Toothpaste is one of those easy to come by for free items if you are a couponer–and who doesn’t love free? There’s a million ways to use it {besides brushing your teeth, of course}. Here are a couple of my favorite:
- Clean white running shoes. Dab a bit of toothpaste on a wet cloth and buff those suckers back to new.
- Get crayons off walls. I haven’t dealt with this in quite a few years, but put a little toothpaste on the wall, scrub, and voila, naughty deeds undone.
- Clean your iron. If you iron gets gunky build-up, a little toothpaste and elbow grease shines it right back up.
- Use to clean nails. This works great during the gardening season!
- Polish jewelry. A dab of toothpaste and a toothbrush can add the shine back to dull jewelry. {Don’t use on pearls, though}
- Clean the sink. Ever gotten a blob of toothpaste in the sink from an overzealous squeeze of the tube? Get a damp rag and spread it around, toothpaste is a great cleaning agent.
- Remove scratches from DVD’s and CD’s. Put a little toothpaste on a soft clean towel and gently buff away the scratch.
- Dab on blemishes. Toothpaste works wonders on acne. Dab a little on before bed {plus you’ll smell minty fresh all night} and rinse in the morning.
- Use as a bug bite and bee sting ointment. It takes the sting out of the bites.
- Clean white patio furniture. Make a mixture of toothpaste and water, and then put your back into it. With a little effort and time, the patio furniture will look brand new.
Do YOU use toothpaste for anything special?
~Mavis
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Nancy says
I’ve always used white toothpaste to cover up nail holes in the wall. As long as the wall is white too!!
Jana williamson says
Who knew you could so so much with it. I make my own, but glad to know the commercial gunk is good for something.
Shirley Hazlett says
Great ideas…but just to add a caution about dabbing it on your face. My dermatologist just advised me to shower AFTER brushing my teeth, as she suspected that the fluoride in my toothpaste was causing a rash called Periodermatitis (“around the mouth”) on my face.
Leronna says
I heard it’s good to get rid of hazy headlights 🙂
Kelli says
I use it to get really strong smells off of my hands. Works on most smells.
LuAnn Braley says
Cool. Never heard of most of these.
saralie says
I am for sure trying on the crayon marks all over my living room. Thanks so much 🙂
Sandi says
If you’re going to dab it on blemishes, it is recommended to use white paste only-toothpaste with gel stripes or is gel-based won’t kill the bacteria. And if you squeeze some on a lint-free cloth and wipe it on your mirror, wiping it clean, it will prevent steamed up mirrors.
Sophie says
Sounds like toothpaste and magic erasers have a lot on common! They must have the same abrasive quality! Now I can save my magic erasers for other things and use FREE toothpaste for the things above.
Mari says
Hi Mavis
I am suprised you haven’t tried making your own?? Is years since I have used brought toothpaste. Its simple to do.
Recipe is here on my blog – http://gentlebynature.wordpress.com/2013/02/24/my-homemade-toothpaste-recipe/
Brooke Ross says
Thanks for sharing! We have a ton that were free, from couponing, but I really don’t want to use anymore because of the flouride. Now I have other uses for all of it!
Alvada Owen says
When my husband was in the military we lived on base and were not suppose to use nails to hang pictures.When we got ready to clear quarters they came to inspect the housing.The walls were all white and a friend told me how to fill in the holes without using plaster,simply fill in the holes with toothpaste.Worked every time!!!
Lisa says
When you get a burn dab some toothpaste on it, it takes the pain away. Years ago I got a steam burn on the inside of my entire wrist. I went to the doctor because it formed a blister. He said there was nothing I needed to do for the blister, but he could give me something for the pain. I said, oh no, it doesn’t hurt at all and then I told him about the toothpaste. He was amazed. Been using it ever since!
Mari says
Reminds me when I was a teenager, it was said that putting toothpaste on a love bite (think u call it a hicky?) faded it considerably. Mind u that was 40 yrs ago before flouride, peroxide or other nasties were put in it. I remember it burnt anyway like hell, imagine it would be worse now days.
Marla says
Okay, here is something VERY IMPORTANT!! Toothpaste removes SHARPIE and other permanent marker! It really does! I’ve had a few times where a child unknowingly grabbed a sharpie for a craft or to write and it bled through onto the table, or they ran off the paper with the marker–toothpaste cleans that right up! Nice!
Sydelle says
I keep a tube of toothpaste in the laundry room. Works great on greasy stains.
Karen says
Cools your mouth after eating spicy food.