Rubbing alcohol can be used in many useful ways around the house, it can be used as a disinfectant, cleaner, and stain remover. The handy uses for rubbing alcohol can save you money and make your life much easier.
Here are 55 handy uses for rubbing alcohol.
1) Cleans (Some) Jewelry
Restore the luster to your jewelry by soaking it in rubbing alcohol before cleaning. Place the jewelry in the alcohol for just a few minutes before cleaning it with a clean cloth.
2) Kills Bed Bugs
Spray a mist of rubbing alcohol over your bed or anywhere else you have dust mites or bed bugs. Let the mist air dry, and vacuum it up.
3) Fixes Broken Makeup
Pour some rubbing alcohol into a spray bottle, and spray it over your broken eye shadow, blush, or pressed powder. Smooth it over with your finger, a spoon, or anything else you think will work, and let it dry and harden over few hours.
4) Cleans Dry Erase Boards
Rubbing alcohol is a cheap alternative to more expensive dry erase board cleaners and works just as well. Just spray in on and wipe with a paper towel or cloth.
5) Removes Stinky Smells
Spray stinky shoes or other smelly items with some rubbing alcohol, and let them dry in a sunny spot to get rid of the smell.
6) Cleans Carpet
The nature of rubbing alcohol makes it great for removing grease stains from carpet. Apply the rubbing alcohol to a clean rag, and lightly scrub the stained area.
7) Stretches Shoes
Spray a thin coat of rubbing alcohol on your shoes and inside on the soles. Then put some thick socks on, and put your shoes on to stretch them out.
8) Cleans Keyboards
You can clean the surfaces of your desktop and laptop keyboards using rubbing alcohol. Apply the rubbing alcohol to a cotton ball or Q-tip, and run it across the keyboard’s surface.
9) Disinfects Eyeglasses
Rub your glasses down with some rubbing alcohol to disinfect them.
10) Freshens the Air
Mix a cup of rubbing alcohol and 10-15 drops of essential oil. Pour in a spray bottle, and enjoy your homemade air freshener.
11) Cleans Microfiber Furniture
Cleaning microfiber furniture is easy when using rubbing alcohol. Simply rub the alcohol over the stained area. The alcohol won’t stain the surface, unlike water, and evaporates quickly.
12) Removes Nail Polish
There are a lot of nail polish removers out there, but a lot of them are filled with various chemicals that might damage your nail beds. Instead, use some cotton balls and alcohol to get rid of them and keep your nails healthy!
13) Repels Fruit Flies
Spray a mist of rubbing alcohol in the area where you find fruit flies. This will kill them and prevent them from coming back.
14) Cleans Your Skin
Rubbing alcohol has a lot of great properties to keep your skin clean. It can be soothing and has anti-inflammatory properties that are great for your skin! Use this instead of chemicals like benzyl peroxide.
15) Removes Stickers
If you peeled off a sticker or price tag and still have sticky gunk left behind, you can soak the area with some alcohol for a few minutes. You should be able to wipe away the residue easily.
16) Use in Ice Packs
Alcohol freezes at a very low temperature, so this is perfect if you need an ice pack. To prepare a slushy solution, use alcohol and water in a ratio of 1:2, and freeze it in a sealable pack.
17) Sanitizes Your Hands
You can make your own hand sanitizer by mixing three parts of rubbing alcohol and one part of aloe vera gel. You can add some essential oils if you want it to be scented.
18) Helps With Skin Irritation
Hinder irritation by rubbing alcohol onto areas that are irritated after shaving armpits and bikini lines!
19) Helps Heal Cold Sores
You can dry out your cold sore and help it to heal faster by rubbing an alcohol-soaked cotton ball on it.
20) Treats Head Lice
Pour rubbing alcohol on your hair and let it sit for 20 minutes. You can also dip a comb in alcohol and comb it through your hair following the initial treatment.
21) Cleans Your Mirrors
Easily remove hair spray residue from a mirror using rubbing alcohol. Simply apply alcohol to a clean rag or spray it directly on the mirror’s surface before wiping up.
