- Brown Sugar
- Mix with olive oil for an exfoliating face scrub.
- Dryer Sheets
- Rub along your shower or bathtub to remove dirt and rings.
- Keep your clothes (and shoes) fresh.
- I like to put a few sheets in my dresser drawers so my folded clothes keep that freshly washed smell.
- Lemon
- Drop a lemon down your garbage disposal to freshen up any mucky kitchen smells.
- Lemon Juice can also lighten your hair. Squeeze a bit on your hair before you lay out.
- Wine Bottles
- Works great as boot shapers. Also love this DIY I shared.
- Baking Soda
- Great alternative to drain-o.
- Clear Nail Polish
- Paint over your costume jewelry to keep it from turning. Paint on the inside of your rings to keep from turning your finger green.
- Alka Seltzer
- Works well as a toilet bowel cleaner. Just drop in the toilet for 30 minutes, then scrub away with a toilet brush.
- Toothpaste
- Shine up tarnished silver. (I use this on my silver rings and Tiffany & Co. jewelry — use hot water and a bit of toothpaste then dry it off with a paper towel.
- Clear up acne. If I have a really stubborn pimple I’ll pop a dab of toothpaste over it while I watch a tv show. It works really well, but be warned – it burns!
- Olive Oil
- Shaving cream – Olive oil is a good replacement for shaving cream as it is very moisturizing.
- Cuticle Moisturizer
- Control hair frizz.
- Hydrogen Peroxide
- Teeth whitener – the most common ingredient in over-the-counter teeth whiteners is hydrogen peroxide. It seems quite strange to gargle with straight hydrogen peroxide, but it definitely works as far as teeth whitening goes. And at only $1.00 a bottle, it will save you a lot of dough. (Both J and I use this a few times a week).
- Whiten clothes instead of bleach.
- Hair lightening – mix with water 50/50, spray on your hair after your shower and comb through. (Note: it is a very gradual process – so don’t worry about your hair turning orange or platinum after one try.
Do you use any household items for other things? Do share!
this is so useful for someone like me on a tighter budget. love finding things from the house that I can utilize for other things. thanks for sharing this! xx. gigi. http://www.gigikkitchen.blogspot.com
Wow, these are such handy tips! Great ideas and thanks for sharing 🙂
The Dragonfruit Diaries
Thanks for this! I use lemons for pretty much everything, but I hadn't heard of a few of these until now!
Ummmm…..I LOVE THIS POST.
I love finding new uses for household items. I totally use the clear nail polish trick for all of my Forever 21 jewelry.
I'm going to have to take your tip about the hydrogen peroxide…I need whiter teeth pronto!
Dryer sheets also keep mosquitos away; lemon juice works to remove excess self-tanner, and baking soda is an alternative to toothpaste/teeth whitener! You can also use clear nail polish to stop runs in tights, and it kills ticks. Coconut Oil is what I use now instead of moisturizer.
This is a great list though! There's a lot of things that serve multiple (sometimes strange) purposes!
Rose
Blonde in this City
I use so many of these alternatives already but loved hearing about some of the ones I didn't already know about!
Xo, Amanda
theamandakathryn.blogspot.com
I want to try all of these things! thank you for sharing!!
Oh this is great, love the post.!!!
http://linastyle.blogspot.com/