Common Household Items That Have Hundreds Of Uses

Natural Cleaner. Vinegar, Baking Soda, Salt, Lemon

Photo credit: bigstock.com

In today’s economy, everyone is looking for ways to save money, as well as avoid those expensive, toxic chemicals that permeate our homes. The items listed below have dozens of uses other than their original purposes. Take a look at the top ways you can save money by finding new ways to use everyday items that can be found in most American kitchens.

 

1. Castor Oil

  • Discourages rodents from hanging around your home
  • Strengthens eyelashes and encourages them to grow
  • Terrific for dry, itchy skin
  • Relieves dry, cracked heels
  • Natural laxative
  • Relieves menstrual cramps
  • Softens fingernail cuticles
  • Induces labor
  • Lubricates scissors and other kitchen items
  • Restores the health of ailing house plants
Ripe lemon hangs on tree branch in sunshine.

Photo credit: bigstock.com

2.  Lemons and their Juice

  • Sanitizes your chopping block or cutting board
  • Fades stains on clothing. Mix 1 part water with 1 part lemon juice
  • Stops browning of cut fruit. Sprinkle lemon juice over the fruit to stop browning
  • Removes food stains on plastic
  • Shine copper by rubbing them with lemon juice and salt
  • Whiten clothes naturally by adding ½ cup lemon juice to your wash cycle
  • Whiten fingernails and toe nails by soaking them in lemon juice and water
  • Adds highlights to hair naturally
  • Perfect for detoxing the body
  • Shrinks enlarged skin pores. Read more about lemons benefits for skin care.
Apple Cider Vinegar

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3. Apple Cider Vinegar

  • Natural deodorizer for laundry or other smelly items such as shoes or pet beds
  • Soothes painful sunburns
  • Treats acne
  • Cures yeast infections
  • Repels fleas
  • Super microwave cleaner
  • Perfect aftershave
  • Helps control high blood pressure
  • Helps prevent colds
  • Great for daily detox
Photo credit: jackthreads.com

Photo credit: jackthreads.com

4. Dryer Sheets

  • Remove static from almost anything, including hair, clothes, computer monitors, and TV screens
  • Prevent musty smells from books or clothes that are in storage
  • Keep dresser drawers smelling fresh by leaving a few sheets in the drawer
  • Keep your gym bag or gym locker smelling nice by putting a few sheets inside
  • Rub a dryer sheet over the chair or sofa to remove pet hair easily
  • Remove really caked on food by soaking the pan in water with a dryer sheet on the bottom of the pan overnight
  • Dust blinds
  • Freshen stinky shoes by putting a dryer sheet in each shoe and leave overnight
  • Freshen up your car by placing a few sheets under each seat
  • Prevent sewing thread from becoming tangled by running a threaded needle through a dryer sheet before you start sewing
Photo credit: bigstock

Photo credit: bigstock

5.  Coconut Oil

  • Best hair conditioner ever
  • Polish wood furniture and leave a nice smell behind
  • Natural lip gloss
  • Reduces migraines when consumed
  • Easily removes stubborn shower scum from the tub and shower
  • Anyplace you would use WD-40, you can use coconut oil instead
  • Makes a terrific natural deodorant
  • Improves thyroid function
  • Prevents wrinkles and dry skin
  • Mixed with baking soda and peppermint oil, it’s the perfect way to brush and whiten teeth at the same time. Find out 101 uses for coconut oil.
Photo credit: bigstock.com

Photo credit: bigstock.com

6. Coffee Filters

  • Perfect for protecting little ones hands from sticky popsicle drippings
  • When you heat up food in the microwave, cover it with a coffee filter to avoid splatters and mess
  • Prevent scratches or scuffs on your fine china. Put coffee filters between each dish
  • Use to serve pita sandwiches. Those circular sized filters are the perfect size to wrap around a pita sandwich and stop drips when you are eating on the run
  • Place a coffee filter in the bottom of a pot when you replant. This will stop dirt from falling out the drain hole
  • Clean windows and mirrors. Coffee filters leave behind no lint or other residue
  • Use coffee filters to strain wine from bottles with broken corks
  • Diffuse a camera flash by covering the flash with a coffee filter
  • Use them as miniature serving dishes for popcorn, nuts, or other finger foods
  • Use coffee filters instead of cotton balls to remove nail polish. Coffee filters will not stick to your nails
Close-up Of Baking Soda In A Glass Jar.

