20 New Uses for Shampoo

I’ve been thinking about extra shampoo ever since I sent a box of random bars of hotel soap and shampoo bottles to Clean the World–a smart and admirable non-profit that sends unused soap and shampoo to people at risk of acute infection and disease due to lack of soap. What I came to realize is that most of have old shampoo around for any number of reasons. Perhaps you collect hotel shampoo, or bought some whose fragrance is stronger than tear gas, or changed to an all-natural brand before finishing the paraben-y bottle. Either way, if you have extra shampoo around, don’t wash it down the drain in vain, put it to use. Here are twenty uses to use it up.

• Donate your old shampoo to Clean the World to help fight acute acute respiratory infection and diarrheal disease due to lack of hygiene supplies.

And now, I’ll get down off my soapbox….

• For a stuck zipper, put a drop of shampoo on a Q-tip and dab it onto the zipper. The shampoo will help the zipper to slide easily.

• Buff your shoes. In a pinch, you can revitalize leather shoes and purses by using a small amount of shampoo on a clean cloth. Rub into worn areas as you would shoe polish, and give it a buff. This also offers some protection from salt stains.

• Skip specialty (read: expensive) soaps for hand-washing laundry, use just a drop or two of shampoo instead.

• Shampoo works well on laundry stains–treat the stain with a few drops of shampoo, rub them in, let soak, and then launder as usual.

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Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Deepti P.

10:14PM PDT on Oct 12, 2011

thanx

send a green star

Vanessa S.

11:55AM PDT on Aug 4, 2011

Thanks for the article. Very informative and useful.

brittany n.

1:30PM PDT on Jul 13, 2011

i really liked this article!

Vianeth G.

10:52PM PDT on May 20, 2011

Great Article!

Emily B.

1:51PM PDT on Mar 25, 2011

I tried it on laundry stains and a stuck zipper, and it worked. Thank you

Anya G.

10:03PM PST on Mar 12, 2011

Thank you

Jane R.

7:14PM PST on Mar 11, 2011

During the winter I've always had dry flaky skin on my legs. I thought "why not "Head and Shoulders" shampoo instead of a body wash. After all it's for dry flaky scalp. I've used it for about a year and it works wonders. You only need a small amount on a wet washcloth.

Rose N.

10:12AM PST on Feb 25, 2011

Thank you for posting.

Mable E.

9:47PM PST on Feb 24, 2011

Thanks for all the great ideas. Had no idea shampoo had so many uses.