Six Effective Uses for Lip Balm You Never Knew
Chapstick or lip balm? Which term do you prefer? Probably depends on your age. But those who remember dialing phones as well as those who think a phone is a just a useful attachment on their camera both need to know they are talking about the same thing. This product balms lips and helps alleviate chapping, but did you know that you can put it to use in a number of other ways? The many uses of lip balm may have you looking at the little tube with an elevated level of respect.
1. Shaving Nicks
You should definitely keep some lip balm at the ready when you are shaving. Why shell out bigger bucks for dedicated products when a tube of lip balm can accomplish the same thing? I learned about this handy dandy little use the hard way when I cut myself shaving pretty badly after using a very old and damaged razor. The bleeding would not stop after dabbing it with a paper towel and I just happened to notice the open tube of lip balm sitting there. A few flicks of the balm up and down the nick and the hemorrhaging came to a sudden end.
2. Stuck Zippers
Husbands and boyfriends should always request that their significant others carry a tube of lip balm in their purse for zipper emergencies. You never know when a zipper is going to get stuck, but you can almost always count on it being at an inopportune time. Lubricating a stubborn zipper that won’t pull up or down with some lip balm is almost always successful in getting that fastener moving again.
3. Screws
The same principle of lubrication can be applied to screws that won’t go in or come out. Oddly enough, I learned the value of lip balm for both stuck zippers and tight screws from the same woman. Rather than hurting your hand trying in vain to get a screw to go in or come out, just rub the lip balm generously over it. Admittedly, this works better when the screw is going in since you can lubricate the entire thing, but if you can manage to get any of the lip balm around a screw that won’t come out, you can make things easier on yourself.
4. Paint Protector
If you are trying to paint around windows with multiple panes set into them and you aren’t confident enough to use tape to protect the glass from paint getting on it, you can call in lip balm to the rescue. A thorough application of the balm onto the glass surface will provide a layer of defense against paint adhering to the window. Leave any paint that does spatter onto the balm-covered glass to dry to allow for easy removal afterward.
5. Prevent Battery Corrosion
Saw this one done when I was waiting at the counter for a VCR to be repaired a few years ago. This guy in the back was smearing lip balm over a new package of batteries that he had just opened. When I asked him what he was doing, he informed me that slathering lip balm over the terminals of the batteries helped to prevent corrosion. He claimed that you could even use the product on the big terminals of car batteries.
6. Dye Protector
Tired of getting the dye all over your skin when you color your hair? Do away with all the scrubbing in the shower that comes afterward by first rubbing some lip balm around your hair line. Ample coating of any skin that is subject to the effects of hair dye streaming down will protect you from coloring your skin along with the hair. The dye will color the balm, yes, but the coloring will wash away much easier from those areas than from areas in which it makes direct contact with your skin.
