Time for a change, time for entertainment

With New Year comes the obligatory New Year’s resolution.

I’ve made a few “promises” to myself and one of them is to entertain more (aka stop being a cave-dweller). I would like to have our friends over much more often, maybe throw a few more dinner parties and in general be more sociable. To achieve it, I need space. So the question becomes: What do I do?

Currently, we have a kitchen / dinner with a table set for four and a front room designed around our family entertainment – large sofa, space to play jumpy console games and to chillax in general. I think the front room will have to stay as it is simply because it is our family space and besides I don’t know how to tell Mark his front room is about to change. Now the dining room part of the downstairs area might just be the subject of a make-over.

In order to entertain I will need space. If we have more than two people visit us be are quickly reminded of a major drawback to us entertaining. Sitting for hours on little wooden stools is not very comfortable, no matter how good the food, the company or even how many drinks you have had 😉 and there is no room to add full size chairs as the table just isn’t long enough, oh and it has very fat legs that don’t help.

So, what to do now?

The easiest solution would be to just buy a new set of slim chairs, but as our furniture’s quite old I am not able to find anything to match it nicely.

I like dark wood; solid wood, heavy furniture is very me but they make the space seems smaller and darker than it actually is. The more I think about it the more I feel I might be ready for a change.

I had a look around for some inspirations and I have a few ideas for my new dining room. I think I would still like to stick with the wood and keep the same rectangular shape of the table, but maybe this time we should get something lighter, with a more modern look…

What do you think about my choices?

Would you attempt a make-over just to satisfy your need for fulfilling a New Year’s resolution?

Do you think I should just stick with my old furniture and maybe invest in some soft cushions to make long evenings by the table more comfortable?

I know this is a long list of questions but I am quite in the pickle and unsure what to do next.

* Post written in collaboration with Rodgers Of York

7 Top Tips How to Reduce Food Waste

Apparently an average European citizen wastes 179kg of food a year. We throw out almost 20% of the food we buy. This is a horrendous waste!

The food waste is not only limited to our households. Supermarkets and restaurants waste an even higher percentage of food, but there isn’t a lot we can do about it… We can however take a look at our “wasting” routine and try to do something about it.

We are not the most innocent family when it comes to reducing food waste, this is why I did some thinking and put a plan in place to help us reduce our food waste.

Know what you already have

This might sounds funny but do you really know what you have in your cupboards? I thought I did but I was wrong. I tend to “stock up” on things when they are on a special offer and at times I simply forget about them later on. Like the time I bought four large jars of mayonnaise despite still having two in my pantry (luckily they were still in date so nothing was wasted, we just had a lot of salads that month).
Anyway knowing what you already have in the cupboard is the key to success. It will allow you to avoid double buying but also it will help you to plan meals ahead.

Buy local, buy smart

Large superstore are designed to make us spend more; make us buy stuff we don’t really need; make us buy too much. Buying local will help us to buy only what we need and when we need it.
Going shopping with a shopping list is a great way of sticking to what we need to buy, if we can stick to our pre-written shopping list of course.

Learn to read labels

Not all food that has passed its “label date” is actually out of date. A lot of foods have labels which are actually design as recommendations for the store selling them.
Sell-by date – a date printed on the packaging of perishable goods, indicating the date after which the goods should not be offered for sale. This doesn’t mean they can’t be eaten. Sell-by date can be found for example on fresh cakes or pastries. Store can’t sell them past the date but we can still enjoy them 🙂
Best before – the length of time a packaged food will last without deteriorating. Food eaten after “best before” date is perfectly safe to eat, it might just not be “perfectly perfect”; its taste, texture, aroma or appearance might start to change slightly.
Use-by date – refers to safety and are the required form of date mark for foods considered to be highly perishable from a microbiological point of view. This is the only label we should be really concern about and should try to avoid products which have passed their use-by date.

