Alternative uses for your beauty tools

We love a good multitool.

You spend so much money and time (and storage space) on kitting out your home for your comfort. Let us help you figure out how to make the most of those you already have? Today we are heading out of the kitchen and into the dressing room. Here are some handy-hair tool hacks, just for you.

Straighten up!

Thanks to the 2000’s craze for pin straight hair, the traditional “flat iron” hair straightener has now become a household staple.

While this tool has revolutionised at home hairdressing, it can still be used for other things. By now, we ALL KNOW that you can use a straightener to touch up your ironed clothing. But did you know it can also be used to smooth out your arts- and craft bits and bobs? (ribbons, cardstock, quilting fabric…) Maybe not groundbreaking, but a great way to multi-task and save some time!

Don’t blow up, blow out.

Handheld hairdryers where a game changer when they first came on the market. Since then, they have increased in power (both electrically and metaphorically) allowing you to update your do without leaving the house. Have we seen all that hair dryers can offer?

To answer that question – Nope! Here are some non-hair related hair dryer uses for you:

Dust delicate (or simply tricky) things.

We have spoken about the joys of using Lego, plants (real and otherwise) and candlelight as part of your design choices. While we do still love this, it does mean you end up having a whole lot of finicky things standing around, gathering dust.

We love the trick of using a hair dryer to (gently) blast away dust without damaging your décor pieces. As long as you keep the heat setting to cool, you can de-dustify anything from detailed Lego builds to tricky ferns and fiddle leave figs.

Remove any kind of stick-on label.

According to the queen of homemaking herself, Mrs Martha Stewart, using a hairdryer to blast these stickers with heat for about 30 seconds before removing them with a fingernail or scraper, is the quickest way to get rid of that gummed on price tag. (Wipe away any glue residue with acetone or alcohol-based sanitizer, and you’re good!)

Defrost your freezer

Many freezers promise to be “No Frost” but we all now it still happens. Use your hairdryer to defrost your freezer instead of waiting hours for all the packed-on ice to melt. Have some towels at the ready and your clean-up job will be done in a jiffy! (Just keep the hairdryer away from water and use your common sense when it comes to safety.)

Clean up wax spills.

Whether its crayon wax on walls or candle wax on tablecloths, its easiest to tackle these with your hairdryer. This usually requires a high heat treatment, so be careful on what materials you use it, but blasting crayon marks on walls with a hairdryer can make cleaning up as easy as wiping up. Blasting spilled candle wax can help you pick it off a tablecloth without the inevitable scraping with cutlery.

Give yourself a once over

If you can’t find your lint roller and you need to clean yourself up before heading out for the night, a well-placed blast of air can remove anything from stray hairs to makeup powder residue from your clothing.

Calm that fussy baby

We all know that the right frequency of white noise can have a calming effect on humans, and white noise machines are flying off shelves everywhere. A hairdryer can help you here as well. As long as you follow the CRUCIAL SAFETY STEPS, a hairdryer, on a cool setting and held at least 60 cm from your baby, blowing gently over them can help calm a fussy baby immediately. Something about the hum of the noise and the comfort of the warm air instantly gives their little grumpy spirits a break. Just remember that even cooler air from a hairdryer can dry out your child’s skin. Its best to let the warm air blow over them while their skin is protected by longer clothing.

Not blown away yet?

These hacks might seem simple or unnecessary, but we promise you that one day when your fussy baby draws on your walls at the birthday party where the candle wax landed on everything, and your freezer door can’t close anymore thanks to packed-on ice…Then you will be glad you read till the end!