Raking Leaves? Save Time And Money With This Nifty Clean-Up Hack

When the leaves start coming down, it's time to break out the rake. There are hacks to make raking leaves easier, but what about hacks to help you clean up afterwards? Unless you plan on making a giant leaf pile to jump in, those leaves have to go somewhere. You can rake the leaves onto a tarp, but if you have a large yard or don't already have a tarp, it might not be the best solution. One potential issue is that your pile of leaves may be too large, requiring a ton of bags to get rid of. There's a hack that might help with that.

Some version of this hack has been floating around for over a decade — one of the earliest examples we could find comes from the ehowgarden YouTube channel in 2010. To use this hack, all you'll need is a weed eater or string trimmer, a rake, eye protection, a dust mask, your leaves, and an empty garbage can or similar bin. The goal is to use the string trimmer to shred or mulch the leaves. Once they're in smaller pieces, they won't take up as much room, meaning you'll need fewer bags to dispose of them and can use them as mulch more effectively. Think of it like putting leafy greens into a blender — it starts out filling the whole container, but after it's been chopped up, it only fills a little bit of it.

Start by collecting your leaves and placing them into your can or bin of choice. Try to leave any sticks behind, as your string trimmer may not be able to cut through them. Sticks, rocks, and other hard debris could even break your string. Restringing your weed eater isn't the hardest task in the world, but it is annoying to have to stop mid-mulching to do it, so take care to only put leaves in the bin.

Once your bin is loaded up, grab your weed eater. If you have eye protection, now is a good time to put it on, as small leaf bits may become airborne while you're mulching them. Wearing a protective mask is another smart practice, as it will help you avoid inhaling the particles. Place the trimming end of the weed eater into the center or bottom of the leaf pile while it is still off. Remember the blender metaphor — if you add things to the blender while it's spinning, it will just fly out and get everywhere! Avoid placing the weed eater right on top of the pile for the same reason. Once the trimming end of the string trimmer is submerged in the leaves, turn it on. The weed eater should begin chopping the leaves into smaller pieces. Move it slowly around the container to get all the leaves. The amount of leaves will determine how long it takes to shred all of them, but it typically only takes a few minutes.