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Battling bacteria and treating wounds are all in a day’s work for rubbing alcohol, but it might surprise you to learn that the hardworking antiseptic is as handy around the house as it is at first aid. If you have a bottle of rubbing alcohol in the medicine cabinet that’s collecting dust, put it to good work deodorizing, deicing, and cleaning the house.
1. DIY Windshield Deicer
When temperatures dip overnight, you can expect frost on your windshield in the morning. Rather than remove it with ice scrapers or commercial deicers, try this DIY treatment. Secure a spray top to a bottle of rubbing alcohol, and then coat the wintery windshield. After thoroughly dousing the glass, watch the ice melt away, leaving you with a frost-free windshield and a streak-free shine.
2. Winter-Proof Windows
Your windshield isn’t the only glass surface where Jack Frost likes to lurk. Protect the windows in your house from winter’s worst by washing them with a microfiber cloth soaked in a solution of 1/2 cup of rubbing alcohol and 1 quart water. The cleaning combo will do double duty by removing dirt and preventing frost from accumulating on windows.
3. Clean Stainless Steel Appliances
Are your stainless steel appliances looking anything but stainless? Spray soiled surfaces with rubbing alcohol, and then wipe them down with a soft cloth to remove water scale and fingerprints so you can again enjoy stainless steel that lives up to its name.
4. Shine Laminate Floors
Give laminate floors the royal treatment with a thrifty trifecta of household cleaners. Spray a solution of equal parts water, rubbing alcohol, and vinegar over the entire floor. Mop it up to remove dirt, stains, and pet hair, leaving you with a like-new high-gloss finish.
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See It5. Dust Window Blinds
Clean blinds the easy way by securing a small cloth to a drywall knife with a rubber band, and then dipping the cloth into rubbing alcohol and sliding it in between the open slats in the blinds. A few swipes across the slats is all it takes to bust the dust and ensure that your home passes the white-glove test.
6. Freshen the Sofa
If you spill your drink on an otherwise spotless microfiber couch, you may want to pour on a chaser of rubbing alcohol. Why? Rubbing alcohol won’t be absorbed by the sofa’s fabric, so when you spray it over a stain and sop it up with a clean sponge, the rubbing alcohol—and the spot—will evaporate to reveal like-new cushions.
7. Get Stains Out of Clothing
The next time you find an ink stain on your favorite shirt, dip the stained fabric in a bowl full of rubbing alcohol, or use a spray bottle to spritz the offending spot. After letting the liquid sit on the garment for several minutes, give it a spin in the washing machine. Once the garment’s been laundered, you’ll never know the stain was there.
8. Remove Marker Like Magic
Not even permanent marker is permanent if you give it the right treatment. Dip a clean cloth into a small bowl of rubbing alcohol, and then dab it over a marked-up spot. Use this trick on fabric, wood, carpet, or plastic surfaces around the house to erase the bad marks for good.
9. Lift Adhesive Labels
Whether you’re removing the sticky residue left behind by a price tag or wiping away a stubborn label from a glass jar, rubbing alcohol should be your go-to solution. Pour rubbing alcohol directly over the stubborn label. Within 10 minutes, the label will start to dissolve and you can peel it off more easily.
10. Fight Off Fruit Flies
Fruit flies may be attracted by the luscious seasonal pickings available in your kitchen, but you can repel them easily with a spritz of rubbing alcohol. Fill a fine-mist spray bottle with the potent liquid, and then unleash it on the pests to knock them out.
11. Kill Household Odors
Ditch indoor odors with this frugal yet fragrant homemade air freshener. Combine equal parts alcohol and water into a spray bottle, then add 15 to 25 drops of your favorite essential oil. Give the bottle a vigorous shake before spraying to dissipate unpleasant smells.
12. Sanitize Cutting Boards
After dicing and chopping pungent veggies in the kitchen, remove lingering odors from your hands with this trusty cleaning companion. A quick application of rubbing alcohol to your hands quickly removes odors that soap and water can leave behind.
13. Deodorize Smelly Shoes
Since rubbing alcohol kills bacteria, it makes for an excellent DIY shoe deodorizer. All you need to do is fill a spray bottle with rubbing alcohol and give shoes a few spritzes in the evening, allowing them to dry out overnight.
14. Disinfect Sponges
Kitchen sponges can harbor potentially dangerous bacteria like E. coli and salmonella, and should be cleaned and replaced frequently to prevent that bacteria from ending up on dinner plates or drinking glasses. There are plenty of DIY hacks for sanitizing sponges, but one of the simplest is to soak them in rubbing alcohol for a few minutes before rinsing them with cool water.
15. Clean Jewelry
There are plenty of products on the market that are designed for cleaning jewelry, but the perfect solution may be hiding in your medicine cabinet. Try soaking fine jewelry like rings, necklaces, and bracelets in rubbing alcohol for a couple of minutes. Rub the alcohol off using a lint-free cloth in order to restore jewelry’s original luster.
16. Make Your Own DIY Dawn Powerwash
Rubbing alcohol is one of the three key ingredients in a recipe for Dawn Powerwash, a spray-on cleaner that lifts grease and baked-on gunk from dishes. (Adding essential oil for scent is optional.) Mixing alcohol, Dawn dish soap, and distilled water will concoct a cleaner that cleans not just dishes, but also carpet stains, window tracks, and tile.
