Even if you love liquid soap, don’t give up on the traditional bar soap — it can be used for many wonderful tasks at home! After choosing your favorite brand for its pleasant scent, why not use it for various household chores? The following guide highlights the most important uses of soap in household tasks that can transform your home into a cleaner, fresher place with just a few simple steps.
Soap for Household Tasks
Hand soap
Fixing sticky drawers and sliding doors:
When drawers or sliding doors don’t open smoothly, rub a bar of soap on the edges or the tracks. This makes everything slide easily and gives fast, effective results.
Refreshing drawers and bags:
You can store scented soap pieces inside drawers, handbags, or even your car to keep them smelling fresh. Remove any wrapper and wrap the soap in a cloth. It also works great to remove bad odors from shoes.
Easing furniture assembly:
If you have trouble screwing bolts into wooden furniture, coat the bolt threads with a little soap. You can also use soap to mark wood for cutting — it makes the saw glide easier through the wood.
Hiding small nail holes:
If you see small holes on your walls after moving pictures, rub a piece of soap that matches your wall color on the hole to fill it temporarily before painting.
Preventing paint splatter:
When painting glass edges or mirrors, rub a bar of soap on the adjacent glass surface. If paint splashes, it will be easier to wipe off. This method is faster than taping edges.
Loosening a stiff lock:
If your door lock is stiff, rub the key on dry soap to coat it, then insert and turn the key repeatedly. This will make the lock easier to use.
Preventing fog on mirrors and glasses:
If you hate foggy mirrors after a hot shower, rub dry soap on the mirror glass and then wipe off the residue with a dry cloth. This works for sunglasses and prescription glasses too.
Protecting furniture from pets:
Instead of commercial sprays, try rubbing a bar of soap on wooden furniture legs or other household items. Pets like puppies, cats, and rabbits dislike the taste of soap, so it helps protect your furniture.
Protecting plants:
Hang a piece of soap on shrubs or grate a bar coarsely. Use a mesh bag or old stockings to hang soap easily around plants.
Easier stove cleaning:
Before heating a cast iron or aluminum pan, rub its bottom with a wet bar of soap to help clean soot afterward.
Freeing stuck zippers:
Run dry soap over zipper teeth to make it slide smoothly.
Removing tough stains:
Most soaps can help remove greasy or muddy stains.
Stopping squeaks:
Rub dry soap on squeaky door hinges or floorboards, then test if the squeak stops.
Homemade Liquid Soap Recipe
Save money by making your own liquid soap! Grate 113 grams of bar soap, mix with 4 cups of boiling water, stir until dissolved, let cool, then pour into a soap dispenser. Keep leftovers in a cool place and shake well before each use.
Soap Solutions to Repel Household Insects
Repelling ants:
When ants invade, first set traps, then clean ant trails to remove pheromones attracting more ants. Dissolve 120 grams of grated soap in 4 cups of hot water, pour into a spray bottle, spray ant trails, and then wash the area.
Preventing garden pests:
Soap is a safe insecticide to protect your plants. Mix 1 tablespoon of grated soap with 1 gallon of water and spray affected plants weekly. This treats mites, aphids, thrips, whiteflies, leafhoppers, mealybugs, and scale insects. Avoid scented or moisturizing soaps; use gentle soaps like Castile soap suitable for plants.
Post a Comment