You’ve probably heard all about the amazing uses of distilled vinegar, using olive oil to condition leather and even that nifty trick of using a potato to loosen a broken light bulb. But today, we are going to talk about some of the not-so-known uses for everyday items like coffee filters, marshmallows and dryer sheets.
COFFEE FILTERS – The little paper-like liners that make your morning cup of joe possible have many more uses than just getting your morning started. Because coffee filters are lint-free and absorb oil very well, there are many, many uses for these little guys. Did you know…
- You can use coffee filters to clean glass, CD’s/DVD’s, computer monitors and even your iPad.
- Pour some baking soda into a coffee filter, wrap it up with a rubber band and stick it into smelly athletic shoes to absorb the stench.
- Use a coffee filter to pour oil into your car engine without messy spillage.
- There are also many interesting crafts and DIY projects on the World Wide Web using coffee filters. One of my favorites being this Anthropology-inspired coffee filter garland by Pam Garrison.
- In case you run out of dryer sheets and you’re in a pinch, just apply a few drops of fabric softener to a coffee filter, rub the sides together and stick it in the dryer.
DRYER SHEETS – Speaking of dryer sheets, did you know…
- If you plan on storing your luggage for a long period of time, stashing a dryer sheet inside each piece can help prevent musty odors.
- Going camping this Spring? Hang a dryer sheet outdoors to repel mosquitoes. (It really works!)
- The anti-static formula used in dryer sheets can help remove baked-on food from pots or pans. If time is on your side, simply place a sheet in the pot/pan, fill it with warm water and let sit overnight. The next morning, the baked-on food should be loose enough to clean as usual.
- Rub a dryer sheet along the blades of dull scissors for a quick fix.
- Some golfers have been known to put a dryer sheet in their back pocket to keep the bees away.
- You can use a dryer sheet to dust wood furniture or even spruce up chrome fixtures.
- For those of you who sew (I wish I had that talent), try running the needle through a dryer sheet before sewing to prevent the thread from tangling.
MARSHMALLOWS - Yes, it’s true. There are more uses for marshmallows than s’mores or Rice Krispie Treats. Though both are quite delicious, did you know…
- Stash a few marshmallows in a box of brown sugar or the sugar bowl to prevent the sugar from hardening or clumping.
- Make ice cream cones less messy by sticking a few marshmallows in the bottom of the cone to prevent the ice cream from leaking out.
- Eat three or four marshmallows to sooth a sore throat. Greg has actually used this a few times but I’ve always thought it to be quite odd. Come to find out, there’s a scientific reason as to why it works. Apparently, the gelatin is very helpful when it comes to relieving irritation and soothing pain in your throat. And I’m sure it’s a lot more tasty than nasty throat lozenges.
CLEAR NAIL POLISH – Handy for more than runs in your hose. Did you know…
- A tiny bit of clear nail polish can touch up small dents and scratches on hardwood floors and can help prevent further damage to the area.
- To prevent rust rings in the shower, you can apply clear nail polish to the bottom of the shaving cream can.
- Keep ribbons (or even shoelaces) from fraying by painting the ends with clear nail polish.
- In lieu of licking envelopes, use a few swipes of some clear nail polish. It’s a lot better than tasting the nasty “mint” flavoring.
- Scratch the paint on your car? Brush a coat of clear nail polish over the scratch to prevent it from rusting until you are able to get it repaired.
- Reset loose stones in inexpensive costume jewelry with a coat or two of clear nail polish. This also gives the jewels a little extra sparkle.
TOOTHPASTE – Used for making your teeth squeaky clean and sparkling white. But did you know…
- You can brighten up your white tennis shoes with a toothbrush (one used for cleaning of course) and some whitening toothpaste. Just scrub and rinse.
- No caulk on hand? Use a bit of (white) toothpaste. This works really well on small pinholes and white woodwork.
- Use a spot of toothpaste to remove stains from carpet. Just brush it in the carpet, rinse and the stain will come right out.
- Remove hairspray residue from your hair straightener or curling iron with a tad of toothpaste and a soft cloth. Since toothpaste is abrasive, you may not want to use this on ceramic models.
- Overnight blemish cream. It works. Enough said.
- Toothpaste can soothe pain from minor burns (that don’t involve an open wound). It has been said to temporarily relive the pain and actually prevents the wound from opening.
- Use toothpaste to remove scratches from leather. Just dab some toothpaste on the scratch, wipe it off with a soft cloth then wipe the area with a damp cloth. Be sure not to use whitening toothpaste, as it might bleach the leather.
- Get rid of the nasty onion smell on your hands by “washing” them with toothpaste.
Do you have any clever uses for everyday products? Let us know in the comments section. We’d love to add them to our list!