Learn how to store food properly

A lot of food goes to waste due to poor storage. Investing in a good, clever storage solution will help us save money (and a lot of food) in the long run. A nice set of plastic air-tight containers (like the ones I reviewed for you in the past from Addis) or simple Fresha bags, which are design to keep your food fresh for up to 25% longer are perfect food storage solutions. They will help your food stay fresh for longer, giving you more time to enjoy it.
Storage containers are just one side to the proper storage solution… the other is correct fridge placement. When unpacking new grocery shopping, move your “old” food to the front of the fridge. This way you will not forget about that pack of half eaten butter or an already opened bottle of milk.

Learn to experiment in the kitchen

I must agree that recipes are made to be followed but I am also a believer in variety and freedom. Product substitution might not be ideal every time but you never know what your new “upgraded” dish will taste like until you try it. Experimenting in the kitchen is a great way of “using” all the odd things we have left. Challenge yourself and cook once a week a “what’s left in my fridge” dinner. You might be surprised with the results. To give you an idea on what sort of thing we create, check my “Something from Nothing Dinner” post.

Learn to use leftovers

Big portion of the food ending up in the bin come from leftovers… Depending on the type of leftovers, they can be eaten the next day, turned into a new meal or frozen, to be consumed at a later date. Very often you can find the dish gets better with time, so don’t be scared of a “leftovers” dinner.
Freezing it on the day is a great way of avoiding binning it a few days later. Just remember to clearly label your meals, so you know exactly what’s inside and what date you put it there.

Donate it, jar it or compost it

No matter how careful we will be, there will always be a time when we have too much food on our hands. Depending on the type of food we can donate it to a local food bank or try your hand at a new skill and re-make it for future use in the months to come, for example turning fruit and veggies into pickles and chutneys.
Last summer when we went to Poland we drove back to the UK with three cases of fresh apples. We knew that we will not be able to eat them all, so I turned some into jars of grated apples, ready to become a filling in my Apple Pie.
And when we have food which still needs to go to the bin, compost it. Instead of putting it to the bin, give it a second life and turn it into a useful resource… your garden will be truly thankful for it 😉

Anything you would add into my list?

*Picture source

How To Make A Fresh Green Christmas Wreath

This festive season most household will have (or already have) a lovely fresh Christmas wreath hanging on the door. We can go and simply buy one or we can make a craft project and create one ourselves.

The process isn’t as complicated as one might think. All you need is:

• Wreath frame
• Wire
• Cones
• Ribbons
• And of course green bits 😉
• And some tools for cutting

Get ready!

Step one: attach your wire into a frame – this will keep all the greens in place.

Pick a bunch of greeneries and start attaching them to the frame… with your wire.

Continue fitting until the frame is nicely covered.

Once this is done you have your base now all that is left to do is to decorate it.

Make a nice bow and place it to on the top or bottom to define a direction of your wreath.

Add cones to make it look more attractive.

If you fancy more colour, you can add berries or colourful ribbons.

Remember it is your creation so it can look however you want it to look!

To make my vague instructions more clear watch the video below to see how it is done from the beginning to the very end 🙂

Have you ever attempted to make your own Christmas wreath?

* All pictures in this post were taken by my friend Agnieszka

My sofa hates me

There was a time when my sofa would welcome me with warm hugs at the end of a long hard day and I would willingly flop down into that embrace. The time would happily drift by as I entertained myself with some distraction till bed time and the inevitable repeat of my day. Happy times…

Yet now, I am drawn to the conclusion that my sofa wants a divorce or it’s going to kill me, or at the very least debilitate me to such an extent that life becomes impossible. Now after even a brief stay I find that my back has seized up and my legs ache, venture to stay too long and the headache will arrive as sure as day follows night, what other conclusion can I draw except my sofa doesn’t like me anymore.

So I have decided the best form of defence is attack and the old sofa must go whilst I am still physically capable of removing it.

The sofa has served us well for many years and was by no means a lifelong investment; we bought it just after we bought the house as we needed one, and it wasn’t very expensive as money was tight at the time.

We considered fixing it by re-stuffing the cushions but we aren’t sure if this will fix the problem.

