Toothpaste

“Money in the bank is like toothpaste in the tube. Easy to take out, hard to put back.”- Earl Wilson

I love the Google auto-complete feature. When you start typing a search, Google shows you similar searches that others have entered. And I’m often amazed to find that others have searched for some of the odd topics I think up like “Alternative Uses for Toothpaste”.

About this time of year I get Poison Ivy rashes on my arms. Since I’m not the outdoors type, I suspect it comes from my cat that sleeps next to me. The cat wanders around our backyard jungle and oil from Poison Ivy plants stick to his fur and rubs onto my bed sheet or arm. So today my wrist breaks out at work and I’m super-itchy. I look at my desk drawer and see only aspirin and toothpaste. So what the heck, I tried rubbing some toothpaste on my skin. And it worked. No itch and it held up well even with my watch band rubbing against it.

So, back to Google. What else can be done with toothpaste?

• Remove scuff marks from your favorite pair of leather shoes
• Clean Piano Keys (they used to be ivory teeth after all)
• Clean the rubber part of sneakers
• Clean sinks
• Clean your iron (does anyone iron anymore?)
• Remove crayon marks from walls
• Make your diamond ring sparkle (not just for sparking smiles?)
• Shine chrome or silver
• Shine your nails
• Clean your metal watchband with toothbrush and paste. Be careful not to get the watch wet.
• Defog mirrors, goggles and glasses with a toothpaste rub
• Stick posters on walls (instead of tape apply a bit of paste to each corner)
• Fill nails holes in walls
• Remove the itch from insect bites and bee strings (yes, I was right! Stops the itch by drying out the skin)
• Remove odors from hands (wash your hands in a little paste)
• Remove stains from clothes (like ink or lipstick)
• Remove pimples (use a little dab at night for acne. But only once a week to avoid leathery skin)
• Fill scratches on CDs (??? – this one I’ve got to try. We often get CDs from the libraries that are too scratched to play. Perhaps this is just an urban legend?)

Bottom Line

I’ve not tried these so I can only pass on what I’ve found on the Internet. Use common sense. Also use cheap, white, simple toothpaste. It is the fine grit you want for cleaning which you won’t get in a gel paste.