40+ Times People Thought of Silly Solutions That Ended Up Being Genius

If you get a sizable hole in your shoe, one of the best things to do would be to patch it up. But, if you can’t afford to do that or don’t have the time to get a new pair, you can always rely on good old waterproof tape.

Sure — it would do any favors for your fashion sense, but if you’re at the point where you are considering something like this, chances are you are more than willing to sacrifice your look for functionality.

Have you ever felt like your reclining office chair didn’t quite have the right stuff to hold your weight when you really needed to lay back and relax? This silly solution solves that quite easily. It may look like some failed steampunk chair, but we bet it can hold anyone up.

That said, we have to wonder who would go out of their way to do this. It seems like a lot of work. Then again, it probably saves a lot of money when you can make your own builds like this.

Welding is all about putting odd pieces of metal together in ways that serve some valuable purpose. But, if you’re lacking the right size or shape when it comes to a piece of metal, you may be lost as to what to do. This silly solution simply made do with the wrenches on hand.

Admittedly, this seems kind of like a waste of a good wrench. Still, at the same time, it definitely looks like these wrenches are getting the job done — even if they were never intended to be used in this manner.

Admittedly, we’re lacking the context to know why this poor person has a garage situated in this terrible way. But, regardless of the reason, we can definitely say that this silly solution — while clever — is probably a bad idea in and of itself.

Naturally, all it would take is for you to slightly misalign one of your tires while pulling in or out, and you have a tragic accident on your hands. A full ramp or bridge at the least would be far more preferable.

When you’re hungry, you’re hungry. We get that. But, of the many surfaces you could use to cook steaks on, the back of your trailer is probably a contender for the worst option. Maybe you keep your trailer very clean, but we bet that most people do not.

Still, if you were just dying to have steak and you had no other option available, we suppose this is technically a clever way to get the job done, though it is the height of “silly” ingenuity.

Mounting a TV is a pain at the best of times, but if you accidentally threw away the TV mount some time ago, you have a pretty big problem on your hands — especially if you’re trying to save money. This silly solution may not look the best, but it’s pretty smart.

After all, those straps are intended to hold much greater weights than that TV, so you don’t have to worry about it falling anytime soon. That said, it must have been annoying to get the angle just right.

Most people can’t afford a hot tub or a jacuzzi, but if you have enough silly ingenuity, it’s not terribly hard to make something similar happen. It may not hold up to the professionals, but it’s certainly better than nothing.

We could see a few upgrades for this setup though: it could definitely use a nice TV around the area to keep one entertained. Just be sure to keep all the wires away from your less-than-sturdy pool. Don’t want any dangerous accidents to happen!

Have a car you want to get rid of but can’t sell? Wish you had a bike with one of those nifty passenger seats on the side? Why not knock out two birds with one stone and use your silly welding skills to create what you want?

We admit it’s pretty impressive, but we do have to wonder if something like this would really be street-legal. Would the police be obligated to pull you over for driving in this thing? After all, no professionals were involved in quality assurance.

Wheelchairs can be pretty expensive, which stinks if you need one for yourself or a loved one. But, at the same time, it’s not actually that hard to make your own. It really is just a chair with some wheels, after all, and that’s not terribly complicated.

That said, we’re not sure if we would want to ride around in such a flimsy-looking chair ourselves, but maybe the looks are deceiving. You never know, it could actually be very robust. Though we doubt it, truthfully.

When your shoes get wet, it can be very hard to dry them, especially if you don’t have a dryer to throw them in. But, with enough silly science, you can work something out with a hairdryer and some PVC pipes… apparently.

This just goes to show that PVC pipes really are some of the most versatile objects out there. Frankly, it feels like everyone should have some on hand in their home, almost like an emergency kit or something. That would be pretty wise.

Speaking of PVC pipe being used in clever ways, here’s an example of it being used to facilitate air conditioning in a car that presumably lacks it. Car repairs can be expensive, especially when you don’t expect the bill, so we understand why someone might have to do this.

It’s definitely not going to do the job of air conditioning as well, but it would sure beat having to sit around in a stuffy car. You can roll the windows down, but this really gets the airflow in your face.

If your kids are the outdoor types, you may one day hear them asking for you to build them some sort of toy. When that time comes, the seesaw is a great choice, mostly because it’s a very simple contraption at the end of the day.

Although you have to make sure to balance it correctly because the whole thing gets messed up if one side is heavier than the other, you know? This seesaw probably doesn’t take that into consideration. But hey, maybe it is pretty balanced?

Silly innovation is not like regular innovation, of which necessity is the mother. No, silly innovation can happen just because. Using a lift to cook a turkey is one such example of silly innovation that didn’t really need to happen.

We’re sure these guys could have found another way to achieve what they are doing right here, but at the same time, why not have fun with it? They just have to hope the boss won’t be upset with them for using their equipment like this.