So now I am searching for a fresher younger model to replace our old friend.

Our front room is an L shape and as such an L shaped sofa would be ideal fitting into the corner of the room and allowing one of us too adopt the customary position of laying flat out during our evening’s distractions. If it comes with a futon then that would be even better so then we can both adopt the optimal position!

I have a few of my favourites…

And my personal front runner:

What do you think about them?

Would you like to see any of these sofas in your front room?

* Post written in collaboration with Newman & Bright

Let there be light – Sensio Furniture Lighting Solution

It’s 6am and I am up. Mark is still deep asleep and not snoring as he will claim later. I put my dressing gown on and slowly wandered to the bathroom for my morning routine. 15 minutes later I am done and it is time to get dressed… now I facing straight into that common dilemma… I will either be getting dressed in total darkness or I have to put the main light on, which will most likely wake up my non snoring other half… hmmm what to do, I need to rummage and find my outfit for the day!

Sensio has a solution – a rechargeable wardrobe light which can detect movement. You open your wardrobe door and taadaa – the light comes on!

I know as I was sent one for testing.

To be honest I’ve never even considered putting a light into my wardrobe, but having one, especially this time of the year makes a lot of sense. The light is bright enough, so I don’t have to play “cave woman” in the morning, yet it is angled into the wardrobe in such a way so it is not too overpowering for anyone else in the room, thus will not cause the waking up scenario I am so desperate to avoid.

The Sensio Solus has a rechargeable battery fitting. There is no wiring required so it is extremely simple to install, anyone can do it. If used for 2.5 minutes a day the Solus will only need to be recharged every 8 months or so, so it is really the definition of simple to maintain… I think I am taking at least triple this time to actually pick my clothes but still, the battery life is very impressive.

Key features of the Sensio Solus light (as stated on the website):

• Contains a rechargeable Lithium-ion battery. No electrical installation required.
• The product is cable free for ease of installation.
• Rechargeable via a pluggable USB charger.
• Angled surface light to reduce glare.
• Features an integrated PIR (person in room) sensor which automatically switches the light on when the wardrobe/cabinet door is opened.
• The detection range of the PIR is 2m, meaning the fitting can be positioned as required inside the furniture.
• If movement is not detected for 30 seconds or more the light will temporarily switch off to reduce wastage of the battery power.
• The run time of the product is 8 months based on 2.5 minutes of use per day. The charging time is 6.5 hours on average.
• The perfect fitting for use inside wardrobes with several storage compartments.
• The product has an additional on/off switch for optional use.

The price starts from £41.88. I know what you are thinking now… yes, I agree it isn’t cheap, but none of the new LED lighting products are.

Did you know that LED lightening is the most efficient lighting solution invented to date? For example an incandescent bulb releases 90 percent of their energy as heat, LEDs use energy far more efficiently with very little wasted heat. LED lights also have a significantly longer life span as well so no more days of no light whilst you try and remember to pick a new bulb up whilst you’re out shopping.

I think that for what it offers, the price isn’t as scary as it might at first look. And to be honest use of a light like this doesn’t have to be limited to a wardrobe. We have a pantry in the kitchen… with no light… it would actually be a perfect spot for this little Sensio Solus light… or a staircase… as the light is detecting movement it will turn itself on as someone is approaching… the uses are unlimited… all those very dark corners of your house, garage or even garden shed can now be bathed in useful bright light.

No more darkness – let there be light!

One thing ticked off the wish list – Dyson DC41Mk2 Animal

A few weeks ago a huge lovely parcel arrived on my door step – it was a Dyson DC41Mk2 Animal. I have wanted one of these vacuum cleaners for years but there was always something else far more urgent that needed to be bought first…

Anyway, it was finally here!

My own, personal Dyson DC41Mk2 Animal.

