Unusual Uses for Wooden Chopsticks

If we were to do away with the fork and spoon my husband could still eat. No, he doesn’t eat with his fingers nor does he lick the food off of his plate, he’s not that barbaric. No, his utensil of choice is the wooden chopstick. He eats everything from pasta to chicken with these chopsticks. Me, I couldn’t use a set of chopsticks to save my life. The problem is that somehow these chopsticks started ending up the strange places in my house. So, I started using them for other things besides eating.

Alternative Use #1: Cleaning the Keyboard
We all have spilled things on our keyboards. Food particles, dust, and even dog hair (at least in my house) manages to get down between the keys making some of the keys stick. When it’s time to clean the keyboard the worst part is getting the keys off. The easiest thing I have found to do this is one of the wooden chopsticks. Simply take the tapered end holding the flat side down and use it to pry the keys off your keyboard. In a matter of only a minute or two you will have your keys off and be ready to clean out all that junk that somehow gets underneath them. Just remember to hold your hand over the keys as you pop them off because they tend to have a mind of their own. The last thing you want is to lose the enter key behind the desk.

Alternative Use #2: Hair Accessory
Designers of hair accessories have been creating chopstick-like pieces for long hair for years. The problem is that they are far more expensive than a package of these wooden chopsticks. Keep a set in your desk drawer to get your hair up off your neck during those hot summer days. All you have to do is pull your hair together like you would if your were putting it in a pony-tail. The twist your gathered hair upward toward your crown. Take the wooden chopstick and weave it through one side of your hair and across the twist secure the other end under a piece of hair on the other side of the twist and it should stay in place for hours. A quick fix takes less than a minute.

Alternative Use #3: Scraper
Have you ever spilled something on your kitchen counter but not realized it until the spot dried? Use an inexpensive wooden chopstick to scrap up the spot. It won’t harm your counter at all. I use them to scrape candle wax off the bottom of the candle holder. They are sturdy enough to allow you to get enough pressure behind them to actually get the wax up but don’t cause any damage to your favorite glass candle holder.

Alternative Use #4: Can Opener
I have the most difficult time getting cans of soda open. At least I used to until I starting using these Wooden Chopsticks to aid in the opening of soda cans and any soup cans with a pull tab lid. Slide the tapered end under the edge of the tab and rotate the chopstick giving you enough room to get your fingers under the tab.

Alternative Use #5: Opening Plastic Wrapped Packages
Wonderful, you just got that new phone book in the mail but it is wrapped in plastic. Wrapped tightly. Use the chopsticks to poke a hole in the wrapping so that you can pull it off.

Alternative Use #6: Scratcher
This is my personal favorite. We all have had an itch in that one place on our back we just can’t reach. Using these wooden chopsticks as a back scratcher can save you from looking like an idiot trying to scratch your back on a door frame or wriggling around in your office chair trying to hit the spot.

I’m sure there are hundreds of more creative uses for wooden chopsticks but these are the ones I use the most. The next time you head to the supermarket stop at the Asian foods section and pick up a pack of ten sets. They will only cost you a few dollars but the uses for them will make them well worth the small price.