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Use toothpaste to remove crayon from surfaces/walls. Rub in and wipe off! My toddler colored on my living room wall one day (just left the room for a second!) with non-washable crayon. The bright orange picture he drew came off instantly with toothpaste (use paste not gel)! Also works on other surfaces such as tables and floors. Toothpaste also works well for various other marks/messes (i.e. scuffs on the floor and cooked on messes on flat stove tops).
By April
Somehow the head of one of my garden statues got broken off. My hubby glued it back on, but there was a still a gap at the break, and you could see the dark glue, not nice.
So, knowing the power of plain toothpaste, I filled in the gaps over the glued part with the white toothpaste, then applied a little being craft paint to blend it in - Voila! It's beautifully mended, and the break hardly shows.
By pam munro from Los Angeles, CA
I use a small amount of baking soda toothpaste named after the maker of baking soda to wash my face with. It was just grainy enough and I know it felt a lot better on my face than any other exfoliater ever has. If you don't have the grainy kind of baking soda toothpaste, you can just put a pinch of baking soda into your regular toothpaste and use it. I also mixed this toothpaste with some Dove soap that was already on my face ready to rinse and it lathered up really nice with the toothpaste. I am always getting all hot and grimy from working in the yard. I wouldn't use the exfoliater too much on my sensitive skin.
I also think this would be a great cleaner for all over the house! I looked at the archives of this and found so many other uses for toothpaste. I am never throwing any away again. I never would have thought of filling nail holes with toothpaste as I read on ThriftyFun archive pages - Wow! I also realized that I need to keep my special needs adult child away from the red kinds of toothpaste, I just realized that today as I looked at the several tubes we have in the bathroom. It is the little things that pack a big punch and she is allergic to red food dye, food dye at all, or even clothes dye.
By Robyn Fed from Hampton, TN
Any brand of plain, white toothpaste (not gel) will almost always remove a water stain (left by a glass) from your wood table. Rub enough toothpaste over the stain to cover it completely - you don't need a lot (a little more than a thin film is plenty). Leave the toothpaste on the stain until completely dry (this may take a few hours and although it may be awful to look at, I have never ruined a piece of wood by leaving the paste on overnight).
The mild abrasives in toothpaste make it an inexpensive cleaner for silver including some styles of jewelry. This is a guide about toothpaste for cleaning silver.
This is a guide about cleaning with toothpaste. Regular toothpaste is mildly abrasive and can be used for many cleaning jobs.
Ask a QuestionHere are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community or ask a new question.
What can you use old tubes of toothpaste for?
By Janice Urban from Hays, KS
Toothpaste is great for so many things.
It is a non-toxic mild abrasive. I've used it on an old toothbrush to clean marks off of my running shoes, and even to clean the shoelaces themselves (wet the shoelaces and then scrub the toothpaste in with the toothbrush - then rinse). It's also great for cleaning jewelry - just don't brush too hard because it is an abrasive, and don't use it on softer gems such as emeralds or on jewelry with a softer gold - ie: 18c or up).
If you do a google search you can probably come up with many more ideas!
I use outdated toothpaste as toothpaste, but I know you might be fussy about that. Use the toothpaste to fill holes made in the wall by nails when you move your pictures.
If you get as much of the toothpaste as you can down to the cap end and then cut the tube with scissors about an inch from the cap end you'll have quite a few more brushings. You'd be surprised at how much toothpaste is wasted.
ThriftyFun is one of the longest running frugal living communities on the Internet. These are archives of older discussions.
What can you safely use toothpaste for, other than brushing your teeth?
I have heard using white toothpaste (not the whitening toothpaste) on breakouts works. Just dab some on the breakout with a Q-tip and by morning it's gone. Also, for the blind, but painful breakouts use Preparation H. It takes down the swelling and the next night use the toothpaste. Always use the treatments at night as to not disturb your skin.
By Kathy (11/14/2004)
By ThriftyFun
You can use toothpaste to clean jewelry. Put some on the piece and let set over night. The I use my electric toothbrush on it the next morning while I'm in the shower. This "can not" be used on pearls (the real ones) as it will damage the finish. (11/14/2004)
By Julie
If the toothpaste is plain white, you can use it like "spackle" to fill nail holes in your apartment walls before you move out. (11/15/2004)
By Jean
Use some caution with the toothpaste acne suggestion. My daughter used this method, because it worked so well. But after she got older she found it had damaged her skin. Her face now looks kind of rough.
Apparently she used too much for too long.
Pats (11/15/2004)
By patsaz
We used to use toothpaste to put up posters without damaging the wall. Don't use it for collector posters though, as it can damage the ink over time. (11/17/2004)
I've always been told that you can use toothpaste for bug bites. It will help stop the itching and reduce swelling. I've tried this along with some of my friends and it has worked. One day I told my history teacher this and she didn't take my advice and her bite got way worse. Toothpaste is handy dandy, just like Steve's notebook. Oh and it works well on bee stings. (01/13/2005)
By ms billy bob favorite student
You can use white tooth paste to clean your running shoes. (03/02/2005)
By Sam
I use toothpaste for cleaning my nails. Just put some on an old manual toothbrush or nailbrush, wet nails and the brush really good with water and scrub under your nails, you will be amazed. I think this works because nails and teeth are made of the same "stuff". It also showed me that my face wash does nothing to dirt. Big plus point is, while soap, etc. makes my nails annoyingly soft, toothpaste does no such thing, just cleans to sparkling. Mouth freshener gels also work and are not so sharp in their flavor. (03/07/2005)
By a thrifty woman
I use white toothpaste for grinding steel and Aluminum. It gives me a mirror finish in my machining operation.
Regards.
(03/29/2005)
By Raghavendra
It works to take stains out of carpet. (02/26/2006)
By bobberly
White toothpaste (not gel) will remove crayon from painted walls. Rub the marks with the toothpaste and a damp rag. Wipe with clean water to get rid of residue. (02/27/2006)
By Jean
If you rub some toothpaste on a scratched CD it will polish away the scratches. (03/11/2006)
By Steve
I know that you can use toothpaste to placate burns, a friend of mine used it before and it helped, right after you get burnt put it on. (05/02/2006)
By kolo
I use toothpaste for my showers, works well, it is very refreshing. Once in a while, I use it as facial cleanser. (10/19/2006)
By Blues
I use toothpaste and water to clean my silver, it really works. (01/19/2007)
I use my non gel toothpaste to clean my diamond ring. It looks new after I'm done. Just squeeze out a little on a toothbrush, wet your ring, and scrub fairly gently, then rinse it and dry it. (02/06/2007)
By Vixen
Use toothpaste for DVDs. If the scene freezes take the DVD out and put toothpaste on it. Clean it off and it works. (03/29/2007)
You have to try toothpaste on clothes, it really works it can take out all kinds of stains. Try it. Good luck. (07/17/2007)
By John
It works on bug bites and such because it dries them out. For the same reason it works to dry out other kinds of sores and blisters. I have a friend who swears by it for his cold sores. (11/13/2007)
By Robin Payton