I had huge plans for it. On the one hand I wanted to open it right now, the moment that the courier brought it to me, but then on the other hand I had a video idea which required me to stay put and keep my brand new Dyson, well “brand new”…

I really wanted to film me cleaning with my Dyson, and the money shot, after cleaning with my old vacuum and then see if there was any difference… I thought that this might be an interesting thing to do but the days were passing by, life was manic and I was nowhere closer to my video project being started… when I did actually have a moment either the weather was very bad which meant no natural light for actually shooting the video indoors or the weather was fine but there was no one around to actually help me, like all of us I am cursed with being born with only two hands… I didn’t even want to attempt vacuuming with 2 different machines and filming it at the same time… this would be quite insane, even for me…

So, the days were passing by and still no video…

The days kept passing by and every day I looked and my shiny new Dyson still in its box…

Then some more days passed by and then I finally broke!

Yesterday after yet another discussion with my trusty old Henry about his aging status and resulting lack of abilities to include actually cleaning effectively I broke! I ripped the box open and decided that enough is enough; I just had to try my new friend.

Within 5 minutes the Dyson DC41Mk2 Animal was put all together and I was off…

OMG what a difference!

OMG it was a pure pleasure!

The 1m x 1.5m rug by the front door, which normally would take me around 15 minutes to clean (usually with me on my knees), was totally clean and dog / cat hair free within 1 minute maybe 2 at most… not only was it fast, there was no need for getting down on my knees anymore and cleaning with a precision brush – Dyson just ate it all like a pro!

I am over the moon!

30 minutes and 9 containers full of hairs and dust later my house was totally clean! Yes, 9 bins… the amount of stuff he can suck up is just unreal… I really didn’t have an idea my house was SO dirty!

And you know what… I now have some totally new ideas for my video and I think that it will be much better than my original plan… so stay tuned as a full review of my new friend – Dyson DC41Mk2 Animal is coming to a blog near you soon 🙂

* Picture courtesy of Dyson.
I received a Dyson DC41Mk2 Animal vacuum cleaner for a review purpose.

The 4-Box Challenge

I was challenged by the Plastic Box Shop to use their 4-box method to de-clutter my home. The idea is very simple:

•  Indentify the clutter in your home
•  Follow the chart
•  Place the item in the correct box

Easy peasy!

The four “magic” boxes are as follow:

Keep – Items which will remain in their current position and are to be kept.

Store – Items which you do not want to throw away but would be able to relocate and possibly store somewhere else.

Donate – Items which you intend to donate to charity.

Bin – Items which you intend to throw away.

I found myself lacking one more box – Sell. As I didn’t have my 5th box I just piled those items on the floor next to the four other boxes.

And the chart which can be used as an aid looks like this:

The chart is actually very helpful and clever. I did follow it for some items, simply because I wasn’t able to make me mind up about the final placement of the item in question.

My boxes arrived and it was time to get to work.

I picked the worst room in our home – my office. Terribly, terribly messy room, full of clutter, spare furniture and was actually really badly lacking in space even for just moving around. I meant to “clean it” last week… last month… I don’t even remember how many times I have promised myself “Ok, tomorrow I will take care of it”, then tomorrow came and went and my office just collected more and more clutter.

So Saturday morning after a large strong coffee I put some lively music on and started on my epic challenge.

Slowly piece by piece I was removing things from my office and placing them into the provided boxes… the pile of stuff in the boxes was growing fast.

The pile of stuff for sale wasn’t doing badly either. I decided that if I do not want it and the item has some real value I will sell it. In the end of the day who really needs 3 phones?

Once I had actually dug myself through the endless pile of weird stuff I was actually able to remove a spare futon and a chest of drawers from my office. These two pieces didn’t belong in my office, so they had to go in order to get back so much needed space.

I spent most of the day clearing out my office. I found that the Donate It box was the most popular. The next day I packed the car, drove to my local village and donated everything to our local dog charity RATS.

It was a long and tiring day but it was really worth it!

Now I have a spacious office and if someone wants to join me there is actually some space for them to join me by my desk.

This clear-out session was long overdue, so thank you ever so much to the guys at the Plastic Box Shop for selecting me for this challenge, as this gave me the impetus and a very much needed kick to do it and I thus finally did it!

