Toothpaste: not just for oral care! Uncover surprising household applications of toothpaste that go beyond maintaining a healthy smile.
We use toothpaste every time we brush our teeth, however have you ever wondered about the various other uses it offers beyond polishing your teeth? This post will be proven useful in case you have a tube of toothpaste available which you don’t want.
Toothpastes are more reliant on abrasives and fluoride for their cleaning kick, so rather than throwing away money and tossing it aside, make use of it! Listed below are some unorthodox ways to use toothpaste you most likely never imagined .
1. Prevent bathroom mirrors from fogging
Ouch! You cut yourself shaving and it’s no wonder — you can’t see your face clearly in that fogged-up bathroom mirror. Next time, coat the mirror with non-gel toothpaste and wipe it off before you get in the shower. When you get out, the mirror won’t be fogged.
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2. Remove crayon from walls
Did crayon-toting kids get creative on your wall? Roll up your sleeves and grab a tube of non-gel toothpaste and a rag or — better yet — a scrub brush. Squirt the toothpaste on the wall and start scrubbing. The fine abrasive in the toothpaste will rub away the crayon every time. Rinse the wall with water.
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3. Remove watermarks from furniture
You leave coasters around. But some people just won’t use them. To get rid of those telltale watermark rings left by sweating beverages, gently rub some non-gel toothpaste on the wood with a soft cloth. Then wipe it off with a damp cloth and let it dry before applying furniture polish.
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4. Clean your clothes iron
Toothpaste contains mild-abrasive cleaning property which are the ticket in pulling the grime and gunk off the bottom plate of your clothes iron. Let the iron cool down and spread a bit of toothpaste in the bottom plate and use a rag or mild cloth to scrub the grime off before rinsing with clean water. Let it air dry.
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5. Deodorize baby bottles
Baby bottles inevitably pick up a sour-milk smell. Toothpaste will remove the odor in a jiffy. Just put some on your bottle brush and scrub away. Be sure to rinse thoroughly.
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6. Shine bathroom and kitchen chrome
They make commercial cleaners with a very fine abrasive designed to shine up chrome, but if you don’t have any handy, the fine abrasive in non-gel toothpaste works just as well. Just smear on the toothpaste and polish with a soft, dry cloth.
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7. Clean your sneakers
Want to clean and whiten the rubber part of your sneakers? Get out the non-gel toothpaste and an old toothbrush. After scrubbing, clean off the toothpaste with a damp cloth.
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8. Polish a diamond ring
Put a little toothpaste on an old toothbrush and use it to make your diamond ring sparkle instead of your teeth. Clean off the residue with a damp cloth.
9. Clean the bathroom sink
Non-gel toothpaste works as well as anything else to clean the bathroom sink. The tube’s sitting right there, so just squirt some in, scrub with a sponge, and rinse it out. Bonus: The toothpaste will kill any odors emanating from the drain trap.
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10. Cleaning your car’s headlight
Your car’s headlights can get very dirty and hard to see after a while. You can add a bit of toothpaste to a bowl filled with warm water and use a buffer pad to clean the dirt and grime away. The toothpaste will help to brighten up the glass from the headlights so you can see much better when driving.
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11. Clean your piano keys
Has tickling the ivories left them a bit dingy? Clean them up with toothpaste and a toothbrush, then wipe them down with a damp cloth. Makes sense, since ivory is essentially elephant teeth. However, toothpaste will work just as well on modern pianos that usually have keys covered with plastic rather than real ivory.
12. Acne spot treatment
Put the kibosh on the costly acne treatments as you can get the same results using a cheap tube of toothpaste. Use the toothpaste as a spot treatment on the affected area and cover with band aid or a plaster. The next morning, you will be amazed to see an improvement as toothpaste helps desiccate the zits.
13. Remove ink and lipstick stains on fabric
A pen was accidentally opened up in the pocket of your shirt. This toothpaste trick is not guaranteed to succeed depending on the ink and the fabric but its worth a shot before discarding it away. Simply spread the toothpaste on the spotted area and rub the fabric like crazy and rinse it with warm water. Do the process all over again until you remove all the ink traces from your shirt. The same process goes with the lipstick or grass stains.
14. Stop the itch of bug bites and soothe minor burns
Beastie or bug stings and mild burns are no match for the eucalyptus which is a primary ingredient in toothpaste. Apply toothpaste to alleviate those burns and bites. Dab lightly on the affected area and repeat the process if needed. It gives a quick relief that soothe like magic to take the sting and burn at bay particularly if the toothpaste is mint-flavored.