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Coffee filters are also great for making snowflakes. They are easier for kids to fold and cut!
Toothpaste can also be used to heal bug bites. Used it for bugs bites multiple times, and it works great!
Love this! especially the coffee filter as dryer sheets one! Such clever ideas! Who knew things had so many uses!
Emma
http://www.thepolkadotte.blogspot.com
Emma, the coffee filter uses were my fav too. Frankly, its less money to purchase filters and softener than dryer sheets…and I don’t even drink coffee!! lol. Thanks for the tips Ashley!!
I have found that dryer sheets will get bugs off the front of your car if you live where bugs become a huge problem during the summer and essentially get baked on by the heat. Water and soap won’t take it off as easily as using a dryer sheet.
Anyone who lives in the south knows that chiggers are nasty little buggers, applying clear nail polish over the tiny bites is really the only way to kill the insect buried under your skin.
I use Dryer sheets to clean the tub . Works so much better then any cleaner out there . Just take a dryer sheet (or two) get it a little wet , get the tub wet and wipe , no elbow grease involved .
Toothpaste also gets dyes (like hair dye!) off of countertops and shower walls as well as skin!
Just in case your 13 year old decides to dye her hair purple in the shower you’ll know!
Dryer sheets take off crayon marks off of furniture and walls
If you have a watch with a scratched glass face that makes it difficult to tell the time, paint it with clear nail polish and it fills in the scratches so you can see again.
Dawn dish detergent (blue works the best) is an excellent way to kill fleas on your animals and is not as toxic as most flea shampoos. Also,to kill gypsy moth catepillars, fill a spray bottle with just a few squirts of Dawn and fill with water and shake. Spray on the catepillars and they die instantaneously. To make a bug repellent for humans (or animals) mix 50% water with 50% of gold listerine (or any other gold mouth wash).
Toothpaste will also remove water rings from wood furniture, just use a small amount of paste not gel on a soft cloth, dampen with water, and wipe gently. I’ve done this many times.
Toothpaste also works wonders on headlights! I’ve seen way too many commercials
Advertising some magic cleaner to apply on the headlights of your car for only $19.99!
My headlights looked something awful to the point coworkers were pointing it out
Use some toothpaste and a little bit of water, scrub the dirt away in seconds! Super easy
And cheap, rinse clean.
Ive also heard toothpaste works on scratched CDs though I’ve never tried it.
Clear nail polish also helps remove warts. My little one used to get them on his hands and although it isn’t near as fast as freezing them off, it was much much cheaper. I’ve heard it works with skin tags too from the older gals that come into my shop.
does anyone know if nail polish will sting when you put it on a wart?
I have tried polish on warts. It doesn’t always help, but it doesn’t sting either. It doesn’t feel like much of anything. I wish it worked better on warts though.
Just directed to this site & found all interesting! ツ
Duct tape on dry clean skin is MAGICAL on warts!! My daughter had 12…….yes TWELVE……. plantar warts.
Leave on until edges start peeling then remove using baby oil to alleviate skin pulling. Wash skin w soap/water then reapply if needed. 1st application was @ 4 days; 2nd lasted @ 4 days too.
The tape pulls out the seed in a dark, controlled environment.
(My nephew had on hand…..worked great too!)
The clear nail polish is sealing off oxygen to the warts and skin tags, then the tissue dies – I’ve used ‘super glue’ on taqs (yes I’m an older Gal! LOL) I’ll be doing the clear polish next time as it will be easier to control the application. Instead of the duct tape please try the polish or super glue, I’m betting it will look better.
wet Dryer sheets to and rub on wall paper to remove the wall paper
I don’t know about anyone else- but I have “flyaway” hairs at the front of my hairline and hairs that I can’t get to stay down. Running a dryer sheet through them calms them down and makes your hair feel super smooth.
Dryer sheets also help with removing the static from your hair! I use them all the time and my hair isn’t staticy all day!
Toothpaste is also great for getting those pesky Kool-aid stains off of little mouths.
Rub a dryer sheet on any item that has static cling, works everytime. Also use for flyaway hair just by rubbing the sheet down the hair shaft.
coffee filters are great to use in the bottom of pots of plants keeps moisture in so water wont just drain out
Toothpaste (the paste not the gel)on a cloth can restore the clarity in headlights.
toothpaste can also be used to help soothe mosquito bites. put a band-aid over it to keep it from rubbing off or getting sticky. it should be the paste-y kind, not the gel kind. Not sure if it stings when the bite has been scratched to an open wound.
Great tips! I use coffee filters in the bottom of my pans when storing them to prevent scratching the teflon. Also, rub a dryer sheet on my dog to ward off fleas, mosquitoes and flys; most importantly I use it to mask her scent otherwise she will roll in poop attempting to mask it herself.
