your hands so much faster than a regular hand towel, and look better hanging on your hooks!

These "carbage" cans strap anywhere, and hold up to 2.5 gallons of trash in their waterproof glory. It's amazing how much easier it is to keep a car clean when you've got a place to put the trash!

I gave this wallet a shot after my beloved hand-made tiny wallet finally met its maker after 20 years. And I'm glad I did! It's tiny, thin, and while it holds all of my cards (and some cash), I can barely even notice it's in my pocket. It comes in a lovely sliding gift box and smells exactly like the Wilson's leather stores in malls growing up. Best of all, you're look at around a sub-$20 price tag here, so you'll have plenty more cash to keep in your new wallet.

As the resident dishwasher in the house, I can't stand colanders, especially with little bits of dried pasta on them. With the Snap-N-Strain, I can just clip it onto the edge of my pot and I've got an immediate colander-killer. I was pleasantly surprised at the build quality of this thing, which is constructed from thick, dishwasher-safe silicone, and heavy-duty metal clips.

I got a few pairs of these crazily popular leggings from the manufacturer (because I'm also brother of the year) for my sister to try, and she loves them: "They've got everything I want in leggings for working out and daily wear: they're extremely comfortably, TOTALLY opaque, high enough to cover a bit of mom belly, and seem like they're going to really last."

These simple inserts fit between your seats and center console, and do double duty. First, they keep things from falling out of your pockets into the unreachable abyss that is the underside of your car seat. Second, they act as convenient storage pockets, freeing up our cupholders from holding mints, gum, and the other sundries they've always filled up with.

Fortunately, I don't get adult acne too often, but when I feel a real zinger coming on, I like to use these acne patches. The hydrocolloid construction helps to draw out oil, pus, and all that gross stuff, and in my experience, limits the severity of the breakout and speeds healing.

The resqme is small enough to fit on your keychain, with a spring-loaded escape hammer that can easily break through any car window, and an ultra-sharp razor blade that can slice quickly through a jammed seatbelt. Best of all, you can typically nab a 2-pack for under $20.

There's nothing my Lodge cast iron skillet can't do: it makes amazing eggs, perfect pancakes, serious steaks, crazily great chicken, and deep-dish pizzas. These come pre-seasoned, and I've proud to say that I've managed to build up some truly beautiful seasoning on mine over the years. While we've got a few pieces of high-priced cookware (thanks, wedding gift-givers), the Lodge is hands-down my favorite option.

We got this flashlight for my Dad, and he loves it. Built with a solid aluminum machined housing, this ultra-powerful LED flashlight features a focusing mechanism that lets you make your beam as wide or focused as possible, with a feel much like focusing a high-end DSLR lens. We like the fact that it's powered by AA batteries, rather than a short-life internal battery, it's small enough to fit pretty much anywhere, and inexpensive enough to grab one for each room of your house.

My mother-in-law got me one of these magnetic pickup tools as a Christmas present, and I use it all the time in my shop, where I seem destined to drop nearly everything behind a very heavy, hard-to-move workbench. It's got a long, telescoping neck, a built-in flashlight head with a strong, rare earth magnet that can hold pretty much anything. It's even got a magnetic base so you can set it up as a useful spotlight or work light. This is one of those 100% dad-gifts that they'll actually use.

After spending years - YEARS - with sub-par, too-short, constantly-malfunctioning charging cords, I found these Anker braided cords. They're not the cheapest (nor the most expensive), but my two-pack of six-foot cables still looks and charges like new.

We're still making the most out of a 1990s-era fridge, and these bins have been a massive upgrade. Making a sandwich? Grab the sandwich condiment bin. Breakfast time? Yogurt and berries bin. Need to feed an almost problematic La Croix addiction? Grab one from the can-holding bin. In all seriousness, these are some fantastic, heavy-duty additions to the fridge that clean easily and hold up to daily use quite well.

These Germ Guardians aren't cheap, but boy do they work. We've used this to get rid of pet odors, musky old-house smells, residual post-fire smells, you name it. After four years we just replaced the filter, and it's working even better.

Maybe it's a "Dad Thing", but there's something immensely satisfying about a well-crafted tool, and they don't come much better crafted than this Rotring 600 pencil. I've got one in silver and one in black (one for the wood shop, one for the house), and I love them. They're heavy, basically indestructible, and just get better looking the more you use them.

You can use these simple sheets of silicone for almost anything. They make great placements for kids, easy-to-clean work surfaces for crafts (glue peels right off of silicone), and even a solid option for a jar opener when you fold them up. They're made from tough silicone, have stood up to markers, glue, the culinary experimentation of a four-year-old, and a few dozen dishwashings, and they still look brand new.

As a perennially itchy person, I've spent years in search of a decent back scratcher, and everyone I've tried has paled in comparison to the Cactus Scratcher. It's perfect. A two-sided plastic head features different levels of spikes for different levels of itching, and the telescoping pole is robust enough for some serious scratching sessions. Add to all that the price point, and it's a must-have for anyone who loves being scratched.

These cheap bits of plastic have saved us hundreds in plumbing bills over the years. Whenever our sinks start to get slow, I pull one out, plunge it into the sink, and generally pull out what appears to be something resembling the scary girl from "The Ring" movies. Fortunately, they're so inexpensive, you can toss one in the recycling after each use.

