Three easy anti-scratch garage hacks to keep your car safe

You’ve parked in your garage a thousand times without issue, but one unlucky day you somehow crunch your bumper into the wall. This is not good. Sad! The good news is we’ve scoured the internet for three of the best hacks to keep the parking blues away.

Pool noodles feature more than once in our collection of garage hacks. Remarkably, these floaty tubes can be used for more than faffing around in a swimming pool.

Wall noodles: Cut the pool tube in half lengthways. Mount it to the wall at the height that the door would hit it. You can drill it in, glue it or use an adhesive, like a double-sided 3M mounting square. Use one-half for the left wall and the other half for the right (if you have a single garage, that is). If you’ve got little ones who swing their doors open with abandon, you should noodle-safe your rear doors too.

This technique is a little more hands-on and, like rollerblading while wearing lycra, it will make you stand out in public – so it’s not for introverts. This is handy for two-car garages shared with a flippant partner or housemate. Or for a car park at work that’s a bit squishy.

Hanging noodles: Don’t cut the noodle – use a cut noodle for the wall at home but a complete noodle for this. Pool noodles are almost always hollow-centred, ripe for feeding string through. Do it! Feed some string or a light rope (we grabbed some cotton piping cord from Lincraft) through the noodle until it reaches a length that will make it hang at the right height. Like the wall-mounted noodles, you want the noodle to sit on the impact point between the door and the surface you want your door to avoid hitting. Once you’ve got the string the right length, tie a knot in it to complete the circle. To use your new cool tool, open your door and place the top of the string across the top of the door’s corner. Let the noodle hang and close the door. You’re really using your noodle. Remember this is for parking only, so don't forget to remove it before you hit the road.

This is a classic car hack for serial offenders of garage bingles – your grandpa has been doing it in secret for 70 years. It’s a simple way to know when your car is as far into the garage as it can go before it bumps the wall, your toolbox or your workbench – whatever you have in front of it. Simply hang a tennis ball from the ceiling so that your tennis ball gently kisses the car’s windscreen when you’re in the right spot. If you're a reverse-it-in kind of person, adjust the hanging ball to kiss your rear window instead.

Floating tennis ball: Cut, poke or drill a hole in the top and bottom of a tennis ball. Cut a piece of string to a length that lets the ball hang and touch the centre of your windscreen. Tie one end of the string to the tennis ball. On the ceiling directly above your windscreen, install a screw or hook. Tie the other end of the string up and – voila! – you’ve got a tennis ball parking guide.

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