I love to re-purpose household items.

I get a real kick out of finding ways to use items we normally throw out. It’s like they get a second chance at being useful. But it’s also fun to be able to use common items for multiple purposes. Here are a few of my favorites.

Shower Caps:

I always keep the freebie hotel shower caps for my next trip. Then I slip one over each of my shoes before I pack them in a suitcase. It keeps any dirt or shoe polish from getting on my clothes.

Clothespins:

Speaking of traveling, when packing your toothbrush for travel, add a clothespin. You can use it to prevent your toothbrush from touching the hotel counter tops.

Aluminum Foil:

For a quick way to sharpen your knives, cut through foil a few times. This works for scissors as well.

Plastic Bread Tab:

I hate it when the end of the tape gets stuck to the roll and you have to try and get it started again. So I like to use these little plastic tabs to hold my spot on the roll. It works with any type of tape.

Hair Conditioner:

How many times have we accidentally shrunk a piece of clothing? To fix it, put the article in a bowl filled with iced water and 1 cup of hair conditioner. It will restore the clothing to the original size.

Toothpaste:

If your child uses the wall as their art canvas, you can clean off the crayon with a small dab of non-gel toothpaste and rub gently with a soft cloth, then rinse with warm water. In a pinch, I’ve used this to scrub out the bathroom sink – works just like the non-abrasive cleansers.

Dryer Sheets:

Tuck a dryer sheet into smelly sneakers or shoes (or even gym bags and suitcases) to eliminate odors overnight. I like to place one in the bottom of my canvas clothes hamper. Hint: I use natural dryer sheets, instead of the heavily chemically perfumed ones, so they leave a nice citrus/verbena fragrance.

Do you have a favorite hack you like to use? I’d love to hear about it!