Sticks may seem like simple objects, but truthfully, there’s a lot you can do with a stick. Provided you can find one of the appropriate size and shape, you can get it to fill in for a lot of more sophisticated parts. Well, the part being replaced here isn’t that advanced, but you get our drift.

We’re not sure where you would actually get a replacement for that part of your refrigerator, so this might not actually be a terrible idea, so long as you picked a stick that’s clean.

If you live in a place where it snows a lot, you may often find yourself unable to drive around freely. You often have to rely on the city government to clear the roads, but they don’t always get the job done well, on time, or at all.

If you have somewhere to go and you just can’t wait, you might have to use some silly engineering to outfit your car for the job. It might not be the safest, but when all else fails, you do what you got to do.

Having a fire pit is nice and all, especially in cold areas, but the major drawback is the fact that they cannot be moved, so your warm abode only exists in one place. But, what if you could move your firepit around? With some silly engineering, you can.

Well, to be fair, it’s not like there’s actually that much engineering going on here since it’s really just a wheelbarrow with some flames involved. But, at the end of the day, it’s a pretty clever solution to a problem.

When you bring your own lunch to work, you may bring some items that require a utensil to eat. If you forget your utensil and there are none available at work, you’ll have to get creative. With the right tools, you could even make your own utensils!

This silly solution may be simple, but realistically, most people wouldn’t even think to do something like this, so from our point of view, it really does strike us as genius! But, maybe just bring a spoon next time.

Having a lot of friends can make it pretty tough to cram everyone into one room, especially if there’s only one TV for everyone to focus on. But, with the right degree of silly engineering, you can solve that problem!

Now, you would have to make doubly sure that everything is sturdy here — because it would be pretty dangerous to have people sitting directly above one another like this. If you know what you’re doing, though, everyone can be safe and comfortable!

Some silly solutions are undeniably clever, but we still have to wonder if they are actually legal. For instance, this is a solution for washing clothes on display right here, in which the idea is to tumble those clothes in this container while the vehicle is driving around.

It’s pretty nifty, but would you really be allowed to do this? We can’t help but feel that something like this would be a potential hazard to other drivers on the road, so the cops might have to stop you if they see something like this.

You need your gutters and pipes to direct water from your rooftop in certain directions. But, if your gutters are damaged or too short to direct properly, you will once again have to find a way to get creative. You’d be surprised at what actually works!

Shoes and boots actually have a lot more uses than people think they do, if you just convince yourself to view them as potential tools for things beyond their intended purpose. That’s the crux of silly science!

We live in a world that needs more recycling. With way too much trash lying around, finding cool ways to turn that trash into something useful is something everyone should try to do. This is one example of how you could turn something as simple as tires into a chair.

Now admittedly, this kind of aesthetic isn’t for everyone, but even so, it’s a great idea. Of course, if you don’t have this kind of creativity in regards to tires, you can always fall back on the classic tire swing idea.

Remember when we talked about car modifications possibly being non-street legal? This is one that we really aren’t sure about, especially since it involves two cars being welded together to make a six-door car. You don’t see that every day.

But, would it actually be illegal? After all, it’s just a long car, and that’s hardly any different than a bus or a limo. Then again, we suppose the engineering behind this monstrosity could be suspect.

Envelopes still get used quite a lot these days, and that means there’s a need to seal them closed. For decades, people have done that with their tongues, which is kind of troubling if you think about it. But, if you don’t want to do that, you can always do something like this instead.

As long as it is an unused band-aid, everything is fine and it seems a lot more sanitary. Although now we have to wonder how exactly envelopes from businesses and whatnot are sealed…

And now, we once again discuss the wonders of PVC pipe. With it and a few tools, you really can do almost anything. This time around, the silly engineering division found a way to turn such pipes into a pretty effective shower head.

Now, we’ll admit that it isn’t very pretty, but if you cared more about functionality than you did looks, something like that would be a secondary concern anyway. One way or another, it’s pretty clever.

There are some times when your kid needs a bath. But, when you have no water service in your home, that’s probably not a great time to give your kid a bath. They could probably wait for a little bit, right? Just seems like a hassle.

Of course, we don’t know exactly how dirty that kid was, so maybe we don’t have any room to talk. Maybe they absolutely needed a bath no matter what, and this mother just did what she had to do.

You may not be able to tell at first glance, but the car in this picture is actually covered in duct tape. Thing is, it actually looks unreasonable good for what it is, considering how hard it is to even identify it. We assume that their usual paint job just wasn’t holding up.

We have questions about how this duct tape covering would hold up in the rain or extreme heat, but presumably, that hasn’t been an issue for this particular driver thus far.

Some silly ideas are truly amazing even if they are simple on the surface. For instance, take into consideration this image. Having to make boat repairs without a dry dock means having to work on the water, which can be a serious problem.

