Vaseline: 17 Life-Changing Hacks That Will Save You Money

You hear the name "Vaseline" and may think it only has a few uses, but this will make you miss out on one of the cheapest beauty remedies out there! We're not joking about this, Vaseline will change your life. Below, you'll find 19 unusual uses for Vaseline, and why this 140+-year-old product needs to become part of your daily routine. From keeping your cuticles and elbows from drying out, to preventing crazy streaks when you get a spray tan, we know we'll be buying a jar (get one through Amazon Prime here). Use it to mask split ends in-between trims, and soothe your skin after shaving! Ready to get a little lubricated? Let's get slippery! 1. Lipstick on Teeth Never get lipstick on your teeth again! Smear a little Vaseline on your teeth before applying lipstick and keep your chompers pearly white. This is a technique is used by beauty contestants, or those first learning to apply lipstick. instructables.com 2. Hair Dye Barrier To protect your skin from being dyed along with your hair, try creating a barrier on your forehead and around your ears with a thin layer of Vaseline. The petroleum jelly will protect your skin from absorbing the hair dye, allowing you to be a little messy when applying liberal amounts of dye to your hair. After dye application simply wipes the Vaseline off with a cloth. greatthingsfirst.com 3. Shine Your Boots Use some Vaseline to touch up your scuffed boots or heels, making them look good as new! Dab a clean soft cloth with a little Vaseline and gently rub into leather shoes or boots. Petroleum jelly is great for moisturizing leathers, making them shine, and giving them a little water resistance. instructables.com 4. Prevent Battery Corrosion Vaseline can also help outside the home, like in your car. By adding Vaseline to the terminals of car battery you can help prevent corrosion. The Vaseline forms a water-resistant barrier around the metal tops of the battery terminals, a place where acidic corrosion is likely to occur. Pop the hood of your car, and carefully smear a liberal amount of Vaseline on each terminal of the battery, being careful not to touch both terminals together with anything conductive. usatoday.com 5. Revive Dried Leather Vaseline is great rejuvenating skin, so why not on leather goods? This old baseball mitt was brought back to life by rubbing Vaseline into every stitch and seam and allowing it to sit for a while to really soak in, excess Vaseline was wiped off. If needed, apply another session of Vaseline to any stubborn areas after allowing the glove to rest for a day between applications. For the baseball enthusiasts who reject Vaseline on your glove, Harold Reynolds recommends Vaseline to help break in baseball gloves. gunook.com 6. Remove a Stuck Ring Vaseline is super slippery and can be used to loosen any stuck jewelry from your chubby digits. Smear a liberal amount on both sides of your stuck ring, then twist and work the ring back and forth on your finger to spread the Vaseline underneath the ring and between the metal and your skin. Then, gently pull the ring from your finger. pinterest.com 7. Remove Chewing Gum From Hair Getting gum in your hair is the absolute worst. Luckily, humble Vaseline can help remove even the stickiest chewing gum. Isolate the section of hair that has the gum stuck in it, then work a large gob of Vaseline into the gum to break up the gum elasticity. Take breaks by wiping the gum and Vaseline mix from your hair with a paper towel, then reapply Vaseline to the gum in hair again and continue working until all the gum has been broken down and removed. To remove the amount of gum shown in the picture took about 7 minutes. zoomzee.org 8. Put It on Small Cuts If you ever watch boxing, there's a reason why trainers apply Vaseline to the cuts on the fighters faces. Aside from being all slippery, the Vaseline also forms a barrier that can stop small cuts. After cleaning your cut you can apply a gob of Vaseline to the area directly over the cut, this will seal the wound which should prevent further bleeding and also provide a barrier to prevent infection. cadagile.com 9. Hairball Remedy Since petroleum jelly is a lubricant it can be used to help pets with hairballs. Some animals don't mind eating Vaseline straight, but for more finicky pets you can apply the petroleum jelly directly to the paws and they'll lick it off. Petroleum jelly is non-toxic, and in small quantities should be fine for pets. Be mindful that although a moderate amount of jelly is fine, too much can prevent the intestines from absorbing vitamins and may give your pet diarrhea. Feline Opines 10. Easy Open Jar Lids Keeping jar lids easy to open is simple with a little petroleum jelly. Smear a thin layer of Vaseline around the threaded side of a jar lid before screwing on the lid, the slippery jelly will prevent any stuck food from seizing the lid to the jar and should allow you to easily open those suborn jars. This works great for sticky foods with high sugar content, like honey, jam, or barbecue sauce. Instructables 11. Silences Squeaky Hinges Does the squeaky bedroom door drive you bonkers? Put some Vaseline on the hinges and enjoy the silence. It works great on doors, windows, cabinets and other noisy mechanisms, functioning as a lubricant. thefamilyhandyman.com 12. Loosens Light Bulbs If you have a light socket that has proven to be problematic in the past, coat the insides with petroleum jelly before you insert the next light bulb. It will help make removing that bulb much easier the next time. Flickr/Asian Development Bank 13. Clean Up Candle Wax It’s often inevitable that your gorgeous candle will drip or liquid wax will run over and harden where you don’t want it. By applying a coat of Vaseline to the insides of your candle holder or the rim of a candle jar or container, the wax will be much easier to remove when it hardens in the wrong spot. Yankee Magazine 14. Keep Pesky Pests Away Your poor pet’s food bowl is a big attraction for ants. But by applying Vaseline around the bottom of the bowl, you’ll help deter those darn creepy critters from invading the dog or cat food bowl and your pet will be much happier. Fox News 15. Unsticks Tough Nail Polish Bottles Tired of struggling to open those stuck-tight nail polish bottles Next time, applying Vaseline around the rim of the nail polish bottle or other jar’s lid, then seal. It will lubricate the seal and help you open it much easier the next time. Broke My Nail 16. Easy to Make Homemade Exfoliators Vaseline is great for darkening eye shadow, making eyelashes pop and lengthening the duration of your perform, but it’s also a great base for homemade exfoliators. Just mix sugar or sea salt with Vaseline for a moisturizing exfoliator. QuirkyByte 17. Slides In Your Earrings If the inside of your earring hole has slowly begun to close up, just coat the post of your earring with a bit of Vaseline and gently push the earring in. It should slide right through. youqueen.com Credits: instructables.com faithtap.com

13. Clean Up Candle Wax

14. Keep Pesky Pests Away

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15. Unsticks Tough Nail Polish Bottles

16. Easy to Make Homemade Exfoliators

17. Slides In Your Earrings