I use them to clip bags in the kitchen too, probably the least creative solution, but they are cheaper and less tacky than those "chip clips" and they work much better, I use them inside of cereal boxes too, to keep the cereal fresh.

Thank you lifehacker for having hacks for your life again, seems like it's been a while.

jeffeb3

This is why I read lifehacker. Cool tip.

robdew

Mini binder clips are the best! I like to attach lables to the clips so that you can easily sort piles into Read, File, Toss, etc. Also great for organizing piles of receipts inside your handbag/gobag.

In a pinch, they make a great substitute for hair barrettes, too.

Snakeophelia

No offence to the article or anything, but this "problem" doesn't take a lot of thinking to sort out. A binder clip, blu-tac, etc.

SnowLeopard

Nice!!!!!!!! Very Helpful, Thanks!!

Michaelwon

Thankfully, they can't reproduce. If they could, they'd have taken over the world by now. Though you could argue that they are in control, right now...

Archnemesis_Goldenhair

My desk at home has a keyboard shelf that doesn't seem to want to stay extended...over time as I type the shelf will start to slide back in. Sure enough, a clip on the rail stopped that. I can still push the shelf in if I need to by giving it a bit more force and to keep it extended I just pull the clip back along the rail to secure the shelf again. It's saved me countless hours of frustration.

Crystal

Good Lifehacker-ish tip. Bravo.

cameron_penn

A close cousin to the clothespin, with more tension to the spring, of course. My cable modem is mounted vertically on a bookcase where cables are pointed down and lights are pointed up. It might look geeky and might be effective - time will tell.

A great present for a dear geeky friend would be 10 wooden clothespins, 10 large binder clips, 10 small binder clips, and 10 LARGE (10" length?) rubber bands - the kind usually used to keep files together.

A gift like that shows you care.

vesuvian

I second the mothion to use them to hang stuff in your cubicle. We have several pages of documentation that need to be kept handy, but are hard to read. I binder-clipped them, and hung the clip over a tack. I can easily pull them down to read them and put them back, without pulling the tack out.

Bonus tip: If you have a fabric-walled cubicle, push the end of a regular paperclip into the fabric, and slightly pull out the inside loop - now it's a perfect hook for binder clips or anything else!

mrs_helm

I also use them to hang stuff in my work cubicle. I have some small posters that I just use a mini clip at the top and then hang the metal loop over a nail or thumbtack in the wall. It keeps the poster from being covered in holes or tape and the cubicle is kept rather pristine too.

WebCudgel

Great tip. I have a filing cabinet with rails that bow outwards as they come to the front, so I always find that when I open it up, the front folder falls.

booticon

I use the larger clips for closing cereal bags, potato chip bags, and the like. Works better than the large paperclips I used to use.

drag0n

great tip. thank you.

bnosach

If your toddler won't stop sniffing, place a large binder clip over his nose.
Too many binder clips? Bind your clips together with a binder clip!
When one thing won't stay put on another thing, a binder clip is a handy way to bind it. Just like a regular clip, but *bound*.

Is there anything these clips cannot bind?

longbourne

Now THAT is a true hack. Not a commercial but an actual hack. Well done Kevin!

Reg

I'll share a binder clip hack that is by far my favorite. Binder as Money Clip. I ditched all the wallets and fancy silver money clips and use a standard binder clip. It holds any amount of money from 1 dollar to 1 thousand, and all the credit cards I can throw at it, and it never loses a slippery little receipt. Bonus feature, it'll stand very nicely on the flat edge, which I haven't found a practical use for but enjoy all the same.

dwinterb

Hm, I thought this was common knowledge... I've been doing this for years haha.

Darwin's Little Darling

Great idea. I've use medium clips to semi-permanently bind drafts of manuals to pass around for review. Use two on the side, at the usual points for a 2 point saddle-stitch. Now squeeze the sides of the handles together until you can remove them from the spring part of the clip. Your reviewers won't remove them without some effort. Just make sure you hang on to the handles! You could also remove just one for stuff you hang up. Then it won't be in the way.

jschmidt

I've done this for a while, I've also used cable ties if you want to create discrete "sections" within a filing cabinet.Just pull the cable tie tight where you want the break, they barely steal any room from the drawer, but provider a nice buffer.

stepnet

A binder clip makes a dandy stand for any reasonably stiff piece of paper or other similar item. Clip the clip on the bottom of the item and lay the flat part of the clip on the table (or whatever).

I have a city license tag from Lynchburg VA (where I grew up) that stands on a curio shelf like that.

infmom

Nice hack. This is why I slog through all of the Vista articles on LH, to find gems like this.

In my locale, we're required to put recyclable papers in grocery bags. Ye olde binder clip does a superb job holding the grocery bag open inside my blue bin (two, one on each long side) - when full, I just unclip the bag.

crispy8888

Great little hack. I'll apply it tonight.

tamoko