Dental floss is a useful tool for keeping your teeth healthy. Daily flossing is essential for having the brightest and healthiest smile possible. However, many people have come up with creative dental floss uses for all around the house and outdoors. It can be a useful tool in emergencies if you were stranded out in the wilderness, or need to fix something in the house quickly. Because of its strong threading and affordability, floss can be as useful and versatile as duct tape. If you have never used floss for anything but cleaning your teeth, you are missing out on a long list of interesting uses for it. Learn how to use floss for everyday activities in the kitchen, the garden, or out in the wilderness. Whether it is an emergency or you just need to get something done, grab a pack of floss and get to work. Here are unusual dental floss uses you must SHARE with your friends on social media! They'll thank you for it.

Have you ever made cookies that were so perfect that you couldn’t wait to eat them, but they cooled and stuck to the pan? That happens to most people, and a spatula is usually the go-to tool to get them off in one piece. This doesn’t always work, but dental floss can help. If you take a piece of dental floss, slide it under a cookie, and saw it back and forth, the cookie will come off in one piece. The sawing action cuts through the layer of the cookie that is stuck to the pan and lets you lift it up without breaking the cookie in half.

Losing a button or ripping your pants is always embarrassing. No one means to rip their clothes, but it just happens sometimes when you least expect it. You can fix these problems with a needle and some dental floss. Floss is very tough, so you can sew just about anything back together. Floss isn’t much thicker than normal thread, so it will fit in a needle and easily slide through clothing. If you are on your way to a meeting or an important event, you can easily recover as long as you have a pack of floss and a needle available.

Photo albums make a great decoration and a way to preserve your pictures. The one drawback to them is that over time, the plastic screens and pages bind to photos making them impossible to remove. If you want to remove a photo without damaging it, use dental floss to separate it from the page. Take a piece of dental floss and slide it under the photo. This will gently peel it off of the page without bending or cutting the picture. This useful dental floss trick works in picture frames too with glossy backings that tend to stick to photos too.

Everyone has days where their ring just doesn’t fit. If it gets stuck, it can be scary or even dangerous. Fortunately, you can use dental floss to get it off. Since floss is so thin, you can slide a piece under the ring. Then, use it to gently pull the ring toward the end of your finger. This helps wiggle the ring loose so that you can get it the rest of the way off. If you need more help, you can move the floss around the ring so that it pries the ring from your skin. Once the connection is broken, your ring will be much easier to remove.

A long piece of dental floss can also serve as an impromptu shoe lace for a pair of sneakers. If you lose or break your shoelace, your shoes could become too loose to wear safely. Cutting off a piece of dental floss about 30 inches in length can help to replace your shoelace until you can get a replacement. Not all convenience stores or pharmacies sell replacement shoe laces, but they likely sell small containers of dental floss. If you really need it, there is a chance that co-workers or friends travel with a package of dental floss in their belongings just in case food gets stuck in their teeth.

If you have ever tried to break a piece of floss with your bare hands, then you know how difficult that can be. Floss has a high tensile strength, meaning it takes a lot of effort to stretch it to the point of breaking. That is why floss packs have small cutting blades on one side to break the floss for you when you need a piece. Because it is so affordable and comes in a small package, many people have floss with them when there is an emergency and they are stranded out in the wilderness. You can use floss to build emergency shelters out of floss and tarp. A simple shelter, even if it is only one sheet blocking the wind, can mean the difference between surviving an emergency and not. There is enough floss in a single pack to build a sizeable shelter several times over, while addressing all of the other emergency uses that you need it for.

If you are out in the wilderness where you know there are larger predators, then having a perimeter warning system is a very good idea. Everyone has seen the most basic version of it, tin cans on a piece of string. Though primitive, this system works exceedingly well at warning you when animals are approaching. A pack of floss has enough in it to make all the warning systems that you need. In fact, you will likely have a harder time finding enough cans. Since floss is so strong, you can use other materials instead of cans. Hollow logs and rocks make a lot of noise when they bump together, so you can use those instead.