Photo credit: bigstock.com

7. Baking Soda

  • Put out small kitchen fires
  • Natural deodorant
  • Mixed with coconut oil, it’s a terrific natural toothpaste
  • Relieves diaper rash
  • Treats indigestion and heartburn
  • Use baking soda instead of cleansers to scrub tubs, sinks, and toilets
  • Terrific face and body scrub
  • Soften your skin naturally by adding one cup to your bath
  • Stops sunburn pain or the pain from insect bites
  • Stop canker sore pain by swishing a mixture of half a teaspoon of baking soda in half a cup of water
Photo credit: bigstock.com

Photo credit: bigstock.com

8. Newspapers

  • Perfect for hard to clean or streaky glass. Use white vinegar and newspapers for sparkling glass
  • Dry wet shoes by rolling up newspapers and stuffing them inside. Leave overnight
  • Wrap gifts. Ditch the expensive gift wrap and use newspapers
  • Stop weeds by covering the dirt with newspaper
  • Stop smells and soak up liquids by lining the veggie drawer of your fridge with newspapers
  • Pack items when moving
  • Deodorize smelly food containers. Wash the items, then stuff a piece of newspaper inside and allow to sit overnight
  • Put newspaper just inside the front door on snowy or rainy days to help absorb the moisture and avoid puddles on the floor
  • Ripen tomatoes quickly by wrapping each one in some newspaper and let sit out at room temperature until they reach the desired ripeness
  • Protect car seats or car floors from mud or water by placing old newspapers on them
Photo credit: bigstock.com

Photo credit: bigstock.com

9. Olive Oil

  • Shine stainless steel
  • Remove eye makeup
  • Stop hairballs by adding a ¼ of a teaspoon to your cats food
  • Treat dry skin
  • Unstick a zipper by applying just one drop to lubricate the zipper teeth. Avoid clothing as it might stain. Cotton swabs do the job perfectly
  • Dust wood furniture by applying just a few drops to a clean cloth, then wipe
  • Lubricate those squeaky door hinges by putting a few drops on each hinge
  • Prevent candle wax from sticking to a holder with a drop of olive oil
  • Try olive oil for the closer shave. You will never use shaving cream again
  • Stop hangnails by keeping your cuticles moisture. Rub in a few drops of olive oil into your nails every few days
Natural Cleaners

Photo credit: bigstock

10. White Vinegar

  • Clean windows without streaking
  • Add some baking soda to white vinegar to clean drains
  • Neutralize odors in just about anything
  • Boil better eggs by adding a few drops to the boiling water
  • Terrific way to condition your hair and stop product build up
  • Calm an upset stomach
  • Keep veggies fresh by soaking them in a mixture of vinegar and water before you put them in the refrigerator
  • Eliminate soap residue in your washer by adding one cup of vinegar to your final rinse. (Don’t use vinegar if you previously added bleach)
  • Remove decals and stickers by saturating a cloth in hot vinegar and squeezing it over the decal. Let sit for one minute, then peel off
  • Remove those stubborn lime deposits on faucets by covering then with vinegar soaked paper towels. Leave on for one hour, then wipe clean.
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One Comment

  1. Teresa Hall

    Jan 25, 2015 at 10:49 pm

    All of these are great ideas! One more for olive oil: put a small dab on top and bottom lashes. Helps them grow and keeps them from breaking off when mascara is removed. Be careful, will burn eyes if it gets in. Small amount should be smoother onto lashes, carefully, so there is no.residue to get into your eyes.