A few weeks back I wrote a post about my new water flosser, which I bought after being gently reprimanded by my dental hygienist. I freely admit that I was terrible at flossing regularly, but my water flosser changed everything! I use it every single night, and I’m sure my teeth and gums are doing much better for it. But that also means that I now have several boxes of string floss gathering dust in my bathroom drawer. So what’s a resourceful blogger to do? Figure out how else to use it, of course! ;-)
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After some good old fashioned digging, I’ve come up with 9 unique uses for floss that I know you’re going to love. It turns out that dental floss makes a handy solution for all kinds of household problems! Who knew? :-) And by the way, if you know of any brilliant uses for floss that I missed, I’d love to hear about them! Leave a comment at the bottom of this post and we can continue our floss discussion there! (My dental hygienist would be so proud!)
9 Clever Uses For Floss
1. String Up Popcorn
Dental floss makes a perfectly sturdy material for stringing up popcorn or cranberries during the holidays. You could also use floss to make Cheerio or necklaces, or any other craft that requires string!
2. Shoelace Substitute
If you find yourself with a broken shoelace, floss can help! Replace the broken lace with a length of floss to keep it tied. The sturdy floss will keep your shoe on until you can find a pair of replacement shoelaces.
3. Cookie Helper
Use a piece of floss to help separate cookies from the tray after baking. Just slide the floss underneath the cookies, and it will free them without causing any smushing or crumbling. (Use unwaxed, unflavored floss to prevent and flavor transfer to your cookies.)
4. Cutting & Slicing
Use a piece of floss like a knife to cut fruits, cheeses, hard-boiled eggs, cakes, and more! You can even use floss to remove skin from fish. I always use floss when slicing cinnamon rolls before baking. It’s the best way to do it without smashing them! (Unwaxed, unflavored floss is a good choice here too.)
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5. Start A Fire
You can use waxed floss to get a jumpstart on your next campfire! Just wrap a bit of waxed floss around some of your kindling, place it in your fire pit, and light. You’ll have a roaring fire in no time!
6. Kitchen Twine
Certain recipes call for food to be wrapped with kitchen twine before cooking. If you don’t happen to have any twine on hand, you can use floss instead! Unwaxed, unflavored floss will work best, and you’ll get the same results as using twine. (And rest assured, it won’t burn or melt during cooking!)
7. Drip Silencer
Have a dripping faucet that’s driving you up the wall? You can use floss to silence the drip until you have a chance to get it repaired. Simply tie one end of a piece of floss around the end of the faucet, then guide the other end into the drain. As the water drips, it will cling to the floss and slide noiselessly into the drain. (How clever is that?)
8. Plant Support
Use floss to help provide support to climbing plants! Just use a short piece of floss to tie the plant gently to some kind of sturdy support, like a dowel or piece of rebar. Make sure to tie the floss loosely to allow room for movement and growth!
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9. Sewing Thread
Use a piece of floss as thread to fix a button, patch a hole, or for any other on-the-fly sewing job. Floss is much more durable than regular thread, so it’s perfect for reinforcing that are susceptible to falling off. It’s also great for repairing torn screens, mesh, and more!
What’s your favorite “alternative” use for floss?
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When my daughter started pointe, we learned that you have to sew the ribbons and elastic onto pointe shoes by hand. Needless to say, it’s a little difficult to sew through a pointe shoe, but I founded that waxed dental floss worked beautifully for this because the wax made it easier to glide through the fabric of the shoe, and was also very strong. You certainly don’t want the ribbons or elastic to break while dancing.
Please warn your readers NOT to put the floss-strung popcorn or cranberries out for the birds when the season is over! Push the tidbits off of the floss, and immediately put the floss into the trash.
Many well-intentioned people just hang the strings outside. Birds become entangled, strangled, and get the floss wrapped around their necks, wings and legs.
I’ve saved a few birds, but sadly have seen others die.
Thanks for the warning Dorothy!
When I was a teenage, years ago, I had a denim skirt with metal buttons. The buttons kept falling off. The metal seemed to be cutting the thread. Once I sewed them on with dental floss, they never fell of again and I never had to do a touch up sew again. So great if you need a heavy duty sewing solution. You can even touch up the white with a felt pen to match
Wonderful for slicing sheet cakes. It doesn’t ruin the flowers or writing.
I use waxed unflavored floss to slice a cheesecake. I have never found anything else as successful because you can just toss the ‘slicer’ afterwards.
Tried it with plants? That would be an asterisk for me, as it’s a little too “sharp”, even when tied loosely and gently. Old stockings are much kinder to plants.
It’s also great for stringing beads. Floss will never break from weight and – don’t quote me – it will never deteriorate.
Although a water flosser can compliment your dental hygiene regime, there is no substitute for string floss. It should not be “gathering dust” in your drawer … you should be using it every night!
Since I was a teenager, I’ve used dental floss to restring broken costume jewelry.
I use floss for cleaning around the corners of my sink. It works great for sliding in there to pull out gunk!
Great tip!