Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
Clever Uses For Dental Floss: Beyond Teeth
I had forgotten that a woman I know used dental floss this past May to expertly cut a white sheet cake into 60 slices. Not that you'll be traveling with huge sheet cake, but it's good to know that if you were, and if you had dental floss, you'd have a way to wow the crowd.
Turns out, there are other wow uses for dental floss. I just read about a few of them in the discussion thread "Useful Travel Stuff" on Travelwriters.com. A guy named Kevin Kalley offered these tips, triggering off my sheet cake memory.
- sew with it
- use it as clothesline
- temporary lock on a suitcase (tie in a strong knot to keep the zipper closed)
- cut fruit, cheese and bread
- use to quiet a dripping faucet. (As he explains it, you tie one end around the faucet and the other end of the dental floss down the drain. The drips travel along the thread instead of making that obnoxious drip dropping sound. Neat, huh?)
Here are two links to Web sites that mention alternative uses for dental floss-- ThriftyFun.com and RDLiving
By the way, a friend of mine told me this joke that a dentist told him.
- Question: How many teeth do you need to floss?
- Answer: Only the ones you want to keep.
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 2)
lee Sep 10th 2007 12:41AM
Dental floss showed up in a CSI show also as a person braided multiple strands together to make rope and a noose. Strength in numbers.
Lynn Sep 10th 2007 12:37AM
You can use dental floss to cut cold (not frozen) butter into perfect 1 inch slices...Let it warm up slightly about 5 minutes from the fridge before cutting though...Keep the slices on a plate set on ice to keep them cold though and serve with steak, warm bread or pancakes...Looks just like what they serve you at those fance restaurants!
julieb Sep 10th 2007 1:11AM
I use it to remove photos that have been glued down. Just slide the floss under the picture and gently pull the floss through and it will loosen the picture without tearing it.
Orlando Sep 10th 2007 1:33AM
If you get a ring stuck on a finger and NEED to get it off rather than cut it off just wrap floss around and around your finger to squeeze the skin around the (swollen)knuckle and viola the ring just slips off.
Linda Sep 10th 2007 1:50AM
We used floss to make leis in Hawaii.
Rather than floss for Christmas hangings, we used fishing line. It held a heavy wreath we wanted hanging in the middle of a huge mirror over a fireplace....it was strong and invisible. Worked great.
Regina Sep 10th 2007 2:06AM
Dental floss is also flammable, and when hiking or horseback riding in the back country, you can use it for an emergency source of kindling / firestarter. Simply wrap tightly around a dry stick or piece of bark and light. It burns hot, slow and consistently until the twig is also burning well. Waxed is best for this (flavored or unflavored!)...
Donna Sep 10th 2007 2:49AM
I use floss to pull my kid's loose teeth. Wrap around the tooth in back, cross in front, and pull. Make sure it's loose enough. It's quick and painless.
susan Sep 10th 2007 4:52AM
cool suggestions...i knew about cutting cheese and cakes, can e used for cutting pvc pipe in cramped area's. great idea's thanks all
buford Sep 10th 2007 7:35AM
I remember back on the farm when ma would take the floss to the chickens. She swore it worked better than the ax. Too bad she never used it on her teeth. Guess you need more than one tooth for it to work.
Janek Padzelislaw Sep 10th 2007 4:46AM
A Dental High-Genius once showed me a better way to use floss for the conventional purpose: Instead of wrapping the ends around your fingers, tie the two ends together to make a loop. Just pull the loop tight and floss. Rotate the loop to move to an unused part as you go to the next tooth...
(The knot is a bit tricky because floss is so slippery. Hold the two ends together, just as if your going to make a regular overhand knot, but first twist them around a few times before you pull the end through the opening, kind of like a noose...)
She called it "the flossing circle". Sounded like a small clicque... ;-)
Christa Sep 10th 2007 5:49AM
A coworker needed dental floss, so I gave her a spool of thread from my sewing kit!
jj Sep 10th 2007 7:33AM
Use it to remove pictures from those old magnetic albums...slide it under the corner of the picture, and slowly work it back and forth.
Blanche Sep 10th 2007 7:32AM
I use it to tie my chicken legs together when I roast. I also used it once to tie my throttle cable together when it broke on the freeway. It held well enough to get me another 7 miles to work where I could make a better temporary device.
CuriousJ Sep 28th 2007 4:15PM
In a pinch, I use floss to truss chicken/poultry...try it with mint flavor!
Eric Sep 28th 2007 4:13PM
It also works great for flossing your teeth ;) I don't though...
jkworth Sep 28th 2007 4:12PM
I used it, along with 2 thumb tacks and some paper clips, in a clothes line type of way. I use it to hang paintings that my kids do so that they can dry and also so that they are not cluttering up the craft table. This has come in really handy since my 3y/o can’t paint just one picture. I’m sure you could use something other than paper clips, but I choose them due to them being lighter then some other options.
reg spyder Sep 29th 2007 1:12PM
unwaxed floss is a cheap source of invisible thread for magicians. oops, there goes a trade secret.
Brisbane SEO Guy Sep 29th 2007 2:30AM
I have used dental floss for creating electrical wiring looms in aircraft. In pre-cable tie days, we used waxed string to make looms. Dental floss works just as well.