Yesterday a few family members were going to try ear candles, and someone mentioned that putting a little Vaseline on the bottom of the candle helps create a better barrier or vacuum for the ear candle to work more effectively. This turned the gears in my brain about what other uses there are for this substance found in nearly every American household.
Vaseline has been around since the late 1800s, and is one of the common every-day products we sometimes take for granted until we need it. Made from petroleum, Vaseline is gentle and harmless and useful in many different areas of your household. Here are some common and not-so-commonly known uses for this wonder product, which also happens to be very cheap.
Beauty & Skin Care
Vaseline’s most common use is as an ointment used for moisturizing dry skin and healing mild skin irritations. Beyond this, Vaseline is useful as a cosmetic substitute for the following:
- Gentle and effective make-up remover
- Night cream – effectively locks in moisture without clogging pores
- Base for homemade eyeliner and blush (mixed with food coloring)
- Lip balm/moisturizer
- Split-end treatment
- Spray tan stain protectant
- Body scrub (combine with sea salt)
Other useful beauty tips:
- Place a dab of Vaseline on your pulse points before you spray on perfume. It will last twice as long.
- When dyeing your hair, apply Vaseline to your hairline to protect your skin from stains.
Stain Removal & More
When you think of common household stain removers, you probably don’t immediately think of Vaseline, but it is effective for many stains and other common household situations. You can use Vaseline to:
- Remove lipstick stains from teeth and makeup stains from clothes and linens
- Lift water marks or gum from wood
- Keep jar lids from sticking
- Lubricate threads on outdoor light bulbs
- Easily remove wax from candle holders (coat with Vaseline before burning candles)
- Keep your carved pumpkins fresh
- Improve the effectiveness of ear candles
- Stop corrosion on car batteries
- Stop a squeaky faucet
- Shine shoes
As you can see, Vaseline has many uses within your home and should have no trouble retaining its place in your bathroom cabinet. Using Vaseline for these and other household purposes can save you time, energy, and money spent on less effective products.
Although there has been some concern that Vaseline could be harmful to the body over time (after all, it is a petroleum product), there has been no proof of this. In any case, there are certainly many other substances much more harmful than a reasonable use of Vaseline.
Try one of these new uses for Vaseline and see how much money you can save. Better yet, find your own new uses and share them with others.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
These are some great tips for the use of Vaseline. I’ve been using it for years along the hairline when coloring my hair. It works perfect. No stains!!
also great on eyebrows for moisture during the dry months of winter