Job jobbed!

#Pledge4Plastics – Every Single Bottle Counts!

Did you know that over 316,000 tonnes of plastic bottles were collected for recycling from UK households in 2012? That’s a recycling rate of 58% and means that:

• An estimated 7 billion plastic bottles were collected for recycling – that’s 19 million bottles every day.
• Nearly 5 billion plastic bottles were sent to landfill in 2012 – that’s nearly 14 million plastic bottles every day.
• Overall this means the average UK household uses over 440 plastic bottles per year, but only recycles just over 250 of them!

That’s just over a half. So what is happening to the rest of these bottles?

If you aren’t sure what and how to recycle you just need to follow this simple guidance:

And if you aren’t sure where can you recycle, please just follow this link and enter your post code. As a result you will see your local map with your all nearest recycling banks including textile, glass, batteries and of course plastic. But remember you can recycle most plastics in your recycling bin at home, so there is no need for any travels 🙂

Recycling just one more bottle a day will make a real difference.

These bottles really go to a good use.

I came across Best Recycled Plastic Products Awards. Do you know what products won in 2013?

Surprisingly the first place was awarded to uBin which is dedicated to encourage responsible recycling in offices, schools, hospitals and other typical working environments.

Second prize was awarded to the vinyPlus façade panels, made from 100% recycled PVC and coated with a weather-proof top layer.

The eco-core staple fibres made from recycled PET bottles won the third prize. I had no idea that you can even get a duvet made from plastic.

If you want to read more about last year awards please check out this link.

To highlight the many ways plastic can be given a new life if recycled, internationally renowned designer and stylist, Abigail Ahern, has channelled her uniquely quirky and recognisable style into designing her first ever bespoke phone cover, which is made from 80 percent recycled plastic bottles.

One thousand limited edition phone covers, available for iPhone 5C/S and Samsung S5, have been designed exclusively for #Pledge4Plastics, to reward those who register their support online, tweet @pledge4plastics or like the official Pledge 4 Plastics Facebook page.

Why not make your Pledge 4 Plastics at http://www.pledge4plastics.co.uk/pledge for your chance to win and join the plastics recycling revolution?

Review – Iron & Velvet – Luxury Cleaning Products

Have you ever heard about Iron & Velvet – Luxury Cleaning Products? No? Hmm, me neither, until a few months ago that is. I spotted Iron & Velvet on Twitter and as a junky for all things cleaning related and a lover of luxury I just had to try them out.

So who are Iron & Velvet and what is so special about their product?

As per their website description: Iron & Velvet was born from a desire to improve. With over 30 years’ experience in the manufacture and development of specialist cleaning solutions to be used in the metal finishing industry we noticed that we had a different expectation of what “clean” is. For us, “clean” is a surface which has no impurities on whatsoever, even down to a microscopic level.

Currently Iron & Velvet have 14 cleaning solutions for use in and around the home. They are all manufactured in the UK at their site in the West Midlands. They use only the best materials and are proud of the products they make.

Iron & Velvet split their products into two separate collections – there is an interior collection and an exterior collection.

I was lucky to be sent a few products from each collection, so we can “test ride” them. So what did I get and how did they perform?

This is the selection of Iron & Velvet products I received.

Let me start with the delivery itself.

You know how it seems some companies really don’t care about deliveries… once they got your money that’s it… Iron & Velvet cares! They actually care a lot. Every single bottle came in its own separate plastic bag. Every bag was separately sealed.

This was great. I am a sucker for details and small things like this make a huge difference to me. I have received on many occasion cleaning / liquid products by post and I must admit they do not always reach me in a perfect condition. And believe me there is nothing worse than opening the parcel full of excitement just to discover your order is actually damaged or worse, ruined.
I am confident in saying that in the case of Iron & Velvet the chances of this happening are really zero.

Now let’s talk about the packaging.