Floss is very difficult to break without cutting it first. You can use floss to create a homemade set of wind chimes that won’t break. The floss is strong enough to support a set of large hanging bars. Plus, it is designed to be waterproof and durable, making it mostly weatherproof. You can make several wind chimes with a single pack of dental floss. Many home crafters use it for DIY wind chimes that you cannot find in stores. Get creative and make a set of wind chimes that have a lot of chimes on it. You could even make a set of orchestral wind chimes, which can have more than 50 chimes on them.

Back in our camping/wilderness emergency scenario, dental floss finds several more uses. Washing your clothes is an important part of staying healthy. Dirty clothes can lead to skin irritations, infections, and illnesses. If you can find a source of water then you can wash your clothes. Dental floss makes a great clothesline in an emergency. If you keep it at a reasonable length, then you should be able to hang up your clothes without it breaking. While it may not be a permanent solution, you can get by with a dental floss clothesline until you get back home to your washer and dryer.

Catching food is also an important part of surviving in the wilderness. Floss can be used to make a fishing pole. It is waterproof so it won’t weaken underwater. Because it does not absorb water, it will be reusable many times before it wears out. Its high-tensile strength also means that you can catch larger fish too. If you need to catch something really big or something that doesn’t like fishing lines, then weave several strands together to make a fishing net. That way, you can catch things, like frogs and turtles, that would normally avoid a fishing pole.

Having a sharp knife in the great outdoors would be great, but few people carry them around. In a pinch, you can use a piece of dental floss to cut things. True, the floss isn’t strong enough or course enough to cut everything. However, preparing food is a great example of using dental floss as a knife. You can hold the two ends, one in each hand, and saw it back and forth to cut your way through most foods. If you are trying to cut something a bit harder, then wrap the floss around it and pull at the sides. This will increase the amount of pressure placed on the item while keeping the floss from cutting your hands.

Most dental floss that you can get from the store comes with a simple wax coating. This coating makes it waterproof and tear resistant as well as preserving the floss until it is used. However, that wax coating is also flammable. You can easily light waxed dental floss on fire, which can make starting a larger fire much easier. Just make a fire pit, fill it with dry wood and other dry kindling, and use a piece of floss as a wick. You won’t have to struggle to keep warm since starting a fire is much easier with dental floss.

Home gardening can be a lot of fun, especially when you are growing your own food to reduce your expenses. However, many of the most commonly grown foods are climbing plants. Tomatoes are a great example of a climbing plant that chooses to grow vertically on vines. The best way to grow them and to maximize your space is to give them something to climb, but they won’t always do that. You can use dental floss to connect them to a climbing plant pole or just to hang the vine from. That way, you have a cost-effective way of growing climbing plants.

Growing your own herbs and vegetables can be a great way to spend some time outside during the warmer months. After you put in so much work to grow your favorite herbs at home, you need a way to store it. You can bunch it together, tie it, and keep it in the fridge. While grocery stores use special rubber bands, you can use dental floss. Floss is strong enough to hold thick bushels together without damaging them. Plus, it is more affordable than rubber bands or food ties. A pack of floss will last you through a growing season and is easy to replace if you need more.

Hanging pictures throughout your house is an easy way to decorate. There are many ways to hang pictures including wall hooks and stick-on tabs. However, many of these methods can damage walls and force you to do some extensive repair work if you move pictures around. You can use dental floss to hang your pictures and it won’t damage the frame or the walls. It is too soft to scratch wood surfaces but strong enough to hold a large picture from. Dental floss is lighter than picture wire, so it puts less stress on hooks and hangers in the wall.

Holiday decorations are fun, but can be expensive. Making your own garland is a more affordable way of decorating. All you need is a needle, a bag of popcorn, and a pack of dental floss. You can string the popcorn on the floss to make long edible garland chains (non-mint floss is recommended). They make a great decoration choice for keeping the holidays on a budget. You can do the same thing to make edible jewelry that kids love to wear. It is a fun craft to try on a rainy day. You can make your own candy bracelets to save money while giving your kids a fun treat that they can take with them.