I use toothpaste to clean tarnished jewelry. Just brush it on and rinse it off. Works every time.
Works great on gold jewelry too!
Have a dog that has issues with thunder and lighting?? Rub him/her down with a dryer sheet…and most likely it will help them calm. Works wonders for my Shih Tzu!!
COFFE FILTERS ARE GREAT TO COVER UP A BOWL OR PLATE IN THE MICROWAVE, KEEPS FOOD FROM SPLATTERING!
dryer sheets remove lovebugs from your car with ease
Put a Bounce Original scent dryer sheet in each of your drawers to keep mice out, they hate the smell! Great for those of us in the mountains!
Taking a dryer sheet and rubbing it on a bug or bugs that get on you vehicle removes them with ease ,(right from the box) even if they been there a while . Us folks in the south know this from our Love bug season April and September.
Coffee filters work great when you need a quick plate to microwave food, burritos,rolls, muffins etc.
Bounce dryer sheets…. run one across the back of your dog and around his neck. Keeps away fleas and ticks. Non-toxic unlike those expensive monthly flea treatments your vet will push. Couple times per week will do it in the spring and summer.
painting costume jewelry with clear nail polish makes them last longer….my sister and i have an allergic reaction to costume jewelry so when we do this it does not affect our skin…. even on the back of watches……but you have to have a bottle only for this otherwise if you use one that you use for your nail polish it will make your jewelry look dull.
Also, to remove the smell of onions from your hands, you can just rub your hands across a stainless steel faucet or sink (if you have one, or any other item that’s stainless such as a kitchen spoon) and then wash your hands as usual. There’s some chemistry involved but I can’t recall exactly what it is. Anyway, it really works! And no toothpaste wasted.
Listerine Mix Bug Repellant?
Onion smell removed by touching a faucet?
Bounce for fleas and ticks on dogs?
Besides all the incredible tips in the article that just blew me away I was happy to see you asked for more tips from readers!
These are some amazing things I have just got to try!
Thanks!
Dryer Sheets:
If left in a water filled burnt casserole dish overnight will just rinse off burned food.
Nothing works better from keeping your skirt from sticking to your leggings or tights than rubbing a dryer sheet on the inside of it.
You can use a coffee filter in the bottom of your flower pot before you add the potting soil and the filter will keep the soil from coming out. It works wonders.
I use toothpaste to clean silver. Just rub on dry, rub with paper towel until clean, rinse and dry with soft cloth or paper towel.
I live in NYC and most people dont pull out there ACS during the winter most just cover them….but come the heat and ACS go on the smell of old mildew is pretty gross and cleaning the filters won’t work soooo I started putting dryer sheets into the filters works great!!!!
Clear nail polish will stop a run in pantyhose or tights for good.
I use coffee filters when I eat popcorn. It’s like a lil napkin and bowl in one.
Put one small container of Crytal Light in dishwasher to make it sparkly clean and smelling great. Also placed my copper pans in the diswasher at same time-they came out perfectly clean and shiny.
If you cut your dog’s toenail too short and it begins to bleed, paint the wound with clear nail polish and it will stop bleeding right away. It does not hurt the dog.
Use clear nail polish on button threads, it keeps the buttons from coming off. Works great if you are in a hurry and don’t have time to sew a loose button.
Any type of soap bubbles will kill ants on contact. It will not deter others from entering the home, but it will kill all that are hit by the soap residue.
Just put a few drops of liquid soap or dish detergent into a spray bottle of water, shake, and spray. This is much better than insecticide if you have children.
Duct tape can be used to remove warts. cover the wart with the duct tape and just leave it on. it will be gone in a day or two.
Collect used dryer sheets and use them to clean your mirrors.
Rub toothpaste on headlights and they become clearer
I LOVE baking soda.
The more I use it the more uses I come across.
To clean my bath I dip a damp sponge in baking soda & wipe. So easy!
To clean my toilet I tip a 1/2 cup of baking soda in followed by a 1/2 cup of white vinegar in the bowl. Watch it fizz!
To remove hair product build up or baby cradle crap scrub your scalp with baking soda & rinse.
AND you can even dip your toothbrush in it to clean your teeth!
All SO cheap and not full of chemicals.
I clean my silver with toothpaste .. works like a charm ! use the white ones, not gel toothpaste.. Take a wee little on ur hands and rub. Rinse the residue off
If you have staticy clothes in the dryer just gently stir them around with a wire clothes hanger before you take them out of the dryer. Pulls a lot of the static away so they don’t cling to each other as you’re removing them from the dryer.
That’s one I’ve not heard of! Will definitely be trying!
Thanks Bobbie!
Use Solid under aem deoderant to rub on mosquito bites. Stops the itch.