But, these geniuses figured that all they had to do was put an umbrella on the surface of the water, which would be capable of catching any nuts or bolts that fell out of their hands. That’s super clever!

We’re not sure why this hand sanitizer needs to be held up like this, but as far as making that happens goes, this is a pretty clever way to do that. You will probably note that PVC pipe is the hero of the day again. Their versatility is kind of akin to Lego bricks!

We firmly believe that PVC pipes bring out the inner craftsman in all of us, making it much easier to get creative and build interesting things. It’s perfect for so many projects!

Sometimes, you just need to make your own lock. How you go about making that happen depends on just how creative you can be and what items you have on hand. Just take a look at this clever silly build.

If you were really determined to get into this gate, there are definitely ways you could make it happen, but for the most part, this would keep out your average intrepid adventurer. That means it’s good enough!

We don’t recommend riding a bike barefoot for the most part, but if you’re determined to do something like that, you may as well get nifty and find a way to make it as comfortable as possible. This kid already has his silly engineering degree, clearly.

We don’t know where he got the carpet from, but presumably, he had some spare carpet to add to his bike pedals with the consent of his parents. The real question is, how exactly did he attach it?

Have you ever felt like you just weren’t relaxing to your fullest potential? Like you could relax in an even more hardcore manner than you already do? Well if you take a look at this guy, you’ll realize that such a feeling is justified.

Silly engineering this may be, but no one can deny that this guy is living his best life and relaxing way harder than any of the rest of us. Frankly, it’s impressive that he’s managed this achievement.

Buying a bike can be expensive, and building one can be too if you’re making it of the usual materials. But, what if you made it out of wood? Well, first of all, you’d better hope the construction is very good, lest it falls apart while you’re on the road.

If you’re confident in your carpentry skills, though, you can give it a go. We’re just going to hazard a guess and say that this silly build is probably not something you could take on the road.

There are a lot of animals out there that are keen on raiding your trash, which can often create a mess you don’t want to deal with around your home. Unfortunately, these animals tend to be pretty crafty. But, with some silly engineering, you can keep them at bay.

Admittedly, this isn’t a super clever build making use of things you would never expect, but it’s still a neat way to solve a problem that a lot of people wouldn’t even think of under normal circumstances.

The difference between a hammer and a mallet is actually pretty slight, but that just means it is easier to make a mallet out of a hammer if you have to! After all, the main thing about a mallet is that it’s rubberized, so you can make that happen pretty easily.

Adding a bunch of rubber bands to a hammer is admittedly pretty silly, but if it works, is there any reason to complain about it? Especially since it’s practically free to make it yourself?

If you’re a chauffeur who has to drive a customer around, there are a lot of things you have to do in order to make the ride as comfortable for them as possible. That can be hard to do at the best of times, but it can be even harder if the front and back are separated.

This driver found a neat, albeit very silly, way to get the airflow back there to the passenger. It might not look the best, but it gets the job done. Better than nothing, at any rate.

One annoying thing about batteries is the fact that they’re usually not interchangeable. You usually can’t fit different batteries into the wrong slot. But, with a bit of silly ingenuity, you can make it work. This is just one way to do it.

We’re not actually sure what type of container that is, but the notion of wrapping the smaller battery in something so it fits a bigger slot is actually pretty darn smart, don’t you think?

There are some landlords out there who tend to get a little cheap when winter sets in. After all, it costs a lot of money to heat an apartment, so many landlords would turn it down or off and leave tenants to suffer.

This might save you some money, but there are some tenants out there who are creative enough to find ways around this. Those ways may not be particularly safe, though. It looks like an accident waiting to happen.

One day, you’re mowing the lawn when the steering wheel suddenly breaks. Whoops! Well, you don’t want to just leave your lawn half-finished, right? What do you do? You have to find some way to continue operating the vehicle around, right?

A plank of wood and some nails can actually do the job pretty well if you manage to connect them to the right parts of the lawnmower. It probably wouldn’t be particularly comfortable to drive it around, but at least the lawn can be finished!

You need washers for a lot of different things when it comes to construction and mechanics, but it’s easy to lose washers or just not have enough of them. If you have a drill, however, you can actually make your own washers out of pennies! Neat.

And when you think about it, it would actually be more cost-effective to turn pennies into washers than to go and buy your own washers, wouldn’t it? It’s a pretty good trade since washers would cost a little more.

Dogs tend to be pretty solid escape artists, so it can be pretty difficult to keep them contained. However, with enough silly creativity, there are ways you can secure your pet in the yard. They might be weird ways, but they can work.

It appears to be a spoon attached to the dog’s body harness, which will keep it from getting out of thin vertical holes in barriers. That’s pretty clever, though, even if it looks kind of silly.