New Uses

For Old Things

Surprising Cleaning New Uses

More hidden tricks to get your house sparkling in record time.

Newspaper as Refrigerator Odor Absorber
Absorb odors in the refrigerator’s vegetable drawer with a lining of newspaper.

Salt as Homemade Drain Cleaner
Get a slow-moving drain flowing again and pour a solution of ½ cup of salt for every quart of hot water down the pipe.

Olive Oil as Stainless Steel Cleaner
Buff streaks out of stainless steel with a little oil on a terry-cloth rag, then shine with a dry paper towel.

Baby Oil as Chrome Polish
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?)

Hair Spray as Lipstick Stain Remover
Kiss that smudge of Really Red good-bye. If the fabric is machine washable, saturate the spot with hair spray, let it sit for 10 minutes, then dab with a damp cloth or sponge to remove. Launder as usual to wash out any residual stain and spray.

Aluminum Foil as Glassware Scrubber
To get baked-on food off a glass pan or an oven rack, use dishwashing liquid and a ball of foil in place of a steel-wool soap pad, says Mary Findley, president of the cleaning-products developer Mary Moppins. It's one way to recycle those used but perfectly good pieces of foil you hate to throw out.