Gift giving
Soldier gives present to children. Pixabay

Everybody loves a useful timesaver. A quick peek at the answers to the crossword puzzle, a faster route to work, and maybe even right, healthy skin overnight. However, shortcuts are challenging to come by.

Over the past century, people have been sold countless too-good-to-be-true products, including "sugar" that's not sugar and "purifiers" that add chemicals to the water.

Businesses try to put the most trustworthy possible spin on their products through advertising. However, we found five items that seem "too good to be true," BUT seriously work.

1. Bottle Bright tablets that'll deep clean your tumblers and on-the-go bottles - no scrubbing required.

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Bottle Bright - All Natural, Water Bottle & Reservoir Cleaning Tablets Amazon

Just let a tablet sit in each of my mugs for an hour or two, and the black sludge rinsed out COMPLETELY, without even scrubbing. They look brand new afterward. No weird smell or taste, either.

2. Bamboo charcoal shoe deodorizers you can pop into your sweatiest, stinkiest beer-soaked flats or old gym shoes - the smell will be G O N E.

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MOSO NATURAL Mini Air Purifying Bag Shoe Deodorizer Amazon

These purifying pouches are perfect odor absorbers for smelly shoes, reducing boot odor and are great boxing glove and gym bag deodorizers. This odor eliminator used in this product is made from 100 percent activated bamboo charcoal. This activated charcoal air purifier bag kills odors without hiding them, keeps people and pets safe from harmful trash.

3. A dishwasher cleaner and disinfectant to remove nasty buildups such as rust and grease, so your machine runs more efficiently than ever - while you sit back and relax.

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Affresh W10282479 Dishwasher Cleaner Amazon

This item is designed to penetrate, dissolve & remove odor-causing residue. Take away the lime and mineral buildup that could occur inside your dishwasher. Cleans dishwashers better than bleach without destroying your stainless steel tub and plastic tub dishwashers.

4. A headlight-restoring kit that'll make your yellow, dingy car headlights look brand new (you know, keeping you safer) in just *five* minutes.

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Turtle Wax T-240KT Headlight Lens Restorer Kit Amazon

This restoring kit quickly removes surface discoloration and may be all that is needed to restore clarity. It restores dull, yellowed headlights to like-new condition in less than 5 minutes per lens. It can also be used on all lenses, plexiglass and plastic surfaces.

5. A handheld back roller so you can give (and get) relaxing massages without anyone's hands cramping.

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Manual Massage Ball Pain Relief Back Roller Massager Self Massage Therapy Amazon

This roller is great for professional, or home uses. This rollerball is designed to reduce muscle sores in shoulders, neck, upper back, arms, legs - including headache and foot pain.

Final thoughts

It can be overwhelming to open the Amazon website acknowledging that you want a LEGIT, affordable, tried-and-true products as there are thousands of options for every possible category.

You can set your worries aside, log some extra you-time, and relax. We're all about looking for a working item anyway. Happy shopping!