New Uses for Things in the Bathroom

Scour bathroom crevices with a battery-powered toothbrush.

Loosen a stuck zipper by rubbing a bar of soap along its teeth. The trick also works well on furniture drawers that are hard to budge.

Has Paddington ripped and lost his padding? To add fluff, cram cotton balls behind the torn seam, then stitch him back up.

Give roomy heels and ballet flats a perfect fit (so you don't pull a Cinderella) by filling in the toe area with some cotton balls.

Do dew diligence and layer a liner underneath a picnic blanket to avoid soggy bottoms and grass or mud stains.

For leak-resistant gloves at your fingertips, push one cotton ball into the end of each finger of a dishwashing glove to keep sharp nails from splitting the rubber.

Slide empty toilet paper tubes over wrapping paper to keep it from unraveling.

Finger-painting on the day’s agenda? Cut a new shower curtain liner in half or in fourths, and then cut a hole in the center for your little one’s head to pop through.

After a steamy shower, clear the bathroom mirror with a quick blast of hot or cold air.

Lighten your carry-on load and sub conditioner for shaving cream.

Make breaking shoes in less of a pain. Rub clear-gel deodorant on spots prone to blistering before you step out in a stiff new pair.

Artfully dab on costume makeup without getting your good makeup brushes dirty.

Dab some baby oil on splatters to remove latex paint from skin.

Pack small amounts of salt, pepper, and spices for a camping trip.

Hang a lightweight painting. Wrap one end of a strand of floss several times around one of a pair of screws or hooks attached to either side of the back of the frame. Wrap the other end around the remaining screw or hook, leaving some slack. Knot the ends and hang from a nail.

String a popcorn garland for the holidays (after a pit-stop in the medicine cabinet).

Put medications in a locked cosmetic case for an easy way to keep curious kids away from poking around the medicine cabinet.

Don’t have a vase small enough to display those pretty buds you picked? A seldom used toothbrush holder fits a small arrangement perfectly.

Use a utensil tray in your bathroom drawer to keep small items like tweezers, nail clippers, and makeup brushes organized. Submitted by: Margaret2580

Roll pool towels and store them vertically, so your kids can grab one before taking a swim.

Keep extra travel-sized toothpaste, shampoo, cotton balls and other personal items in an old suitcase. With a trunk full of toiletries, you'll never run out of necessities. Plus, you'll save valuable shelf space for the things you use every day.

Store your hairdryer in an ice bucket to add a decorative touch to your bathroom and keep the counter tidy.

Don’t let your yarn get crossed. Use an empty baby wipes container to keep yarn clean and tangle-free.

Fill an antique gravy boat with a bar of soap to transform it into an elegant soap dish.

Stick needles and pins in a wrapped bar of soap. The soap’s oils make the pointy ends glide through fabric “sew” easily.

Protect your bathtub rim from rust rings by slipping this foamy college relic over a can of Barbasol (rather than Budweiser).

Forget keeping skin soft, baby oil also polishes chrome. Apply a dab to a cotton cloth and use it to shine everything from faucets to hubcaps. You'll end up with shiny, happy surfaces from a medicine-cabinet staple. (Who actually owns chrome cleaner, anyway?)

Help hollow-stemmed blooms, like daffodils, delphiniums, and amaryllis, soak up water and stay hydrated longer with this fresh idea: Cut the bottom of each stem at a 45-degree angle, turn the stem upside down, fill it with water, and stuff it with a piece of cotton.

Get the kinks out of wrinkled wrapping ribbons that were tied around your birthday presents for recycled bows without the telltale creases from the previous gift box.

No time to drag out your iron and ironing board? A straightening iron works perfectly between buttons where a regular iron doesn’t fit. And it smooths collar creases and minor wrinkles. So you can look perfectly pressed when you're pressed for time.

Use floss to slice soft cheese, cake, and hard-boiled eggs. (Or try it as a substitute for kitchen twine to truss a chicken.) It's hygienic, neat, and cheap. Unwaxed works best, and of course you know better than to mix mint-flavored with a vintage Gorgonzola.

Maintain some modesty in the locker room. Hold towel in place with a clawlike clip post-shower.

Rub a few drops of baby oil into each knot and work them gently free with a straight pin.

Fake freshly washed hair by sprinkling powder on, then comb through down to the roots.

Protect your car seats from muddy paws by covering them with a bath mat or two before packing Lilly the Lab in the backseat. The rubber bottom will help the mat stay in place. Between trips, stow the mat in the trunk.

With the machine turned off, disconnect the keyboard and trace between the keys with a cotton swab lightly dipped in isopropyl alcohol. If your mouse is the kind that rolls on a ball, unscrew the bottom and go over the ball and the interior with a cotton swab, too.

When residue clings to unreachable spots inside a vase or a decanter, fill the container with warm water and drop in one or two denture-cleaning tablets for every eight ounces of warm water. Let the fizzy solution sit for the time specified on the product's box, then rinse.

To revive a dried-out eraser or clean a smudged one, lightly rub it over an emery board. The board's fine grain will shave off the eraser's old top layer, leaving you with a good-as-new mistake-removing surface.

Encourage green growth on your house plants by applying a solution of 2 tablespoons salt to 1 gallon water once a month.

Remove greasy buildup from hair by adding 1 tablespoon salt to 1 cup water and massaging through hair. Rinse well.

Because it's resilient, dental floss is ideal for training vines on a trellis. Be careful not to tie the floss too tightly or it will dig into the growing stem.

If your umbrella has detached from its metal spines, tie or sew it back together with waxed floss, which will endure longer than regular thread.

When a recipe calls for splitting a cake in two horizontally, use a two-foot piece of waxed dental floss to make a clean straight cut. Just make sure it's the unflavored type!

Rely on waxed dental floss for temporary but durable clothing repairs, such as sewing on a button or reattaching a strap.

Give store-bought plastic eyeglasses a custom fit. Heat them with a dryer, then mold them to suit your face.

A little hot air quickly loosens price labels—with zero fingernail-chipping frustration.

Banish static cling in the winter with a quick spritz of hairspray on the areas that are bunching.

Thread a needle quickly by spraying the string’s end to prevent it from fraying and raising your frustration level.

Rub a bit of lip balm on dry cuticles for a quick and easy way to soften them when you're on-the-go.

Keep a snag in your stockings from growing by dabbing it with clear nail polish.

To loosen stubborn glue lids, dip a cotton swab into nail polish remover and rub around the bottom of the cap.

Give eyelashes new luster by brushing them with a bit of petroleum jelly for an instant length-enhancing shine.

Prevent a nail-polish cap from sticking by dabbing the jelly around the bottle’s ridges before sealing.

Restore a favorite, well-worn cardigan to form by lightly running the stone across the surface to lift off any unsightly pills.

Make an on-the-go cosmetics kit by applying a bit of your favorite eye shadow, concealer, and lip gloss to the ends of cotton swabs and stashing them in a plastic bag in your purse.

Evaporate water from your ears by using an eyedropper to insert a few drops of rubbing alcohol into each ear canal.

Lift off hair-spray residue from bathroom walls. Spray a mixture of one part rubbing alcohol, two parts water, and a dash of dishwashing liquid onto vinyl wallpaper or semigloss (not flat) paint. Wipe clean.

Remove permanent marker from countertops and walls. Pour a bit of alcohol onto a cotton ball and rub on the stain. (Spot test on a hidden area first.)