Like most people, I have an assortment and all kinds of brushes. I have different kinds of makeup brushes, a cosmetic brush, a facial brush, a lip brush, an eyebrow brush, a cheek brush, hairbrushes, nail brushes, general cleaning brushes, toilet cleaning brushes, a bottle brush, a dust brush, oil painting brushes, a feather brush, kitchen brushes, bottle cleaning brushes, a mini brush for laundry, and a dustpan brush. In addition to all the different kinds of brushes that I have, my husband has paint brushes, paint roller brushes, a soft shoe brush, a wire shoe brush, wire polishing brushes for polishing, grinding brushes, a ceramic brush, carbon brushes, a car cleaning brush, a koi pond filter brush, and a brush mat. As if those brushes weren’t enough, we have a soft dog brush, a wire dog brush, a massage brush for our cats, a goat brush, and even more horse brushes. Out of all of those brushes, our retired toothbrushes are our most used brushes!
Here are 50 innovative ways that you can use your ‘retired’ toothbrushes:
- 1. Animals – Barn: During the summer, I use quite a few sticky flytraps. Instead of having to hang up the flytraps, I hang up toothbrushes upside down. I slide the flytrap over the brush part of the toothbrush and it is easy to replace. Since the toothbrushes and flytraps are high up on the barn’s ceiling, nobody except me knows that they are there.
- 2. Animals – Cats: I use toothbrushes to gently clean out the black dirt in our cats’ ears. They don’t mind it since it feels like a gentle massage to them.
- 3. Animals – Cats: Our younger cats love to play with toothbrushes. We place a toothbrush so that it will move when the cats touches it. The handle of the toothbrush can easily be stuck in a couch, a pet bed, or placed on the table. Sometimes we dip the brush part into catnip.
- 4. Animals – Dogs: Our dog likes to be brushed but he is very sensitive when it comes to his paws. He does enjoy the feeling of a soft gentle toothbrush though under and in between his claws.
- 5. Animals – Goats: I use a toothbrush to reach any stuck stones or dirt that is trapped under their feet.
- 6. Animals – Horse: I use a toothbrush to clean my other horse brushes, dandy brush, curry comb, or hoof pick. A toothbrush is gentle and small enough to get inside of my brushes and in between small spaces.
- 7. Animals – Horse: My horse loves to have her ear hairs gently brushed.
- 8. Animals – Horse: Sometimes I need to use something gentler than a hoof pick to clean my horse’s feet. Toothbrushes are great to clean around the frog and around the sides of the hoofs.
- 9. Animals – Horse: Toothbrushes are great to clean under a horse’s eye especially during the summer time when flies are a pest.
- 10. Bathroom – Water Flosser: If you have a Waterpik or other brand water flosser and lift up the water tank, you might see some unwanted water stains or dirt. Toothbrushes are great to clean that area as well as the controls on the water flosser since the bristles are gentle and won’t scratch the delicate surface.
- 11. Bathroom- Faucet: A toothbrush is the best brush to get closer, under, and around the faucet to remove ugly water stains.
- 12. Bathroom – Medicine Cabinet: No matter whether you have an aluminum medicine cabinet, a stainless steel medicine cabinet, or a wood medicine cabinet, a toothbrush is gentle enough to scrub on persistent stains and to get into the smallest corners.
- 13. Bathroom – Mirror: If you have a mirror in the bathroom that has a small thin edge, a toothbrush is stronger than a dust cloth to clean around the edge of the mirror.
- 14. Bathroom – Sink Hole Cover: Because of its long and soft bristles, a toothbrush is an excellent brush to clean around the bathroom sink hole cover without making any scratches.
- 15. Bathroom – Sink Hole: The slender long handle and soft bristles make a toothbrush an excellent tool to reach into the bathroom sink hole to clean out slime.
- 16. Bathroom – Toilet Seat: A toothbrush serves wonderfully to get between the toilet seat cover and the toilet top and into places that other brushes or cleaning cloths cannot get to.
- 17. Bathroom – Toilet Seat: Most bathroom toilet seats are screwed down into the ground. A toothbrush is long enough to reach behind the bathroom toilet seat to scrub around and along the screws to remove dirt or dust.
- 18. Bathroom – Toilet Tank: A toothbrush fits excellently behind the tank handle to clean out dust.
- 19. Garage – Garden Tractor: Even though my husband doesn’t mind, I don’t like to get the tires of my garden tractor scratched. A toothbrush has the perfect width on both ends to get into the grooves of the tires and to get out any stones or dirt.
- 20. Garage – Painting: My husband keeps a toothbrush with his painting brushes since it comes in handy when he wants to paint a small spot.
- 21. Garage – Shoes: We keep our shoes in the garage and use toothbrushes to remove dirt stuck in small spaces under the shoes.
- 22. Garage – Spider Webs: I use the back handle part of the toothbrush to get rid of spider webs from spaces that are too small to reach with other handles.
- 23. Garage – Tools: My husband uses toothbrushes for any tools that he wants to get clean without scratching them. Even the smallest tools can be cleaned with the small brush size found on the toothbrush.
- 24. Garage – Washing Machine: If you have ever wondered why your clothes have white spots or lint on them, it might be because your washing machine’s filter is dirty. Most washing machines have a filter located right above the rotating drum. Some filters can be completely removed while others cannot. The handle of a toothbrush is long enough to get into those filters and to remove problem-causing dirt.