Iron & Velvet products come in see-through bottles of different shapes and sizes. I like it. Why? Simple because I can see how much product is left, without playing the guess when will I run out game. Some bottles have just a simple screw on top, some have a top and a spray and some have a spray only. The one with the spray only has however a very clever security mechanism, so you can lock it when not in use and thus avoid any accidental spraying.

One other thing about the packaging – every bottle has clear directions for use, suitability and storage, safety warnings and content information, which includes % and some chemical names as well as clear details about the company, so basically everything you might want to find on the bottle is present.

Now it is time for the products themselves.

I must admit, I didn’t use the Barbeque Cleaner (simply because by the time I received the products our BBQs were already prepared for the season and didn’t need any cleaning) or the Decking Cleaner (no excuse here, I am just too lazy). I did however try all the rest.

Car shampoo is the one product making me laugh every time I look at it. It is red / violet in colour yet its fragrant is called Blue Lagoon 🙂 Ok, I know that one has nothing to do with the other but for some bizarre reason I would expect blue lagoon to be… guess what… blue! Car shampoo comes in a 750ml screw top bottle. Despite the lack of blue colour it does smell like the sea or a sea breeze or a sea front, I guess it depends where you go to the sea side. The smell is pleasant and not overpowering. The surprising bit for me however was how effective it is. Ok, I am not a car shampoo expert as you know from my earlier posts; our car is always a bit neglected, but if I didn’t read the label I would most likely put about half of the bottle into my bucket, when in fact you only need a 50ml of shampoo to 5l of water. And this amount is sufficient to clean your car, which means that one bottle will last you for 15 car washes or in my case a lifetime 😉 The shampoo works great and I can’t fault it in any way.

Moving on…

The interior collection has quite a few different products. They are split into three categories which are easily recognized by different colours. Kitchen collection is kind of green-ish, bathroom pink-ish and household specific products have a kind of yellow-brown colour of the liquid. I like colour coordination so for me it works perfectly. I would be much happier to display them outside of the cupboards, as they are products of a similar design and colour rather than a colourful mish-mash of products we all usually have, this would just drive me crazy all the time.

Most of the interior collection has a really nice and interesting smell – there is mango, coconut and lime, sandalwood, orange and ginger, ylang ylang and my personal favourite apple and mint.

The apple and mint fragrance belongs to the Glass and Mirror Cleaner. This product comes in 500ml spray with the top bottle. Sharing the house with a gloopy Newfoundland can only mean one thing – there is always something to clean and we like mirrors. We have a mirror in every room in the house (except for the front room at the moment) and they get dirty on a daily basis. There are some things which you can ignore when your house isn’t sparkly clean but a mirror for me isn’t one of them. I simply can’t stand looking into a mirror and sharing the view of myself with loads of dog slobber (and if you are wondering how come dog slobber gets onto a mirror… well, it gets everywhere including the ceiling, so hey ho…)
When it comes to cleaning mirrors and windows for years I used just one product and one brand only. Everything else that I have tried just wasn’t good enough, but Iron & Velvet actually is. Iron & Velvet Glass and Mirror Cleaner not only smells amazing but what’s most important is it cleans the mirror and glass with ease. For a normal family living in a normal living condition without a “slobber machine” which works 24/7 dirty mirrors might not be such a problem but for us it is… believe me. You, my lovely readers, might struggle with water stains or dry speckles after toothpaste… I have to deal with slobber. If Iron & Velvet Glass and Mirror Cleaner works for me, it will for sure work for you as well. And it is not just the fact that it cleans the mirror and leaves them sparkly… to some degree most products will do this… what gets me is the ease of the cleaning process. It is almost like spray and wipe, no scrubbing necessary… it is brilliant! Same with the glass; our conservatory doors have never looked better.

Hmmm I am not even half way there and my post is well over 1200 words long. Ok, I think I will stop now and if you want to discover more about Iron & Velvet you should place an order.

