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Sunday, January 20, 2013

A Frugal Life and Toothpaste

I never really think about the fact that we live a frugal life. It has been a lifelong habit, looking for savings, comparing prices, buying at thrift stores and cooking from scratch. I suppose it's not surprising since I grew up in a large family where nothing was wasted because money was always tight. But for me, it's nor need necessarily that makes me look for bargains. It's the hunt, the score, and the satisfaction sometimes of putting something once useful back into service.

Which leads me to toothpaste. Not that I make my own; I don't. But I have found that toothpaste is one useful cleaning tool for things besides teeth. For example, you can use toothpaste to smooth out the scratches on a DVD or CD. Simply rub the toothpaste in small circles over the disc, rinse it clean, dry with a soft cotton rag (t-shirts or old hankies work great), and that's it. If you have a DVD that sticks (it happens a lot with movies we check out from the library) this may well cure the problem.

Toothpaste is also great for cleaning white leather tennis shoes. Scrub it in with a brush, rinse and dry. Then use whatever product you like to condition the leather again. It's awesome around the soles; I keep an old toothbrush to scrub the creases and seams.

I use toothpaste to remove stains on cloth too; it's my desperation measure and it sometimes works. I wet the item rub in the toothpaste and scrub gently. Then wash as normal. It also works on stains on glass and china items.

I bet there are uses for toothpaste that I have yet to discover. Do you know any?

Copyright 2012 Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

9 comments:

  1. I recently read where toothpaste works very well on headlights whose covers have become foggy. Just scrub with the toothpaste and rinse/wipe. Represents a huge savings.

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  2. I grew up with my Dad in the Air Force and when we would have to move from base housing my parents would use toothpaste to cover the nail holes in the wall.

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  3. Great idea, hadn't considered tp to remove stains etc.
    Joy

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  4. Lots more uses than I thought! Did you know that they used to (and might still) use ground up walnut shells in toothpaste as the abrasive agent? I also read that ground walnut shells were used in makeup and facial cleansers and lots of other products, like in place of sand for sandblasting projects, or as a filtering agent for oils...amazing.

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  5. This makes me miss Burt's Bee's Lavender Mint toothpaste. It had the loveliest taste of fresh (not fake!) lavender.......

    If only I had known they would stop making it I would have stocked up.......

    *sigh*

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  6. I have heard of using it on CD's but never tried it. Now I'll have to!

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  7. I don't know any, but I sure like yours!

    =)

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  8. just tonight on the Antique Roadshow, I learned that in a pinch you can shine Silver with toothpaste.

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  9. My granny made toothpaste with baking soda which left the mouth fresh and added salt as an abrasive.
    I preferred it to the mint or sweet commercial ones.

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