22) Cleans Your Blinds
Clean your Venetian or vertical blinds by wrapping a cloth around a spatula or other flat tool and securing them with a rubber band. Then simply apply alcohol and run the makeshift tool over your blinds to clean them.
23) Removes Ear Wax
Mix equal parts of rubbing alcohol and vinegar, and dip your cotton swab in it. Use it to clean out your ear and dissolve the wax.
24) Keeps Your Windows Frost-Free
Spraying a little rubbing alcohol onto a frozen car window defrosts it in no time. The very low temperatures required to freeze alcohol makes it the perfect choice for removing window frost in the morning.
25) Sanitizes Makeup Brushes
Soak your makeup brushes in alcohol for 30 minutes, and let them air dry. You should do this at least once a month.
26) Prevents Ring Around the Collar
Wiping your neck with rubbing alcohol before getting dressed in the morning is a great way to prevent stains on your shirt collar. The alcohol is great at removing the oils, dirt, and sweat that cause the staining.
27) Prevents Sweat Stains
Wipe areas on your body that are prone to sweat stains, like the collar, armpits, inner elbows, and knees. The alcohol acts as an antiperspirant.
28) Cleans Your Phone
Use a little rubbing alcohol on a clean cloth to wipe down your phone each morning. In addition to removing any grime, the rubbing alcohol also disinfects your device.
29) Soothes Body Aches
Rub some alcohol on your skin where you’re achy. The rubbing alcohol will bring blood to the surface of your skin to cool and relax muscles.
30) Removes Permanent Marker
Did you accidentally write on your whiteboard with a permanent marker instead of a dry-erase marker? Add a dab of rubbing alcohol to a moist sponge, and gently scrub the area. The alcohol will dissolve the unwanted marks on any non-porous surface.
31) Removes Ink Stains
If you spill ink on an article of clothing, soak it in rubbing alcohol for a few minutes before washing. The ink should come right out.
32) Cleans Bathroom Fixtures
Rubbing alcohol is a great solution for cleaning your bathroom fixtures. Apply a little to a clean, soft cloth to make the chrome surfaces in your bathroom sparkle.
33) Cleans Appliances
Pour some rubbing alcohol onto a sponge, and scrub any dingy appliances. The alcohol will leave a streak-free shine since it evaporates in seconds.
34) Cleans Granite Countertops
Rubbing alcohol mixed with dish soap and essential oils makes a great non-abrasive cleaner for your granite countertops. Plus, the mixture sanitizes your surfaces while it cleans.
35) Remove Ticks
Ticks are an unpleasant part of outdoor fun, and they can even transmit Lyme disease. If one happens to attach, soak a cotton ball in rubbing alcohol and apply it directly to the tick. The alcohol can shock the tick, making removal easier. After the tick is removed, use rubbing alcohol to sterilize the bite.
36) Works as a De-greaser
Using rubbing alcohol to clean greasy surfaces, such as stovetops and oven vents, cuts through any grease, making cleanup a breeze. In addition, the rubbing alcohol evaporates naturally, leaving no need to dry it up.
37) Polishes Stainless Steel
To get your stainless steel sink to really shine, rub isopropyl alcohol on it using a clean cloth after cleaning it. For best results, wait for your sink’s surface to dry completely before applying the rubbing alcohol.
38) Cleans Laminate Floors
Mix a little rubbing alcohol with water, vinegar, and dish soap, and you have a perfect floor cleaner for your laminate floors. Simply spray it on and wipe it up with a damp sponge or mop.
39) Reduces Swelling
Applying rubbing alcohol to a swollen area of your body helps reduce the swelling. It does this by bringing blood to that area, enhancing the healing process.
40) Use As a Deodorant
As alcohol kills bacteria, you can definitely have clean-smelling pits even if you forget to have a deodorant supply around you. Simply wipe some on.
