Being a Hal is a lot of fun because you get to showcase all your anecdotal finds with others who have never heard about these wonderful solutions that you’ve known about for years! I recently had a Hal session whereby I was able to share my penchant for organizing and fixing the small stuff (cables, zippers, cord organizing, shoes, etc) with a customer, and the solution left them spellbound. It’s all about the little things in life to smooth out the issues that are annoying to us all. Maximizing other people’s options and saving them time and money are a few of the cool by-products of being a Hal.

The Hal session, on this occasion, went something like this:

Customer: “Hey Hal! I have a weird question, but these things are now really bugging me, so I figure that maybe you can help me out with them. They’re gonna seem random, so I will just tell you the top two. First, I bought a cable for my iPhone and as usual, it’s frayed near where the cord meets the little plug part. The metal isn’t exposed, but I don’t wanna buy a new cable. Any ideas?”

Hal: “Sounds very familiar! And yes…I have a neat solution that I believe will help you that is both affordable and kinda fun. Have you ever heard of sugru?”

Customer: “Is that an app? Or some new cheaper cable manufacturer?”

Hal: “Actually, it looks a lot like silly putty or clay, but it is a tiny powerhouse of a solution for MANY of those nitpicky things that we want to fix, but never knew how to fix! You can buy it in several colors so it will blend into the color of what you are fixing (like white — for your white cable that works with your iPhone). They come in a 3-pack or larger if you have other uses that are different colors. All you do is buy a pack of sugru (you can get it online at their site, sugru.com, or pick it up at most Target stores) and then open one of the little packs. The malleable “silly putty”, once you have wrapped it around your exposed, frayed cable and plug areas and smooth it out so it all blends in, will cure in 24 hours to a flexible but waterproof and durable rubber. Now your cable is protected from splashes AND is like new again!”

Customer: “I think I get it. You just cover the exposed area and blend it all in & since it’s all white, you can barely see the fix. Nice. This sounds like a good solution so far. OK..next annoying thing. I have a broken zipper handle on my hoodie AND on my backpack. Technically, the little handle broke off, so it’s actually gone. Obviously I could go to dry cleaners and have them repair the hoodie, but they wanted $12.00 to do it! No way! And the backpack is making me crazy because I have nothing to grip when I try to open that zipper pocket on the outside of my backpack. Any cheap fixes on that one?”

Hal: “I don’t mean to sound like a broken record, but honestly, that is also a sugru fix. Cable fixes and zippers are literally two of the uses that most ppl rave about with sugru. All you need to do is find a large paper clip. Feed it through the hole on the zipper, then grab some sugru and wrap it around the entire surface area of the paper clip to literally “create” a zipper handle. You can make it wider at the end and tapered near the stem or you could texturize it by pressing an old cloth against the sugru once you’re done shaping it for an easier grip. Wait 24 hours and BOOM! You have two new zippers!”

Customer: “Are you getting a commission on this sugru thing? Lol. JK. It sounds like it def could work for both of annoying issues, so I will give it a go.”

Hal: “It’s pretty cool and is VERY versatile to use for fixing lots of those ‘pebble in the shoe’ problems that don’t necessitate buying something brand new if you can repair them easily and inexpensively. I am definitely NOT a DIY guy with stuff, but even I can use sugru and make it work on many things. Here’s a link to a video on just a few of sugru’s use cases to give you more ideas on how to use it around the house: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSmtg0zYKc4 “

Customer: “Great! I will check it out. Is it expensive?”

Hal: “It’s only $9.99 for a 3-pack. The advantage of seeing the video is that you’ll want to use an entire pack once you open it, since it only lasts about a week before it starts curing on its own in the opened package. You can wrap it tightly in aluminum foil if you want, to use some now and some later, but if you see HOW it can be used for other fixes you can use up one of the three little packets right away and maximize its use once it is opened. One little “ball” of this mouldable glue can go a long way if you only are fixing one or two things — like cables and zippers. It’s really awesome and you’ll see a TON of other examples that ppl submit on the site, many of which are very creative. Stuff like creating bumpers on the corners of iPad, iPhone or Android phone cases, fixing shoes that are separating from the sole, make grips for hangers, re-attaching handles on pot lids, creating a magnetic utensil solution for your kitchen items, fixing holes in the bottom of sneakers or rubber boots, making hooks at lower levels for kids to hang stuff, creating cool-to-the-touch handle grips for pots and pans, fixing broken toys for kids, cable organizers and more.”

Customer: “Ok Hal, you def earned your stripes today. I gotta admit I am kinda shocked that one product ended up solving my crazy requests. This stuff sounds pretty amazing! I am gonna check out that vid and see about some other uses for that stuff and make that a little project during this whole shelter in place time I have on my hands. Sounds really cool. Thanks again, Hal. Color me happily shocked with your sugru ideas.”

So there you have it! It’s amazing that we now have so many choices out there to explore, but so many of us have not had the time or the inclination to curate these hacks in one place and then reach for them when they are needed. The great thing about being a Hal is you can share things like this and really help people save time, save money and remove that ‘pebble in their shoe’ feeling associated with the issue they may have. The Hal app is a real bridge to assist and enrich other people, if you know where to look as a Hal to get an answer that works. In this case, my little friend, sugru, was ideal. (And no, I do not work for sugru or get a referral commission — I just love stuff that is clever and works to solve a problem!)

MAVRick