This gadget looks entirely unnecessary, and entirely amazing. It takes the place of your toothpaste cap, allowing you to dispense toothpaste as desired, then pinching itself closed when you're done. No more messy toothpaste tubes, or lost toothpaste caps. It's definitely one of those "huh" inventions that I'd love to try out.

While my wife would sleep under any number of down comforters, I tend to run hot, and this down alternative comforter is the perfect blend of down-like feel, without too much heat. Best of all, it's inexpensive and washes up so easily (no tennis balls in the dryer, like real down comforters).

I was able to get a sample from Quility to gift my niece, and she loves it! According to my sister: "It's stylish enough to use as a couch throw. It's heavy-heavy, luxuriously soft, and she loves it for calming restlessness and sensory pressure."

I don't own a Bladebrush myself, but got one for my mom as a stocking stuffer, and she uses it all the time. It's another clever design from Joseph Joseph, which allows you to quickly clean both sides of a knife (or any utensil, of course), without risking some injurious slippage. I think it'd also make a pretty great hand scrubber, but have yet to give it a try!

Real Magic Sponges are basically magic, but they're also a heap of cash for a simple melamine sponge. We've been drawing from this bulk pack for well over a year now, erasing marks from walls to floors to vintage guitars.

File these under unglamorous-yet-invaluable. This huge pack of cleansing wipes keeps my glasses clear, my computer screens clean, and my iPhone looking as new as a five and a half year old phone can look. They're packaged like tiny wet wipes, so good to stash in a backpack, glove compartment, wood shop, wherever!

This Anker charging block charges my phone up at least twice as fast as my original Apple chargers. I've got an iPhone 7+ and can go from dead-as-nails battery to 50% in less than an hour! Best of all, it's got two ports, so both my wife and I can juice up our devices at the same time.

These Nite Ize twist ties were another great stocking stuffer some years back. I use them to organize my plethora of USB cables that I refuse to winnow down. They're easy to bend and twist, and should last basically forever.

It's called The Ringer, and this chunk of medieval-style chain mail is the only way that I've kept my beloved cast-iron skillet perfectly smooth and seasoned. The metal loops help knock charred food off the pan's surface, without doing any damage to the seasoning itself. It's constructed of stainless steel and still looks basically brand new after years of use.

If you haven't upgraded to the Scrub Daddy, now is the time. It's never stinky, scrubs perfectly, and lasts for months.

We've been using these cheap, flexible strainers for years to keep food from clogging up our sinks (life without a garbage disposal...sigh). They work beautifully, capturing nearly every bit of errant food during my dishwashing, and emptying out clean each night. I think we're on our third pair of strainers after about eight years, so I've been quite pleased with their durability.

Every winter I get incredibly dry knuckles that inevitably split open into very painful, sometimes bloody messes. I've tried switching soaps, using lotion, and even adding a humidifier to my home office, and nothing worked -- except this O'Keefe's Hand Cream. I saw results within days of use, and my knuckles healed up entirely within 10 days. Now I use it proactively every fall and winter to keep my hands in decent shape, and I haven't had a cracked knuckle since.

I can't count the number of times I woud have dropped (and probably broken) my iPhone without the benefit of my PopSocket. It sticks on the back of your phone and pops out, providing a comfortable handle, or a great kickstand to prop your phone up for watching Netflix.

LittleHippo - the maker of this genius device - calls it the Mella, but in our house it's known as "Clocky", and it has proven to be so much more than an alarm clock. Beyond its alternative roles as a nightlight and noise machine, Clocky can be programmed to turn colors to indicate when it's ok - and when it's not ok - for your kiddo to get out of bed. This simple functionality worked wonders for our daughter, who doesn't exactly love sleep, and has kept our oft-diminishing wellspring of sanity at least half full for the last three years.

I was into the whole haircut-at-home thing years before the pandemic hit (after one too many truly awful professional cuts). These Wahl clippers - paired with a decent set of shears - keep my hair and beard in check. They're built like a tank, and come with every attachment you could ever need for usually around $30-$35.

The day he arrived (a Black Friday splurge), this Eufy robot vacuum became forevermore re-named "Scrobot" (Scrubbing Robot) by our daughter and has worked his way into our family structure one two-hour daily cleaning session at a time. We have mostly hardwood floors, and Scrobot is a champ, cleaning randomly yet exhaustively every day, and providing a very satisfying, "Where does ALL this junk come from!?" experience every few days when we empty him. Like and robot vacuum, cords are not his friend, but we've learned to adapt.

This thing works like magic. It heats up quickly and churns out steam, which quickly and effectively releases even the most stubborn wrinkles from my shirts. After years of awful ironing jobs, the ease and simplicity of this handheld steamer nearly brought tears to my eyes (I'm only slightly exaggerating).

I recently upgraded our backyard, tree-mounted swing from a baby bucket swing to this "big kid" swing, and I've been impressed since the moment I set it up. For less that $20, you get a very high-quality, obviously durable swing, rubber-coated chains (no pinched fingers here) and a professional quality mounting kit that makes short work of getting the swing ready for action. Our daughter's used it to master her ability to swing herself (as I move one step closer to paternal irrelevance), while my wife is quickly tiring of my regular observations about the "bang-for-your-buck" factor of a simple child's swing.