164. Hair Ties

Best Place To Purchase: Dollar stores, Amazon
Average Product Price: $1-$3 per pack*
Events have led to a massive shortage of face masks, and a lot of people still rely on making their own. Homemade masks might not be able to totally eliminate risks, but they can lessen your chances of getting sick. You can make one with just two hair ties and a handkerchief.

Make A DIY Mask With Hair Ties @harlequinn823/Pinterest
Fold the handkerchief into pleated layers. Slip a hair tie onto each side, and then tie the ends in the middle to create a mask. This easy hack costs just a few dollars, and it uses materials that you probably already have in your house.

165. Diapers

Best Place To Purchase: Costco, Sam’s Club, Amazon, Walmart
Average Product Price: $40-$70 per megapack*
We all know what diapers are used for, but cloth diapers have more purposes than you think. According to The Make Your Own Zone, professional cleaners have said that cloth diapers are among the most “absorbent” cleaning clothes they have found. Diapers are certainly sturdy and absorbent, so there’s no reason they can’t be used to clean.

Diapers To Clean Kitchen @cnet/Pinterest
Even high-trafficked areas like your bathroom and kitchen can benefit from cloth diaper cleaning rags. If you have extras on-hand that you are not using, consider repurposing them into handy cleaning tools. You’ll find that they can mop up dirt, spills, and whatever other messes life throws at you.

166. Sanitary Towels

Best Place To Purchase: Drugstores, Walmart
Average Product Price: $6-$8 per box*
Armpit sweat—everyone has it. Eccrine sweat glands are everywhere in your armpits and on your palms and feet. When you’re overheated, exercising, nervous, or hormonal, these glands kick into high gear. This can cause your shirts to stain, leading to fluid buildup that smells, well, like B.O.

Sanitary Towels For Pit Stains ©Iryna Bidovska/Shutterstock
Even if your armpits aren’t that sweaty, you still might want a little extra protection. Sanitary towels, like the pantyliners made by Playtex and others, can act as DIY armpit guards for your shirts. Just attach them, sticky-side-down, to the pits of your shirts. They’ll catch your sweat, preventing your shirts from staining.

167. Salt and Lemon

Best Place To Purchase: Grocery stores, Walmart
Average Product Price: $5-$10*
As you might have noticed, there are a lot of alternatives to chemical cleaners. You don’t necessarily have to pull out the name-brand bottles when you need to polish or sanitize something. Chances are, you have what you need right in your pantry and/or refrigerator.

Salt And Lemon For Polish @tospitakimou/Pinterest
Lemon and salt, together, make a great polish. They can be used to clean bacteria and stains from cutting boards. Cut a lemon in half, and then rub salt down the cutting board using the fleshy side of the lemon. Allow the solution to sit for five minutes after you’ve scrubbed. Then, clean the board with a sponge. Rinse off the residue and allow the board to dry thoroughly.

168. Mascara Wands

Best Place To Purchase: Drugstores, Target
Average Product Price: $5-$15 per tube*
The next time you do your nails, consider using a tool that you might not have thought of before. Mascara wands (if clean) can create a cool, brushed aesthetic, creating DIY nail art with just one or two swipes. After you’ve painted your base coat, you can swipe on some with an old, clean mascara brush. The nail art will be unique and a conversation starter.

Macara Wands For Nail Art @TheCut/Twitter
To clean the wand, you’ll want to first soak it in warm water for fifteen minutes. Then, put water-based makeup remover into a bowl and swirl the wand around, allowing it to soak up and remove excess makeup. It might take a while, but, with a little elbow grease, you’ll be able to get your wand good as new.

169. Rubber Bands

Best Place To Purchase: Staples, Amazon, dollar stores
Average Product Price: $3-$5 per pack*
This is yet another way you can use rubber bands and hair ties for unconventional purposes. A lot of people are tea drinkers, and they swear by tea’s calming, relaxing effects and antioxidants. When you’re pouring a cup of tea, it can be hard to keep the tea bag in place.

Rubber Bands As Tea Bag Holders @experthometips/Pinterest
Place a rubber band around the lip of a coffee cup, keeping the string underneath it. The band will secure the bag, meaning that it won’t move around when you pour hot water into the cup. This hack only takes a few seconds, and it makes for a mess-free cup of tea.

170. Prescription Bottles

Best Place to Purchase: Health Warehouse, Costco Wholesale, Walmart, Kroger
Average Product Price: $177-$465 per year depending on age*
This one is only for households without kids, pets, or vulnerable people in it. If you’re an adult who lives by themselves, it can be annoying and semi-embarrassing to get outsmarted by a child-proof safety lock. Every prescription has these child-proof locks, and they are valuable for keeping kids safe.

Prescription Bottles ©David Smart / Shutterstock
But, if you have no one else in the house that could run afoul of the prescription medication, just flip the cap and put it back on. That un-child-proofs it, making it into a regular lid that won’t outfox you. FYI: according to Consumer Reports, the current cheapest places for prescription medications are HealthWarehouse.com and Costco Wholesale.

171. Aspirin and Flowers

Best Place to Purchase: Amazon
Average Product Price: $5.49
Almost everyone has a bottle of aspirin in their house in case of an emergency headache. Not many people know, but aspirin has another incredible use besides being a painkiller. We’re not sure how, but someone discovered that by crushing up aspirin and putting it in the water you use to water your flowers, you can keep them cut longer.

Flower Bouquet @Galina Zhigalova / Shutterstock / Aspirin @Irin Fierce / Shutterstock
Flowers are a great way to spruce up your home with natural scents and beautiful colors. It’s just a shame that they die so quickly, even when watered and treated correctly. By putting aspirin in your flowers, you’ll be able to keep them fresh for much longer.

172. Old Basketballs

Best Place To Purchase: Dick’s Sporting Goods, Walmart, Amazon
Average Product Price: $30*
We’re always looking for ways to become more eco-friendly, and, if you have a basketball that you’re not using anymore, don’t throw that rubber ball into a landfill. If you have a green thumb, you can turn it into a planter. First, outline on the top half of the basketball where you’re going to cut.

Use Basketball As Planter @In Living Other/Youtube
Open the ball and clean it (white vinegar and water should do the trick). After rinsing it out thoroughly, add soil and seeds the way you would any other planter. If you want, you can cut two strong strands of string and poke holes in the top of the basketball to turn it into a hanging planter.

173. Coffee Grounds

Best Place To Purchase: Grocery stores
Average Product Price: $9-$15*
Cellulite can be pretty pesky. This common ailment, which pretty much everyone has, is caused by fat building up underneath the skin. Some people are more predisposed to cellulite than others, and your genes, age, and body fat percentage often determine how noticeable cellulite is.

Coffee Grounds to Remove Cellulite @primeskincaresolutionsblog/Pinterest
Believe it or not, coffee grounds might be able to help reduce the appearance of this blemish. Mix one-quarter cup of grounds and three tablespoons of hot water. Rub the mixture onto “problem areas,” and let it sit for ten minutes. Rinse it off after. It is thought that coffee’s caffeine helps dilate blood vessels, stimulate blood flow, and eliminate excess water to dull cellulite’s appearance.