Many meat and poultry dishes call for twine to bind them into the right shape or to keep herbs and spices wrapped tightly inside. To do this, kitchen twine is the tool of choice since it won’t fray, is natural (not coated), and is easy to use. If you run out of kitchen twine, replace it with dental floss. The floss can work just as well as the dental floss. Dental floss is heat-resistant, so it won’t melt into your food. Just be sure to use unwaxed and unscented floss. That way, it won’t change the flavor of whatever you are cooking.

A drippy sink can be very noisy and annoying. Before you freak out at your sink and call a plumber, consider adding a piece of dental floss to the faucet. Simply tie a piece of floss around the end of the faucet, and cut a piece that is long enough to reach the bottom of the sink. Water sticks to a smooth surface, and the drops will slide down the floss rather than falling off of the faucet. They will slide silently to the bottom of the sink and into the drain. You’ll still probably need to call a plumber at some point, but the dental floss will help you stay sane until the plumber gets there.

Cleaning older counters usually means trying to find a small brush to reach into the cracks. Seams usually open over time, which can collect dust and food bits. If you want to get your counters completely clean, you need to stick something down into the cracks and fish out those particles. Dental floss can fit into most counter seams since it is flat and thin. You can slide a piece of dental floss through to knock anything in there loose. If you want to close those seams, then put a sealing compound on the floss and use the floss to pull it down into the seams. When it hardens, the seams will be closed.

If you like to paint your nails but you want a unique look, then dental floss can help you with that. You can use the floss to create different shapes on your nails for a textured look. The process is easy and anyone can do it, although you may want to use dental flosser tools, the kind with the plastic handle and a toothpick on the end, to do this with one hand. Start by painting your nails a base color. Then, use the floss to layer on stripes or other shapes with a different color. When your design is complete, layer on a top coat to seal it in. Now, you’ll have nails that have a unique textured look.

Long hair can get in the way if you are not careful. That is why a hair tie can make you much more comfortable and safer. However, it is very common to forget or lose a hair tie. Fortunately, you likely have dental floss with you when you are traveling. A short piece of dental floss works just fine as a hair tie. It may not stretch, but it won’t break or fall out. In some ways, floss is better than a hair tie since you can make a hair tie of any length. If you create your own unique hairstyles, floss will be a useful tool in your creative hair care toolbox.

How often do you need to tie a bag shut, but lose all of your trash bag ties? What’s even worse is that it happens all of the time with bread and other packaged foods. Thankfully, a small piece of dental floss can address this problem. Keep an extra pack of floss in your kitchen drawer so that you can tie any bag shut. If a tie goes missing, you won’t have to stop cooking to look for it. Just grab a piece of floss and keep going. That way, you don’t have to worry about spilling things all over the counter or your new loaf of bread going stale so quickly.

Making cookies is a fun thing to do at any point of the year, but everyone wishes that they could make store-quality cookies. Getting the dough into well-rounded shapes is difficult, but you can make it much easier if you use dental floss. Since store-bought cookie dough usually comes in logs, you can use a piece of floss to cut round pieces. Just wrap a piece of floss around the log, grab both ends, and pull. The squeezing motion will make the floss slice through the log and cut off a well-rounded piece for the next cookie. That way, your cookies will look more professional.

One of the things that travelers worry about most is losing something that they need for the trip, including something falling out of their suitcase. If this worries you, then you can use dental floss to make sure that your suitcase stays shut. Take a piece of floss and run it through the zippers of your bag. Tie them together and your bag will stay closed. If customs officers need to check your bag, they can untie or cut the floss to get in. It is less expensive than getting a small lock, that they will have to cut off anyway.

Gnocchi is an easy Italian dish to make from home. Some recipes use simple ingredients, including mashed potatoes, to make the dish. Cutting up uniform pieces of the small Italian food can be a challenge. With dental floss, you can cut up pieces of the gnocchi dough right on your cutting board into small floured pieces or from a piping bag cut into pieces right into your large pot of boiling water. Just be sure to choose unflavored dental floss so you don’t accidentally transfer a subtle mint flavor to your finished gnocchi dish. Some delicious infused olive oil or tomato sauce is more than enough.