15 Unique Uses for Cotton Balls

Most people have cotton balls somewhere in their house. If not, they are relatively cheap to buy and easy to keep on hand. While normally recognized as a device to staunch the flow of blood from a wound or cleansing the skin, cotton balls are not often noticed for their other uses. Here are fifteen great ways to use cotton balls, some are oh so normal and some are not quite so ordinary.

1. An easy way to scent any room with your favorite cologne or fragrance is to saturate a cotton ball in the scent and drop it into your vacuum cleaner bag. As you vacuum the room it will slowly release the scent and permeate the room.

2. When the refrigerator starts to stink most of us go through the dreaded task of emptying it out and washing it down inside. Now there is another way to deodorize the beast. Dampen a cotton ball with a little bit of vanilla extract and place it anywhere on a shelf inside the fridge. Over time the vanilla will refresh the smell inside as well as deodorize the air.

3. When it comes to fighting mildew we all know that it's a lengthy and never ending battle to clean those hard to reach places. The best way to rid of the mildew in those crevices is to soak some cotton balls in bleach and place them in the hard to get to spots. Leave them there for a few hours and let them work their magic. Come back later and rinse with warm water and watch the sparkle return.

4. Use cotton balls to pad the end of drawer runners to help keep little fingers from getting crushed. This will prevent the drawer from closing all the way so that when children do put their hands in the way the drawer will not close on them.

5. Having long nails is not always easy. Sometimes they tend to puncture holes in rubber gloves worn during cleaning tasks. One way to prolong the life of your rubber gloves is to shove cotton balls down into the tips of the fingers. This will act as a soft barrier between your nails and the rubber.

Cotton Balls

Credit: Kelly Spies

Copyright: Kelly Spies