Toothpaste Hack

If you get an ink stain on your clothes, one way to get it out is to rub the stain with non-gel toothpaste, let it dry, then wash as usual.

Another Use for Toothpaste

Take a damp, soft cloth and a small blob of toothpaste to easily erase minor scratches and scuff marks on your car. It works best if the scratches and/or scuff marks have not fully penetrated the clear coat of paint. Softly rub the toothpaste onto the scuff mark using small, circular motions to cover the blemished area.

Whitening toothpaste seems to work best as it has more abrasives than other types. Toothpaste works to sand down the uneven surface of the glossy sheen and fill in the gaps. Make sure the surface around the area is clean. If there is foreign paint on the outside, the toothpaste will also act as an abrasive to help remove it. Incidentally, it also works well to buff your smart phone screen scratches.

Whitening Toothpaste Myth

"Scientifically proven" labels on toothpaste containers are not entirely accurate. According to the American Dental Association, whitening toothpastes may be able to do something on the surface level. To get to the deep-down stains, you need more extreme treatments like bleaching. Several whitening toothpastes are available over the counter and have received the ADA Seal of Acceptance.

The ADA recommends that if you choose to use a bleaching product, you should only do so after consultation with a dentist. This is especially important for patients with many fillings, crowns, and extremely dark stains.

Since December 31, 2007, professionally (such as dentist) applied bleaching products are no longer eligible for the American Dental Association Seal of Acceptance.

Holiday Home Hacks

Remove permanent marker by using toothpaste on it.
A Lint roller is perfect to dust your lampshades with.
Use bread, or a damp paper towel, or play-doh to pick up broken glass or spilled glitter.
Cut a grapefruit and add salt to clean stubborn tub dirt before company arrives.
Wrap your light strings around a hangar to keep them from getting all tangled.
Make a Christmas tree from jello shots to keep the fun going. You can use orange jello for Thanksgiving.

Toothpaste

As far back as 3000-5000 BC, ancient Egyptians were using a tooth cream. This dental cream was comprised of powdered ashes from oxen hooves, myrrh, egg shells, pumice. They used their fingers, instead of a brush. Greeks and Romans improved on the process. Then China and India were using a powder/paste as well. The Chinese were particularly forward-thinking in adding flavoring, such as Ginseng, herbal mints, and salt.

Doctors, dentists, and chemists in Britain  introduced tooth powders (or dentrifice) that included abrasive substances like brick dust and crushed china. Glycerine was added in the early 19th century, transforming the powders into pastes. In 1892, Dr. Washington Sheffield of Connecticut invented Dr. Sheffield’s Crème Dentrifice. It was the first time toothpaste was featured in a collapsible tube. In 1873 toothpaste was first mass-produced.

Tom and Kate Chappell sought to create their own toothpaste. They moved from Philadelphia to rural Kennebunk, Maine, and introduced the first natural toothpaste in 1975. It is still called Tom’s of Maine

Salt is Good

Salt is good for us. According to the Salt Institute, there are more than 14,000 uses for salt, including flavoring food, like potato chips.

If you have an overflow of soap suds, sprinkle salt on top of the suds and they disappear.

Take a zippered plastic bag, place some salt in the bag along with dirty artificial flowers and shake. The flowers are clean when the salt begins to turn dark.

Rub dampened salt on bee stings and mosquito bites.

If you drop an egg on the floor, just sprinkle enough salt to cover the mess and let sit for about 20 minutes and sweep it up..

Salt will smother a kitchen grease fire if you have enough of it. (A large dampened towel works better).

Fresh cut flowers last longer with a pinch of salt in the water.

If you run out of toothpaste, brush your teeth with equal parts baking soda and salt.

Weeds and grass in sidewalk cracks can be killed with a little salt and warm water.

Gargling with warm salt water is good after dental work and also soothes a sore throat.

Six Mosquito Bite Fixes

Here are a few things that will take the sting out of mosquito bites. Just rub on and the sting will go away. White vinegar, toothpaste, lemon juice, ice, Garlic, aloe. All work about the same, but some smell better than others.

Many More Uses for Toothpaste

You probably have heard that toothpaste is a good cleaner for getting crayons off a wall, or cleaning scuffs from your running shoes, and polishing chrome. It can also help clean stains from a carpet and it is also a good idea to keep an old toothbrush for that application.

An old standby is to use toothpaste to clean water rings from wood tables. It also works as an excellent jewelry cleaner.

Back when all walls were all white, it was great to fill in nail holes in walls, especially when moving out of an apartment.

Now you can add more to your list. Use it to clean the bottom of your iron (I know some of you still use irons). Toothpaste is great for removing scuffs from leather, just rub gently and wipe. Use a dab of toothpaste, not the gel kind, to erase scratches from your iphone or a dvd. Just add a very small bit to a cotton swab or soft cloth and gently rub in a circular motion across the scratch. It is also good to clean a watch face or glasses. The key is to rub softly so you do not mar the surface and rinse with a clean damp cloth.

I have heard it stops itches from bug bites, but have not tried it for that. Use it to rub out small scratches in your car. Works like rubbing compound. Of course the best use for toothpaste is to clean your teeth. . .