My 8 year old nephew taught me how to fix a wobbly chair with a matchstick

I was about to throw out this old kitchen chair because the leg was so loose it felt dangerous. My nephew saw me messing with it and said "Uncle Drew, just shove a matchstick in the hole, it'll grip." I thought he was joking but I grabbed a match from the drawer, snapped the head off, wedged it in the joint, and now that chair is rock solid. Has anyone else got a crazy simple hack from a kid that actually works?

2 comments

2 Comments

adam_anderson61mo ago

Yeah that's a legit trick. My grandpa showed me the same thing years ago. You gotta use a wooden match though, not the cardboard ones. The wood swells up when it gets damp and locks everything tight. I've fixed a few wobbly chairs and even a loose hammer handle that way. Just break the match head off first so it doesn't leave a mess inside. Works better than glue honestly for small gaps.

markm271mo ago

That wooden match trick is solid. You ever run into a situation where the gap is too big for a single match but too small for two?