Petroleum jelly is a blend of waxes and mineral oils discovered in 1839 by Robert Chesebrough, who then marketed it as Vaseline.
Although originally advertised as a skincare product, petroleum jelly has many practical uses for your health and beauty needs.
Here are uses for petroleum jelly you might not have thought of before.
1. Makeshift flypaper
Use petroleum jelly as makeshift flypaper. Pour a small amount of melted petroleum jelly into a dish or jar lid. Leave it out where flies go to catch them.
2. Remove candle wax
Apply petroleum jelly around the edges of your spilled wax. Let is sit on for while. You can wipe up the wax easily after this.
3. Silence squeaky hinges
Hush those squeak hinges up with petroleum jelly. Just rub some on your squeaky hinges. Move your hinge back and forth so that the jelly works its way through.
4. Fixed cracked dry feet
Let petroleum jelly soothe your dry cracked feet. Rub it all over your feet and generously on dry areas. Put a sock over it and sleep with it on overnight to soften your skin.
5. Pop that highlighter
You can use petroleum jelly as a highlighter. Just dab a little on the high points of your face where you’d put highlighter. This will give you a bright dewy look.
6. Make windows slide easy
Is your window or drawer sticking? Use a paintbrush to paint on some petroleum jelly on the tracks of your window or drawer. This will help it glide easier.
7. Mess-free nail polish manicure
Apply petroleum jelly to your cuticles. Then paint your nails. The jelly will prevent you from getting polish on your cuticles.
8. Make perfume last longer
Petroleum jelly can make you smell nice for longer. Just dab some Vaseline on your pulse points. Then spray your fragrance on.
9. Prevent lightbulbs from sticking
Once you break off a lightbulb in the fixture, it can be pretty hard to get out. You can avoid this with petroleum jelly. Just rub some on the threads of your new lightbulb before you screw it in. It will be easier to take out and won’t get stuck.
10. Remove gum from wood
Apply petroleum jelly to gum that is stuck on wood. It will eventually disintegrate the gum. This will allow you to easily remove it.
11. Remove makeup stains from clothing
Wet a washcloth so that it’s damp. Dab your makeup stain with the petroleum jelly. The makeup stain should lift up.
12. Hide wood furniture scratches
Let petroleum jelly fix your furniture. Place some petroleum jelly on scratches, scuffs, and stains. Let it sit for 24 hours then wipe away.
13. Shine up leather
Are your shoes or leather bags looking dull? Apply some petroleum jelly to a cloth. Use it to buff and shine your fine leather goods.
14. Help shower curtains glide easily
With rust and water stain build up, sometimes our shower curtains can stick. Rub some petroleum jelly on your curtain rod. This will help it to slide easier.
15. Soothe a fever
Put some petroleum jelly in your freezer for five minutes. Take it out and apply on the forehead. This should help to soothe your fever
