Sponges are great for sopping up messes. But did you know that there are lots of other ways that you can use sponges in your home?

Here Are 15 Unconventional Ways To Use A Sponge:

1) Keep Your Refrigerator Smelling Great

Place a damp sponge on a plate. Sprinkle some baking soda on it and place it in your refrigerator. It will soak up smells and stinks in your refrigerator.

2) Remove Pet Hair

Sponges are great for getting up stubborn pet hair. Just gently rub it over pet hair on furniture or clothing. The hair will come right up.

3) Keep Plants Moist

Place a sponge over a drain hole at the bottom of a planter. It will help soil from escaping. It will also keep your plants moist.

4) Protect Fragile Items

Don’t let your fragile pieces break when being packed up. Sponges are a great way to keep your stuff safe. Just place them in between and around your belongings. You can also cut them up and use them as you would packing peanuts.

5) Garden Knee Pads

Working in the garden can be tough on your knees. Give yourself padding with sponges. Just tie them around your knees with some string.

6) Sponge Seed Sprouter

Boil your sponge for 15 minutes to get rid of bacteria. Soak your sponge with water then squeeze out. Sprinkle herbs seeds on it and keep it watered.

7) Umbrella Stand Runoff

Umbrellas can leave quite the drippy mess. Place a sponge at the bottom of your umbrella stand. It will suck awat any water that dripped off your umbrella.

8) The Perfect Pedicure

Cut slits into a sponge. Place your toes in between the slits. This will help you from messing up your pedicure.

9) Nail Polish Remover Jar

Place a sponge inside of a jar. Pour nail polish remover in it. Stick your finger in it and rub it around to remove your nail polish.

10) Save All The Soap

Place a sponge underneath your bar of soap. It will help dry out your soap after each use. It will also be easy to use the soap bar to the very last bit because you can rub the soap onto you with the sponge.

11) Soothe A Toothache

Cut up pieces of a sponge. Soak them with vanilla extract or whiskey. Place near your aching tooth to soothe the pain.

12) Frozen Ice Packs

Soak a sponge and put it in a Ziploc bag. Place it in the freezer for three hours. You can use this to keep your lunch bag or cooler cold.

13) Reusable Dryer Sheets

Fill a plastic container with fabric softener. Place your sponge inside and close the top. Take the sponge out and squeeze out the excess softener. Toss it in your dryer and use as a reusable dryer sheet. Put it back in your container when you’re done.

14) Floor Protector Pads

Cut up pieces of sponge. Glue them to the legs of your furniture. This will keep your floor from being scratched when you move the furniture.

15) Seal Envelopes

Licking envelopes can be gross. Use a sponge instead. Dab it with some water and rub it over the adhesive then close your envelope.

Bonus. How about Tennis Balls?

Find Your Car

Never search for your car in a parking lot again. You will find it immediately if you place a bright yellow tennis ball on the end of your antennae.

Strengthen Your Grip

Hold a tennis ball in each of your hands and squeeze, then release. Doing this repeatedly will help to strengthen your hands which comes in handy if you use tools often or play guitar.

Car Change Holder

Use a tennis ball to hide the spare change in your car. Just cut a slit inside the tennis ball and slip your change in. It will be easy to find when you’re at a toll booth and it won’t be visible to people looking into your car.

Dry Your Clothes Quicker

Placing a few tennis balls into your dryer will help dry your load quicker. It will also help comforters, coats, and pillows to keep their shape and stay fluffy.

Soften a Hammer’s Blow

If you need to hammer something but don’t want to be too rough, you can cut an X into a tennis ball and place the head of your hammer inside to soften the blow and prevent marks in your walls or whatever you are hammering.

Open a Locked Car Door

This will come in handy if you locked your keys in the car. Strip off the fabric on your tennis ball and cut a hole in a center. Line up the hole in your ball with the lock. Press your ball inward with a sharp movement. Air will apparently shoot into your lock and open it according to this YouTube Video.

Protect a Padlock

If you want to protect a padlock from getting rusted or freezing over, you can slit a tennis ball and place the end of the padlock inside.

Remove Scuff Marks

Rub a tennis ball over scuff marks on your floors to get rid of the stain.

Make a Walker Glide

You can cut a hole in some tennis balls and put them over the legs of a walker to help the walker glide over the floor easier.

Relieve Knee, Neck, and Back Pain

You can soothe chronic pain caused by Myofascial syndrome by doing some exercises with a tennis ball. This works by placing a ball at the back of your neck, under your back, and under your rear and then moving around to activate certain muscles. Watch the video tutorial below for details.

Hitch Cover

Slit a tennis ball and stretch it over the hitch of your trailer to protect it and prevent it from scratching other cars.

Parking Guide

Never hit anything in your garage with your car every again. You can hang a tennis ball from a string so that when it touches your windshield you’ll know you’ve gone far enough. This is great if you have new teen drivers in your home!

Water Shooter

Make a sneaky water shooter by cutting a tiny hole in your ball. Squeeze it open under a running faucet of water, then squeeze it to spray water everywhere. It’s very unsuspecting!

Door Knob Cover

Place a tennis ball over your door knob to prevent it from scuffing your wall or damaging it. It also gives you a better grip on your knob.

Grabber

Tennis balls also make a great gripper. You can slit one open and hang a towel or some keys in it. You can even add some googly eyes if you want it to look cute.