41) Alternative Air Freshener
If you’re interested in the air freshener idea mentioned earlier, but want to try something a little different, here’s a good option. In a 32-ounce bottle mix 1/4 cup white vinegar, 1/2 cup of Downy Unstopables, and 2 caps full of rubbing alcohol. Smells like fresh laundry!
42) Marbled Manicure
Rubbing alcohol has so many awesome artistic purposes, including giving your nails a beautiful marbled look. All you need to do is first, paint your nails white. Then, color on them with colored Sharpies. Lastly, go over the marker with some rubbing alcohol and it will bleed the colors beautifully.
43) Prevent Swimmer’s Ear
Moisture that is left in your ear after swimming can lead to a nasty ear infection. Prevent this by giving your ears a swab of alcohol after getting out of the water. The alcohol will help evaporate any moisture left in your ear.
44) Clear Up Acne
The drying properties of rubbing alcohol are great when it comes to healing acne and stubborn pimples. Just be careful not to leave the alcohol on the acne or zit for too long–it could cause a ‘burn’ on your skin which can leave a scar.
45) Get Rid of Nail Fungus
Are your nails flaky or cracked? You could be dealing with a nail fungus. Make a foot soak using water and rubbing alcohol in a 1:1 ratio and soak for 10-15 minutes. Repeat 2-3 times a week until the symptoms subside.
46) Treat Athlete’s Foot
Since we’re on the topic of feet and fungus, rubbing alcohol is also a great tool to help treat athlete’s foot. Cure the itch with the same soak that we mentioned in the previous slide. If you don’t have time for a soak, you can also use a cotton ball to rub your feet down with rubbing alcohol everyday until the condition goes away.
47) Sterilize Medical Items
We’ve already shown you a few things that you can disinfect using rubbing alcohol, but really–it’s so incredibly useful. For example, if you or a family member used a thermometer while they had the flu, you can disinfect it by soaking it in rubbing alcohol.
48) Control a Staph Infection
Staph infections can be truly scary. If someone in your household happens to have it, you can reduce the spread, the infection, and chances of re-infection by regularly wiping down all touched surfaces with rubbing alcohol.
49) Remove Scuffs from Linoleum
Not only is rubbing alcohol amazing for cleaning laminate floors, but it will remove scuff marks from linoleum flooring in no time. Just use rubbing alcohol and a sponge to scrub away the scuffs with almost zero scrubbing effort!
50) Get Rid of Onion and Garlic Odor from Hands
After chopping onions or some garlic, it can leave our hands smelling, well…like onions and garlic! Even with soap, it can be hard to remove their potent odor. Luckily, rubbing alcohol can do the trick! Just rub some between your hands and the odor will vanish. The alcohol smell will evaporate quickly.
51) Blend Colored Pencil
Once again, here’s a fun artistic use for rubbing alcohol. You can create a wash to beautifully blend colored pencil work. Not only will the rubbing alcohol create more saturation in your colors, but it will make the colored pencil appear like watercolor.
52) Make Alcohol-Based Paint
Since we’re on the topic of art, here’s another fun project that can be done with a little bit of rubbing alcohol. “Sharpies and rubbing alcohol were made for each other when it comes to creating art. Did you know you can actually use them to create a kind of paint which you can use for a washed-out watercolor-like effect?” saysDiy N Crafts. Here’s the tutorial.
53) Remove Acrylic from Clothes
Of course, if you’re doing art projects, you’re bound to get a bit messy from time to time. And, once again, rubbing alcohol can come to the rescue. If you have acrylic paint on your clothes, soak the stain in rubbing alcohol, then scrape off the paint before tossing in the washing machine.
54) Clean Candle Jars
Your beautiful candle jar can easily become coated in a waxy residue after you’ve had a candle in it for a while. Give it a quick wipe down with rubbing alcohol and the waxy residue will come right off.
55) Clean Cloudy Vases
While you’re getting your candle jars sparkling clean, why not do the same for your vases? After a while, vases can become cloudy from the water and residue from plants and flowers. If you give it a wipe with rubbing alcohol, it will be crystal clear once again.