But before I go I just want to give a special recognition to Iron & Velvet Floor Cleaner. It is so efficient and works like magic. All pet owners know how hard it is to clean dried muddy paw prints… well for Iron & Velvet this isn’t a challenge at all! I hate mopping in general because I find it hideous and very tiring but with Iron & Velvet I hate this chore just a little bit less.

So from me Iron & Velvet gets big thumbs up.

Special note to Iron & Velvet: I really like your products guys and I think you are creating something special!

As for you my lovely readers:

What are your favourite cleaning products or brands?

Did you try Iron & Velvet yet?

* Products were provided free of charge for review purposes. The opinions expressed in this review are honest and my own.

7 Wonders Of Toothpaste – unusual uses you may never have heard about before

Toothpaste is an everyday essential, it can be found in every home and it is used every day (twice I day I would hope), but there is so much more to it than just a cleaner of teeth.

A few weeks ago I picked up some old silver spoons at the car boot sale; they were lovely but very dirty and discoloured… Guess what I used to clean them? Yes, you are right, toothpaste. This gave me an idea… a selection of all known to me uses for the wonder that is toothpaste.

So here you go… my selection of 7 toothpaste wonders.

Metal Cleaner

Just as stated above it works wonders on silver, gold, brass or any other kind of dirty metal for that matter. Simply use a cloth or the soft side of a sponge, wet it, apply some toothpaste and rub it in for a bit. You will see the dirt removed in no time.

First Aid

Burns and bites can be treated with toothpaste. It is especially effective on mosquito’s bites as these are extremely itchy. Just pop a small amount of toothpaste onto the affected area and you will feel the relief within a few minutes. The same applies to burns, a little toothpaste can stop burns from blistering (just remember I am talking about minor burns which do not involve an open wound).

Beauty Routine

Due to its ingredients toothpaste can be used in many ways to help us with our every day beauty routine.
First of all it works as a perfect hand cleaner. It will help to get rid of unwanted smells like garlic or onion, but this isn’t all… it also works as a finger nail cleaner. Have you ever gone gardening and forgot to put gloves on… if you did, you know how hard it is to wash your nails afterwards. The next time you are in this situation simply rub them with toothpaste and it will be much easier to get them back to their full glory.
Secondly it can help to reduce facial blemishes. It helps spots dry out so just put a small amount of toothpaste onto the affected area and leave overnight.

General Cleaner

Dirty shoes, irons, carpet or clothes stains or even crayon stains on painted walls can be treated with toothpaste. Simply treat affected, stained area with a damp cloth and a bit of toothpaste; repeat if needed. It really works great on scratched leather shoes, coats, handbags etc; it minimises the marks leaving the leather looking much better. It also works perfectly on the dirty soles of trainers; it can bring those whites back to life.

Anti-Scratch Remedy

CD and DVDs get scratched like everything else. A bit of toothpaste magic can help. It also works well on car headlights or bikes for that matter. Scratched headlight give less light so treating them with toothpaste every now and then can be highly beneficial. It will also work on your smartphone screen or a tablet if you are not protecting it with a screen protector.

Stinky Smell Removal

Every parent knows that baby bottles after repeated use develop a sour-milk smell, which simply doesn’t want to go away. Rub some toothpaste inside the bottle and pop it into dishwasher. It will remove the smell and leave your bottle smelling nice and fresh yet again.

Defogger

This is perfect for any goggles – skiing, swimming and diving… it will work all the same. Simply rub a small portion of toothpaste into each lens, rub gently, rinse and… No more foggy goggles!

That’s it. This is my list of unusual uses for toothpaste.

I just want to add that standard, ordinary, old-fashioned toothpaste works best. You really don’t want any triple colours malarkey or a whitening type (this can leave bleach marks on fabrics) or anything with scrubbing particles inside of it… just use a cheap white, smooth toothpaste.

Also do not scrub like a mad man (or woman). Use it in a gentle manner with a soft damp cloth. It is much better to repeat the process if needed than over scrub and leave unwanted marks.

Did you ever use toothpaste in any of these ways?

And if you know of any other uses for it, please share.