Before we look at uses for baby oil in housekeeping, answer this question: If Olive oil is made from olives, coconut oil – from coconuts, crude oil – from crude (you’ve got to know I’m kidding right?), and corn oil is made from corn, what is Baby Oil made from?
We’ve taken a short break from DIY and decorating type articles to focus briefly on some housekeeping matters. Following in the footsteps of Uses of Vaseline Around the Home and Uses of Salt in Housekeeping, I wanted to address – in the same vein – uses for baby oil in housekeeping.
Have you ever used baby oil in the following housekeeping/DIY ways? Please feel free to share other ways you can use baby oil when it comes to the home.
Uses for Baby Oil in housekeeping
Baby oil is good for chrome surfaces, so if your sink is looking tired, or you’re getting ready to sell your house, (or just cleaning) use Baby Oil to polish your chrome sinks and taps (faucets). First of all, wash down your sink and taps normally, then dry them with a cloth kitchen towel. Put a few drops of baby oil on a soft cotton cloth then get to polishing.
Collect up all your items which have sticky price labels left on them. Put a few drops of Baby Oil on an old rag and gently work the unsightly sticky stuff off. Baby Oil can also be used to remove glue residue left on kids’ work-tables, and for cleaning dried ear wax around the ears. Instead of using an ear bud or swab, just put a drop of Baby Oil on a cotton ball and rub off ear wax which sometimes collects around the ears. This way safety is assured.
If you haven’t got your trusted jar of Vaseline (we discussed a similar use for Vaseline in an earlier post) use Baby Oil to remedy your squeaky doors and stiff window frames. It’s a cheaper version of WD40, and works just as well.
Leather bags and shoes will keep preserved and shiny. Put some Baby Oil on a cotton ball and rub in evenly.
Baby Oil is a cheap and useful polish for hub caps. It keeps them preserved, protected and shiny. Don’t put too much on though, as you don’t want them to become dirt magnets. Having said that, whatever dirt collects, seems to wash off extremely easily.
Buff up your golf clubs with a bit of Baby Oil. If you have chrome-plated golf heads, Baby Oil is perfect for cleaning them. Just put a few drops on a soft cloth and rub in after each game.
Other ways to use baby oil in grooming and personal care…
Use a few drops of Baby Oil to clean greasy surfaces in your shed or grease on your hands. This is why it’s a good idea to keep a bottle of it in the car with a roll of paper towels. It works wonders to get the grease off your hands after you’ve changed a tire. Just gently rubbing the grease with baby oil, gets rid of it like a charm.
On cold days, rub some Baby Oil on your exposed skin. It puts a barrier between you and the cold air by working as an insulator. Not only will it prevent your cheeks from drying out, it will also keep you warm. A note of caution is not to use it in hot weather, as it will work as an extremely fast tanning lotion (without the UV protection) and make you burn really quickly. This is obviously not a healthy practise.
Add a few drops of Baby Oil in your bath water. This gives you smooth, silky, baby-soft skin for the next 24 hours.
Just rub down your legs with a layer of Baby Oil before you shave to give a silky touch when you’re finished. Okay, I know this one is assuming you’re a woman and that you shave your legs. However, if you’re a guy you should try it too, who knows, you might even like it. You won’t be the first guy to shave his legs, I’m sure.
And now for the extra one: When baby has had a particularly bad number two, squeeze some baby oil directly to the bottom as this will help with the clean up, and would mean that you don’t have to wipe baby’s soft skin too hard.
If you learned something new from ‘Uses For Baby Oil In Housekeeping’, please share it on your social networking sites. Also, don’t forget to have a look at our other Housekeeping articles in this pre-Spring series.
so amazing on how much baby oil could do!
This was a great article. I had no idea you could do so much with baby oil. Awesome post Anne!
I was unaware that baby oil is useful for household .Chrome polish is the new concept for me.I am going to buy a bottle
It’s great to keep your baby’s soft-healthy skin, free from dry and itchy irritation.
wow, i never thought of using baby oil around the house! particularly like the tip about sticky labels and leather. definitely going to try the sticky labels one later today as i have a few that won’t seem to come off!
Super-useful tips, I think I just might head off to buying some Baby Oil too!
Btw, and since you raised the question in your intro — *what* is Baby Oil made of?
Anne!
I tried and it works well for me. Thanks for giving useful tips.
Looking forward some useful tips for housekeeping.
WOW! I had NO idea baby oil could be used for so many things. This is awesome. I am definitely going to try the polishing chrome idea! Thanks for sharing this with us!
Really amazing way to use baby oil for house keeping especially for polishing chrome surfaces. I will remember to use this whenever I have to polish these chrome surfaces. Thanks for pointing this information to me.
I never knew that baby oil can be used for polishing chrome surfaces. I was shocked to here this but I tried this to see whether it works and it really worked. Amazing.
Nice way to make the most of the baby oil stocked at home. I have tried using baby oil for polishing chrome surfaces and it has given me some amazing results. Was never aware that this oil could be so helpful.
This post will break all mind sets people have about baby oil. I somehow feel baby oil is no more restricted to be used by babies only, and why only people it can be used all around the house. Thanks for sharing the post Anne.
Hi Anne, Why do we have to use baby oil? sounds so funny. There are so many products out in the market for cleaning chrome surfaces and they are quite effective.
Nice post Anne, apart from the skin friendly uses, I didn’t know about any other usage. I only knew that it was good for preventing your skin from going dry, but it really amazed me to read about its varied uses. Thanks for sharing the post.
Amazing tips Anne. I was not aware of this thing before that it can serve my purpose in this way. Thanks for sharing this knowledge. I will definitely use this to polish my chrome sinks and taps.
Thanks for sharing! I love DIY projects.
Chrome stuff as well as silver can be cleaned with tooth paste as well.
Hi,
Thanks for sharing great article about baby oil in house keeping. This is very useful information for online review readers. Keep it up such a nice posting like this.
Regards,
Sekhar Reddy.
Great for massages also. There’s the heated kind too. Might wreck the sheets though
Really want to thank you because i wouldn’t thought that baby oils do this things .But you helped me also for one thing that i really get rid of doing my shoe polish but now onwards I’ll able to use this baby oil with cotton for polish.
I find if you mix it with lemon juice it is great to clean and polish
I did not know about this baby oil.I will try that thanks for this post Anne.
I find if you mix it with lemon juice it is great to clean and polish unfinished wood counter tops.
I didn’t know this one. Thanks for sharing.
Great baby oil tips Anne. As we are expecting our 3rd son in about 3 weeks I’ll make sure to remember some of these. I’m sure we’ll have plenty of oil around the house.
Congratulations, Daniel. I hope all goes well with the birth and bringing baby home.
I find it more comfortable to use on the body… mainly chest area before taking bath. Quite healthy.
I have definitely used baby oil for a lot of these things. The only problem with using it to shave it that my razor ends up clogged as can be after and the hair mixed with the oil makes a gross ring around my tub! lol
I see what you mean, Megan. Maybe we should save the baby-oil shave until we have time to clean the bath 🙂