Pocket Change - Shopping Blog

Q-tips are such an inexpensive item that many people buy in cases of 300.  If you are like me with so many on hand, you are probably wondering what alternative ways you can incorporate this stick of cotton into your life.  Here is a list of 10 alternative uses for your extra Q-Tips.

1. Makeup Tool – Use the cotton tip to smudge eyeliner and eyeshadow for a softer look.  You can also dip a clean Q-tip in some makeup remover to easily remove eyeliner, eyeshadow and mascara mistakes with great precision.
2. Detail Your Car – Use Q-tips to clean the vent slits and the small grooves on your dashboard by dipping the tip in water or Armor All.
3. Painting Tool – If you are painting with acrylics or oils, you will find that Q-tips are a painters favorite tool to do small touch ups of random paint drippings.  Also painters like to cut the cotton tip off, at a desired angle, so that they can add small details and texture to their oil paintings.
4. Tile Grout Cleaner – If you have white tile grout on your counter top, back-splash or floors, you will find that after some time they start looking dull.  To disinfect and brighten your white grout you’ll need a handful of Q-tips and a small bowl of Clorox Clean Up with Bleach.  Dip a Q-tip in the solution and intricately cover all of your grout with the solution. Wait a few minutes until you see your tile brightening underneath the solution, then rinse clean.  This Clorox solution contains bleach, so immediately rinse off of any colored tiles or else your color might fade.
5. Clean Behind Faucets – If your bathroom and kitchen faucets are like mine, there is a small reservoir of collected water behind the fixture and the lip of the sink.  Use the length of the Q-tip to wipe clean that reservoir while still keeping your hands clean.
6. Ink Cartridge Cleaner – Since I don’t use my printer that often, I find that ink dries on the cartridge to make any future printing a mess.  What I do is take a dry Q-tip and wipe away any dried ink from my ink cartridge.  Do not apply pressure to scrub ink off or you might damage something.
7. Craft Sticks - My friend and I use Q-tips instead of wooden craft sticks when we want a flower or a bow to stand off of a project.  Working with styrofoam we hot glue gun the back of the flower to the top of the Q-tip, let it dry then cut the other cotton tip off at an angle to glide easily into the styrofoam base.
8. Keyboard Cleaner – You should clean your work keyboard once a month at the least.  While the power is off, shake your keyboard upside down to loosen dust and crumbs.  Then dip a Q-tip in rubbing alcohol and wipe down the top and sides of every key.  This might take some time, but you will be sure to kill any bacteria from sneezing and eating at your desk.
9. Seals Envelopes – If you are planning a wedding, you might not want to lick all 100 invitation envelopes closed.  Instead, dip one or two Q-tips into a small bowl of water, shake excess water off then wipe on your envelopes for the moisture you need to make a secure  bond.
10. Spot Treat Clothes – If you drop a spot of food on your clothes and you know you won’t be able to wash it right away, dip a Q-tip in some fresh water then into your laundry detergent.  Rub that solution over the front of the stain until the cotton tip picks up the spot.  Repeat with clean Q-tips and solution on the front and back of the stain until you are satisfied the spot won’t stain.  Then toss the clothes into the dirty laundry basket for future cleaning.

There are only 10 Q-tip usage tips here, but I am sure there are many more.  I am curious to know – what do you use your Q-tips for?  Leave me and other readers a comment about how you use Q-tips in your life!

- Desiree