- 25. Garden – Birdhouses: Occasionally our birdhouses get unsightly. I use toothbrushes to get rid of spots, spider webs, or other unwanted stains.
- 26. Garden – Hummingbird Feeders: We use toothbrushes to clean the holes in the hummingbird feeders. Sometimes those holes get filled with dust or dirt and the hummingbirds complain because they cannot get to the nectar.
- 27. Garden – Plants: I use the soft bristles of the toothbrush to clean off any spiders, bugs, or unwanted guests. I dip the toothbrush into dishwashing liquid and wipe down the leaves by holding one side with my hand and brushing the other side. It keeps any future unwanted guests off for quite a while.
- 28. Garden – Pots: I have some very small pots that I use when I first plant seeds. I store those very small pots on toothbrushes that are stuck firmly in soil. I have an organized selection and can always find even the smallest garden containers.
- 29. Garden – Stake: I use toothbrushes for the garden as a stick to support my young plants. I stick the brush part into the soil and only have the handle stick out. Since we save all of our ‘retired’ toothbrushes I usually have variety of colors to choose from and I match them with the color of my plants.
- 30. Kitchen – Faucet: Similar to the bathroom faucet, I use a toothbrush around the kitchen faucet to get rid of slime and water stains.
- 31. Kitchen – Ice Cube Makers: If your freezer has an automatic ice cube maker, a toothbrush is excellent to reach into the far back, around the coils, and into other difficult to reach places. You can also use the back of the toothbrush to loosen any stuck ice cubes.
- 32. Kitchen – Loose Strings: If you have any loose strings in your kitchen drawers, the string can be wrapped around a toothbrush. By keeping the brush part on the bottom, there is space between the handles and the string will not come out accidentally. Toothbrushes take very little space and several can be stored in a cup with different strings around them.
- 33. Kitchen – Microwave: The long gentle bristles of the toothbrush get into places that other brushes cannot get to, especially around the microwave window.
- 34. Kitchen – Refrigerator: If you have controls in the front of your refrigerator, you can use the bristles of the toothbrush to clean those controls.
- 35. Kitchen – Refrigerator: If you have temperature controls in your refrigerator or freezer, you can use your toothbrush not only to clean that area but also to move the temperature control buttons with the back end of the toothbrush.
- 36. Kitchen – Rubber Bands: If you have several rubber bands of different sizes in your kitchen, toothbrushes are great to hold those rubber bands. Different colored toothbrushes can be used for different sizes of rubber bands. All rubber bands can be neatly organized by simply placing the toothbrushes in a cup.
- 37. Kitchen – Sink Strainer: Toothbrushes are smaller than other kitchen brushes and can be used to remove unsightly stains in the holes of a kitchen sink strainer.
- 38. Kitchen – Stove: There are several places in, on, and around a stove that a toothbrush can get to where other brushes or cloths fail.
- 39. Kitchen – Toaster: A toothbrush is the best tool to get inside a toaster, to gently brush away dried bread, and to clean the sensitive small wires. IMPORTANT: Make sure the toaster is not plugged in! I always clean my toaster outside so that the birds can eat the dry bread crumbs.
- 40. Living Room – Fire Place: Toothbrushes are long, strong enough, and small enough to get into the farthest corners of a fireplace.
- 41. Living Room – Lamp Shade: There are many different ways to clean lampshades but I prefer using a toothbrush that is soft to get into all the little tiny spaces.
- 42. Living Room – Piano: I use a soft toothbrush to clean the sides of the piano keys.
- 43. Living Room – Picture Frames: The nice long handle and slender width of a toothbrush is excellent to get the dust away from around picture frames.
- 44. Living Room – TV Control: I used to get frustrated when cleaning my TV remote control with a cloth or a brush and accidentally change the settings. Since I use a toothbrush to clean our TV remote controls, I am not only able to avoid that problem but I am also able to clean the sides of the raised buttons on the remote.
- 45. Office – Computer: We use toothbrushes to clean out the outside surface dust from our computer fans. Getting those fans clogged can overheat a computer or laptop and cause it to shut down.
- 46. Office – Computer: To get rid of any viruses or bacteria, I sometimes use an antibacterial cloth under the toothbrush and gently wipe across the computer or laptop keyboard.
- 47. Office – Computer: Toothbrushes are gentle enough to clean around the keyboard on a computer or laptop.
- 48. Office – Oil Painting: I keep a toothbrush with my oil painting brushes since it creates some amazing effects.
- 49. Office – Telephone: Similar to using the toothbrush on the TV remote control, I use it for the phone, the fax machine, and other electronic equipment that I do not want to accidentally change any settings on.
- 50. And finally – we do keep a toothbrush in the glove compartment of our car, just in case there is another use for a toothbrush on the road that we have not thought of yet.
When reusing, recycling, and reinventing toothbrushes the way we do, it is important to remember not to spread any viruses or dirt. In our family, we have both electric toothbrushes and manual toothbrushes. We do not reuse the electric toothbrushes, only the manual ones. Toothbrushes that have been used for their originally intended purpose of cleaning teeth, we use for ‘dirt’ jobs. For the animals or cleaner jobs, we use the free toothbrushes that we get every time we visit the dentist. In either case, by the time we throw toothbrushes away, we know that we have gotten as much use out of them as possible.
More from Jasmine Thomas:
How to Celebrate Father’s Day: 50 Father’s Day Gift Ideas
How to Save and Earn Money in College: The 6 Most Important Tips
How I Save 30 – 50% on My Bills and Monthly Expenses
