We’ve all heard of DIY—now get ready for FIY—Fix It Yourself. Many household repairs are within the reach of an average person, and choosing to mend our belongings instead of throwing them out allows us to keep the things we formed attachments to for longer, save money, and reduce waste. However, some people have a more creative or peculiar way of repairing, which even MacGyver would be surprised by.
Curious how the king of problem-solving could be outdone? Many such instances await you in the list below, curated by our Bored Panda team. Scroll down to find the most clever and amusing attempts at fixing things, and don’t forget to upvote those you feel tempted to try out yourself.
#1 The Best Dent Repair I’ve Ever Seen
Image credits: Nayruan
#2 A Duck Tape Masterpiece
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#3 Fixed The Campsite Shower So It Stays On For More Than 5 Seconds
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Experts claim we can mend many everyday products ourselves, while iFixit, a free online repair guide, even says that we should ‘never take broken for an answer.’
For many this is not news, but repairing broken items offers many benefits, with the most important being reducing waste. Each time we throw things that in our eyes no longer work, we not only clutter our planet with rubbish and pollute it but also waste resources like trees, metal, energy, and manpower required to manufacture these products. This is a deep issue that could be helped if more people repaired their things instead of trashing them at the first opportunity.
#4 I Fixed My Door Handle
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#5 Spider Cat
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#6 Too Broke And Lazy To Buy Shower Curtain Rings When I Moved Into My Apartment, So I Present To You My Solution. Zip Ties
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Another benefit repairment offers is saving money. And who doesn’t love that? Often, fixing something is cheaper than buying new, and even simple repairs like sewing a button or a patch on clothing extend their life for years. In the process, you can learn useful skills like sewing, using tools, and following instructions. This boosts our self-reliance and makes us feel more accomplished, as fixing items is hugely satisfying.
And even though the quality of products we purchase is getting worse (so we would buy more), Gordon-Byrne, the executive director of the Repair Association, still believes it’s important to repair the ones we currently have, as most likely, future products will continue to decline.
#7 Friends Mom Ran Over Their Mailbox And This Was The Replacement Until They Get It Fixed
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#8 Husband Fixed A Problem, I Did Not Even Know We Had
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#9 Chandelier Headlights
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“Basically, you take a thing that’s [crappy] today and you buy something that’s [crappier],” she says. “You’re really making your situation even less long-term because the product that you’re buying, even though it may come with a 90-day warranty, it’s not fundamentally going to last any longer than the one that you’ve already gotten frustrated with.”
However, if the cost to repair your item is higher than what you would spend for a new one, it might be time to think about purchasing a new one. Otherwise, definitely consider a fix.
#10 Had A Hole In The Wall, Here’s My 2-Year-Old Nephews Attempt At “Fixing It”
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#11 My Dad “Fixed” My Lawnmower
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#12 Because Palm Trees Don’t Grow In Indiana
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Of course, not everyone feels confident diving headfirst into fix-it-yourself projects. The thought of repairing your toilet or a vacuum can be intimidating at first, so try to go with something more simple if you wish to start repairing your things instead of throwing them out.
#13 This Absolute Monstrosity
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#14 That Janky Projector Mount
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#15 A Woman On My Timeline Has A “Remote Stick”, Because Her Family Loses The TV Remote So Often
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There’s also a wealth of resources online that can guide you through any fix. Like the previously mentioned iFixit, which has 117,767 free repair manuals for more than 65,118 devices. Experts in all areas of mending, from furniture to clothing, offer their advice on how to best repair your items and why it’s worth doing so.
#16 I Didn’t Have A Lampshade So I Made One Myself
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#17 My Sis In Law Just Posted This. She Told My Brother, “Use Those DIY Books And Fix The Chair!” Done
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#18 Hmmm
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Speaking of clothing, it’s a great starting point for anyone interested in starting to repair their belongings. To be able to repair clothes, all you really have to be armed with is thread and a needle. Almost any garment can be mended, from sock holes to sweaters with pills. Well, except maybe for stretched-out jeans.
#19 How To Fix An Exhaust Rattle For $0.25
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#20 My Fix To Make My Broken Screen Look Better
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#21 My Parents: We Don’t Need A Paint Roller
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“It’s the elastic fibers, like the Lycra or the elastane, in the fabric breaking down at a different rate to the cotton,” explained Erin Lewis-Fitzgerald, author of Modern Mending: How to Minimize Waste and Maximize Style. However, the stretching out could be avoided in the first place by buying tougher jeans made out of 90-100% cotton. They might not be as comfortable at first, but after some wear, they get comfier and tend to last longer.
#22 Fixing A Toilet Leak. I Took 2 Trips To Home Depot, Worked With A Hernia, Had A Tough Time Putting The Wax Ring And Screws On… Only To Install The Toilet And Forgetting About The Door
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#23 Didn’t Notice Till I Gave It A Tug
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#24 “I Know How To Fix It”. DIY Level: God
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Other beginner repairs that anyone can do around their house include kids’ toys, furniture, toilets, leaky or clogged pipes, shoes, accessories, some electronics, walls, squeaky hinges and so on and so forth. For more helpful repair resources, check out these ones: iFixit, Repair What You Wear, Restart Project, Sojo, and Loom.
#25 My Dad’s Razor
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#26 Who Fixes A Clock Like This?
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#27 Dad’s Friend Came Across This. Seems Legit
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#28 I Was Tired Of My Cord Falling Down All The Time So I Put It Through A Nerf Dart And Taped It Down
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#29 Door Replacement
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#30 Our Landlord Hired A Plumber To Fix Our Toilet. He Said He’d Put Some Sealant Behind It To Stop It From Moving. Can You Tell Me What’s Wrong With This Picture?
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#31 Cat Knocked The Fan Over, And It’s Over 28°C Inside… I Had No Choice
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#32 Needed Some Blinds For Our Dark Room At Work The Guy Came To Measure The Window And Assured Us It Would Be ‘Completely Dark’ This Is What They Installed
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#33 Interesting Fix
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#34 Fixed It
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#35 I’m Basically A Mechanic. Glovebox Won’t Work? $5 And Some Superglue For A Fix
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#36 When You Got To Get Somewhere No Matter What
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#37 Going Home For Thanksgiving Never Ceases To Amaze Me At What My Father Can Come Up With
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#38 I’ve Got This
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#39 Cyberpunk 2077
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#40 My Kids Broke Off The Microwave Door Handle, But I Fixed It
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#41 You’ve Heard Of Jorts, Are You Ready For Jairs?
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#42 Tried To Hang The Curtain Rod Above My Front Door Yesterday… Didn’t Realize What I Had Done Til I Stepped Back
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#43 Tech Repair Client Did This To ‘Combat Overheating’
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#44 These Monstrosities I Found At My School. The Person Wearing Them “Found Them On Youtube”
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#45 There Wasn’t Enough Room For My Dads Toes
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#46 The Way People “Fix” Their Own Cars Just Astonishes Me
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#47 Coworker Said He Couldn’t Get The Breakers To Stop Tripping So He Fixed Them
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#48 Homemade Spoiler
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#49 Must Be A Dentist’s Car
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#50 My Frother Broke
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