Over Thirty Ways to Reuse Old Toothbrushes
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Even though the American Dental Association recommends that you replace your toothbrush every 3-4 months (or when the bristles get frayed), that doesn't mean it has to go straight to the garbage can. Toothbrushes still have a use beyond their initial life. Not only will you get more bang for your buck, but you'll also be helping the environment.
- Use the toothbrush in your bathroom to clean the build-up around faucets (taps) and in between
tile grouting. It is also useful around light fittings in the bathroom where the steam and paint meet to form a congealed, sticky growth.
- Use them for cleaning around the kitchen sink, including the faucets (taps) and the special sealant around the edge of the sink that prevents water leaking through.
- Old toothbrushes are useful for many different cleaning jobs around the house: cleaning tools, removing small oil/grease marks off tools/benches, etc.
- If you dread that once a year external window cleaning, include a toothbrush as part of the cleaning kit. It is great for corners of panes, the runner edges of windows and any other gaps where dirt gathers in windows.
- Old toothbrushes can be used to clean electronic components if you don't have a solder "sucker". Using a soldering iron, just heat the solder joint you want to remove the solder from and then, as quickly as you can, use the toothbrush to brush the solder out of the joint and away from the component. Be sure to remove any and all of the solder you have brushed out from where it splashes in the surrounding circuit area or you can use a cloth or paper to cover the area in the direction you plan to brush the solder to act as a shield. This desoldering method works surprisingly well and you can get quite a few uses from the toothbrush before you you have to replace it due to melted bristles.
- Toothbrushes can be useful as scrubbing brushes for the dirt on potatoes and pumpkins.
- Consider using a toothbrush to clean your keyboard and monitor. Avoid using a toothbrush on LCD and other flat panel monitors as the stiff bristles will scratch the surface.
- In warm soapy water, clean between your fork tines before general cutlery washing.
- Toothbrushes are excellent for cleaning silver; they get into the crevices where nothing else can go.
- Clean mud off the bottoms of shoes. Better yet, use a toothbrush to clean any poop you might've stepped on, because you can throw it away immediately and it'll have served a good life.
- Clean mobility scooter wheels.
- Clean bicycle chains.
- They work great on jewelry.
- Inside threads of baby bottles.
- Battery terminals in a car.
- Clean your nails after gardening.
- Clean the cheese grater.
- Spot-clean laundry, upholstery and carpet.
- Use the toothbrush to clean off any build-up around the blade of a Can opener.
- Clean electric razors.
- Great for cleaning various firearms.
- Before vacuuming, use a toothbrush to get accumulated dust from the corners of carpeted steps.
- Run an old toothbrush under warm water and gently brush your lips to make your lips kissable.
- Old toothbrushes are good for remedying mascara mishaps -- like clumps on your eyelashes or black marks below your eyes.
- Use an old toothbrush on unruly eyebrows. Why buy an eyebrow brush when you can use an old toothbrush?
- When you're cleaning combs or brushes, use a toothbrush to scrub between the bristles.
- If you're an artist, toothbrushes make interesting paint strokes. You can make great speckle textures (for rock surface textures etc) by dipping the toothbrush bristles in thin pigment, holding it near the surface you want to texture, and running a stick or toothpick across the bristles.
- Write on the handle with permanent marker and use them as stakes to identify plants in the garden.
- They are also quite useful as paint stirrers for small paint pots.
- Stiff toothbrushes are also very useful for removing splinters. Simply soften the area with warm water then "brush" the splinter out!
- You can use a soft or medium (NOT hard) brush to assist your hamster or other small long-haired pet in their grooming process. These animals are generally able to keep themselves very clean without any help but if you feel the need to help them (if something is caught in their fur or if they seem to be neglecting a certain spot) simply run the dry toothbrush through their fur in short strokes. Rinse and dry the brush and repeat as necessary. DO NOT use water to clean your pet as this will remove essential oils from their coat.
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