Everyone’s got a pack of festival baby wipes languishing in their bathroom cupboard, or some neglected holiday razors that are now too blunt for your legs. But before you chuck them in the bin, you should check to see if you can get some alternative uses out of them.
Because, in reality a whole bunch of boring household goods actually double up as very handy fashion fixes. Here's what - and how:
Tomato ketchup
If you’ve got some tarnished silver or copper jewellery lying around, place them in a bowl of ketchup for five to 10 minutes. The acid in tomatoes reacts with the oxidized metal to cut through the tarnish. Work the ketchup into the jewellery surface and remember to rinse with water (obvs).
Baby wipes
Not just good as stand-in make-up wipes and festival showers. Use a baby wipe to get rid of armpit stains in your white T-shirt, or rub your leather pumps with them if your shoes need a quick shine. Gone a bit overboard with self-tanning spray and lotion? Quickly clean it off with a baby wipe. Problem solved.
Shaving razors
Is your fave cashmere jumper looking a bit more ragged than usual? Rescue it from pilling and bits of lint by shaving it – seriously. Lightly go over the surface of your knitwear with a disposable razor to get rid of those annoying fuzzy lint balls.
**Olive oil **
Your humble bottle of olive oil can stand in for a multitude of beauty products. You can use it as shaving oil when you’ve run out of foam, or dab some onto a cotton wool pad as a substitute eye make-up remover. You can even rub it into your nail beds to moisturize your cuticles. Just don’t overdo it or you’ll end up smelling like salad dressing.
Rubber bands
Wrap rubber bands around the end of your clothes hangers – it’ll stop camisoles, strappy sundresses and other silky garments from sliding off your hangers and onto the floor of your wardrobe.
Clear nail polish
Painting over a rip in tights with your topcoat is a quick way to stop it from laddering further, but the same trick can be used to stop a button from falling off your shirt. Just paint a coat of polish onto the unraveling button to seal any fraying threads. If you’ve got any costume jewellery that leaves gross blue-green rings on your skin, brush a coat of polish onto the back of the jewellery and allow to dry before wearing.
Old tights
Dropped your earring behind the sofa and can’t reach it? Wrap an old pair of tights around the nozzle of your vacuum cleaner and secure with a rubber band – you’ll be able to vacuum around furniture and pick up whatever you’ve lost without losing it to your hoover bag.
Follow Zing on Twitter @misszing
Artwork by Anna Jay
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.