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Household Uses for Soap

A bar of soap serves more purposes than just cleaning us!

Heidi Stonehill
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A bar of soap serves more purposes than just cleaning us! Here are some of our favorite uses for soap around the house.

What soap is to the body, laughter is to the soul.

  1. A drawer will slide more smoothly and quietly if you rub both sides and the underside with soap.
  2. To lubricate a stubborn zipper, rub soap on both sides while closed, then unzip it and rub soap over the opened teeth.
  3. Protect windowpanes, doorknobs, hardware, glass doors, and switch plates when painting by coating them with soapsuds. Paint spatters will settle on the suds, and both can be washed away together.
  4. A squeaky hinge gets the soap! Wedge moist soap between the doorframe and hinge, and work the door back and forth; also rub soap directly onto the hinge.
  5. Place unwrapped soap in drawers, closets, and empty suitcases to prevent musty odors.
  6. To make a saw slide more smoothly and easily, coat both sides with soap. The cutting edge will go through any wood much faster.
  7. To halt squeaks in floorboards, work a little moist soap into the cracks between the boards.
  8. Loosen a tight ring by rubbing soap over the finger. The ring will slide off when the hand is washed.
  9. To pick up bits and pieces of broken glass safely, rub a damp bar of soap over the area where glass has splintered, then shave off the surface of the soap of which the glass has adhered. Wrap these soap “peelings” in newspaper and discard.
  10. Prevent a watering can from dripping by rubbing moistened soap under the lip or spout.
  11. To loosen a stiff door lock, lubricate the key by rubbing it with soap.
  12. Rub sled runners generously with soap for a slicker ride.
  13. Pins and needs will go through material more easily if you first stick them in a bar of soap.
  14. To prepare paper logs for a cozy fire, roll old newspapers tightly into small logs, tie firmly, and soak them in soapy water. Stand them on end to drain and dry.
  15. Planning to cook outdoors? First coat the bottom surfaces of pots and pans with soap; soot will wash off with the soap afterward.
  16. To keep eyeglasses from steaming in cold weather, rub both sides of each lens with soapy fingers, and then polish.

Have you tried any of these tricks? Let us know!

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Household Tips
About The Author

Heidi Stonehill

Heidi Stonehill is the executive editor for The Old Farmer’s Almanac, where she focuses much of her time on managing content development for the Almanac’s line of calendars. Read More from Heidi Stonehill

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Comments

Cathrine (not verified)

3 years 4 months ago

Soap Brows are now a "thing"! Using a bar of soap to groom brows allows them to stay in place all day and does not interfere with sunblock or makeup. Take a brow brush or spoolie and rub it gently over a bar of soap (I use a glycerin soap like Pears, or a bar of pure castile like Kirks--no perfume)Then brush eyebrows up and into place. If you use brow pencil or powder use the soap first then color where needed. I find that my brows stay well groomed all day without looking "made up" or shiny.

Bobbi L. (not verified)

3 years 4 months ago

Soap or shaving cream used for anti- fog purposes can degrade any coatings you have on the lenses. Probably good for plain glass lenses with no coatings on them.

Orange head (not verified)

5 years 2 months ago

Also works on squeaky engine fan belts. Run the bar inside the belt while the engine is off to lubricate and quiet squeaks.

Bertha (not verified)

5 years 2 months ago

I have used a bar of soap to do all of the things mentioned in your article. Another use for a bar of soap is when your new shoes rub the back of your heel. Rub the the back of the shoe with a bar of soap. This also works if there is a place in the shoe that rubs your foot painfully. Just reach in with your soap and rub the spot on the shoe.

Robert Carney (not verified)

7 years 10 months ago

Place 3-5 old slivers of soap, fully-dried, into a sandwich bag with a zip lock. Puncture some holes in the sandwich bag to allow the soap's scent to escape. Place the sandwich bags in your clothes drawers. This will prevent them from developing any odors except for a clean soapy-smell.

Walt Carter (not verified)

8 years ago

My mother, born in the smokey Mountains in 1917, used a small piece of softened soap covered by a bandage to draw out splinters and to cause boils and pimples
to come to a head. IT WORKED!

Evelyn Morales (not verified)

9 years 6 months ago

Rub/scrape a wood screw across a bar of soap before screwing it in for a much easier time. Just put that old small scrap of soap in your toolbox instead of throwing it away.

cheryl bristow (not verified)

3 years 3 months ago

I am near sixty and have done many of these but not all. I enjoyed the reminder.

Cris (not verified)

12 years 6 months ago

Place an unwrapped bar of soap under the bottom sheet of your bed near your feet to stop night leg cramps.

I didn't believe this when I heard it, but thought it wouldn't hurt, so I tried it, having awful leg cramps. It works! I don't know why and don't care, but it's a miracle. No drugs needed!