17 Surprising Uses for Rubbing Alcohol


Fighting bacteria and treating wounds is all in a day’s work for rubbing alcohol, but you’d be surprised to learn that the diligent antiseptic is just as useful around the house as it is in first aid. If you have a rubbing alcohol bottle in the medicine cabinet that’s collecting dust, put it to good use for deodorizing, deicing, and cleaning the house.

1. DIY windshield deicer

A woman wearing a winter coat points a spray bottle at a snowy windshield on a snowy day.
Photo: Tom Fenenga for BobVila.com

When temperatures drop overnight, you can expect frost on your windshield in the morning. Instead remove it with an ice scraper or commercial deicersTry this DIY treatment. Secure the spray top in a bottle of rubbing alcohol and then coat the winter windshield. After a thorough doozy on the glass, watch the snow melt away, leaving you with a frost-free windshield and streak-free shine.

2. Winter-proof windows

Interior of a frosted, snowy residential window.
Photo: Polarpx via Adobe Stock

Your windshield isn’t the only glass surface where Jack Frost likes to hide. Protect your home’s windows from the worst of winter by washing them with a microfiber cloth soaked in a solution of 1/2 cup rubbing alcohol and 1 quart water. A cleaning combo will do Double duty By removing dirt and preventing frost from accumulating on the windows.

3. Clean stainless steel appliances

A woman wearing yellow rubber gloves sprays a stainless steel fridge and prepares to clean it with a microfiber cloth.
Photo: Tom Fenenga for BobVila.com

Are your stainless steel appliances looking anything but stainless? Spray dirty surfaces with rubbing alcohol, and then wipe them with a soft cloth to remove water scale and fingerprints so you can once again enjoy stainless steel that lives up to its name.

4. Shine the laminate floor

A person uses a microfiber mop to clean a laminate floor.
Photo: Leonid Iastremskyi via Adobe Stock

Give laminate floors the royal treatment with a thrifty trifecta of household cleaners. Spray a solution of rubbing alcohol and equal parts water vinegar All over the floor. Mop it up to remove dirt, stains and pet hair, giving you a new high-gloss finish.

The best mop for laminate floors

Photo: Amazon

5. Dust window blinds

A man in gloves cleans Venetian blinds.
Photo: Raphael Ben-Ari via Adobe Stock

Clean the blinds simply by securing a small cloth to the drywall knife with a rubber band and then dipping the cloth in rubbing alcohol and sliding it between the exposed slats. blinds. All it takes is a few swipes on the slates dust up And make sure your home passes the white-glove test.

6. Refresh the sofa

A woman cleans a brown couch with a spray bottle in one hand and a microfiber cloth in the other.
Photo: Tom Fenenga for BobVila.com

If you spill your drink on an otherwise spotless Microfiber bedYou may wish to pour over the rubbing alcohol chaser. Why? Rubbing alcohol won’t absorb through the fabric of the sofa, so when you spray it on the stain and rub it in Clean spongeThe rubbing alcohol—and the spot—will evaporate to reveal new cushions.

7. Get stains out of clothes

A woman cleans a gray t-shirt with a microfiber cloth and rubbing alcohol.
Photo: Tom Fenenga for BobVila.com

Next time you find one Ink stain On your favorite shirt, dip the stained fabric in a bowl full of alcohol, or use a spray bottle to spray the offending spot. After letting the liquid sit on the cloth for a few minutes, give it a spin Washing machine. Once the garment is washed, you’ll never know the stain was there.

8. Remove the marker like magic

A child uses a permanent marker to draw on a fabric sofa.
Photo: HalynaRom via Adobe Stock

but not Permanent marker It is permanent if you treat it properly. Dip a clean cloth in a small bowl of rubbing alcohol, and then apply it to the marked-up area. Use this trick to erase bad marks for good on fabric, wood, carpet, or plastic surfaces around the house.

9. Lift Adhesive Labels

Glass bottle with glue residue from sticker label.
Photo: Rebecca via Adobe Stock

Whether you’re removing the sticky residue left behind by a price tag or cleaning a stubborn label from a glass jar, rubbing alcohol should be the perfect solution for you. Pour the rubbing alcohol directly over the top Stubborn label. Within 10 minutes, the label will begin to melt and you can peel it off more easily.

10. Fight against fruit flies

Person sprays with spray bottle near bowl of fruit on gray kitchen countertop.
Photo: Tom Fenenga for BobVila.com

fruit flies You may be tempted by the delicious seasonal pickings available in your kitchen, but you can easily repel them with a spritz of rubbing alcohol. Fill the fine-mist spray bottle with a powerful liquid, and then take it out. insects to knock them out.

11. Kill household odors

A person sprays an air freshening solution made with rubbing alcohol.
Photo: Olga Yastremska via Adobe Stock

Dig in the smell With this frugal yet fragrant homemade air freshener. Combine equal parts rubbing alcohol and water in a spray bottle, then add 15 to 25 drops of your favorite essential oil. Shake the bottle vigorously before spraying to remove unpleasant odors.

12. Sanitize the cutting board

A man wearing a ring and watch cuts yellow onions on a wooden cutting board.
Photo: Thurstan_Hinrichsen via Adobe Stock

After dicing and chopping spicy vegetables in the kitchen, banish lingering odors from your hands with this trusty Cleaning mate. A quick application of rubbing alcohol to your hands quickly removes odors that soap and water can leave behind.

13. Deodorize smelly shoes

Rubbing alcohol in smelly hiking boots.
Photo: MemoryMan via Adobe Stock

Rubbing alcohol kills bacteria, so it makes a great DIY shoe deodorizer. All you need to do is fill a spray bottle with rubbing alcohol and give the shoes a few spritzes in the evening, so they dry overnight.

14. Disinfect sponges

One uses rubbing alcohol to disinfect a dish sponge.
Photo: Oleg Opryshko via Adobe Stock

Kitchen sponges can harbor potentially dangerous bacteria E. Collie And salmonella, and those bacteria on the dinner plate or drinking glasses. There are plenty of DIY hacks for Sanitizing spongeBut one of the easiest is to soak them in rubbing alcohol for a few minutes before rinsing them off with cold water.

15. Clean jewellery

One uses alcohol, brush and cloth to clean the jewelry.
Photo: JURGITA VAICIKEVICIENE via Adobe Stock

There are plenty of products on the market designed for this to clean jewelry, But the perfect solution may be hiding in your medicine cabinet. Try soaking fine jewelry like rings, necklaces, and bracelets in alcohol for a few minutes. Rubbing alcohol using a lint-free cloth to restore the jewelry’s original luster.

16. Make your own DIY Dawn Powerwash

Dawn measures a woman rubbing alcohol into a powerwash bottle.
Photo: Tom Fenenga for BobVila.com

Rubbing alcohol is one of the three main ingredients Recipe for Dawn PowerwashA spray-on cleaner that lifts grease and baked-on gunk from dishes. (Adding essential oils for fragrance is optional.) A mixture of rubbing alcohol, Dawn dish soap, and distilled water will make a cleaner that cleans not only dishes, but also carpet stains, window tracks, and tiles.

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