Brilliant WD-40 Tricks Everyone Should Try Once
1 Remove Paint Smudges From Your Car
For those who take pride in caring for their car, paint smudges feel like the end of the world. Whether it’s scraping against a pole or dealing with oblivious shoppers swiping your car with their carts, there are all kinds of ways to end up with rogue paint smudges on your vehicle. While it’s certainly better than a full-on dent, it’s just as frustrating to deal with.
With our WD-40 tricks, however, you can take care of paint smudges without breaking a sweat. Simply spray the affected area with WD-40 and allow it to sit for a couple of minutes. Then, wipe away the compound with a rag. The paint will come away with it, leaving your car as good as new.
2 Unstick Your Zippers
After a few too many uses, zippers have a tendency to become sticky. Even worse, there are moments where the zipper is stuck altogether, preventing you from getting into your favorite bag or out of your favorite pair of paints. But have no fear—WD-40 is here!
If you’re dealing with a sticky zipper, grab your can of WD-40. Spray the zipper with the compound, wait a few seconds, then try to zip again. The zipper should glide easily into place with the help of the WD-40.
3 Clean Carpet Stains
A stained carpet may seem like the end of the world. Unless you want to invest in a professional cleaning service, the odds of removing that coffee stain or wine spill from your rug seem dismal. But with this WD-40 trick, you can have your carpet looking brand new.
If you’re dealing with a tough carpet stain, simply spray the spot with WD-40. Wait a few minutes, then dab the stain with a sponge soaked in warm, soapy water. With a little patience, the stain will lift right out, leaving clean, unblemished carpet behind.
4 Repel Cockroaches & Other Insects
No one wants random insects wandering around their home. But instead of paying a hefty price for a professional extermination service, make your home into a bug-free zone with a little WD-40.
Spray WD-40 onto any area in your home where insects might sneak indoors, including window sills, screens, door frames, and baseboards. The WD-40 will keep spiders, cockroaches, and other creepy-crawlers from making their way inside. If you do happen to spot a bug, you can spray WD-40 directly onto the insect to kill it immediately.
5 Remove Scuff Marks From Floor
The floors in your house are bound to face a bit of natural wear and tear over the years. If you keep your shoes on inside, you’re sure to see a few scuff marks develop on your flooring. Some marks can easily be removed with a mop, but others stubbornly stay in place no matter how many times you try to clean them.
If you’re dealing with stubborn marks, grab your WD-40. Spray the liquid directly onto the marks and use a cloth to wipe it away. The WD-40 should easily remove the scuff without damaging your floors.
6 Stop Wasps From Building Nests
Wasps love to build their nests in the eaves of your home. Once they construct their lairs, you’ll be cursed with a big wasp problem that’s not so easy to eliminate. But if you want to stop wasps from building their nest in the first place, use a little WD-40.
As the weather grows warmer in spring, spray the eaves of your home, or any other area that looks like a good place for a wasp nest, with a little WD-40. The WD-40 will make the area uninhabitable for wasps, ensuring they don’t build their nests around your residence. There’s no spending your summer running away from wasps with this nifty trick!
7 Keep Dead Bugs Off Car Grille
Your car has a tendency to pick up bugs as you’re traveling down the road. Unfortunately, these little critters often smash into the grille, splattering against your car and staying stuck to the metal. When it comes time to clean them off, they’re often so bonded to your vehicle that there’s not enough elbow grease in the world to fully remove them.
But our WD-40 tricks can keep bugs from attaching to your grille in the first place. Simply spray the front of your car with a healthy dose of WD-40. The liquid will create a small barrier on your grille that bugs can’t stick to. The WD-40 will allow the few unlucky critters that do hit your car to slide right off when it’s time for a wash. Just reapply the WD-40 regularly to ensure a longer life for your car’s finish.
8 Defrost Your Windows
When the weather starts to get colder, your windows develop a natural layer of frost during chilly nights. While this is normal, it’s not exactly convenient. Instead of heading right out to work, you have to allocate extra time to ensure your windows defrost completely before you drive off.
But with our WD-40 tricks, you can eliminate your defrosting frustrations. The night before a cold morning, spray your windows with WD-40 and wipe off the excess liquid with a cloth. The WD-40 will keep frost from sticking to the glass, allowing you to wake up to frost-free windows.
9 Eliminate Surface Rust
Most hacks about rust are focused on preventing the corrosion before it even happens. While WD-40 can certainly keep items rust-free, it can also fix tools and other rusted devices after the decay starts to set in.
If you’re dealing with a tool or other metal object afflicted with surface rust, grab your WD-40. Spray the compound onto the surface, allow it to sit for a few minutes, then scrub it away with sanding paper. The combination of WD-40 and sanding paper will take the rust right off, leaving your item free of corrosion and decay.
10 Take Off Rings Easily
While it’s nice to imagine that every piece of jewelry you wear will fit perfectly, that’s just not the case. Rings especially have a tendency to get trapped on your fingers. But instead of panicking when you can’t remove your ring, simply reach for your WD-40.
Spray your hand above and below the ring with a bit of WD-40. The compound will add extra slickness to your finger, allowing the ring to slide right off. Be sure to wash both the ring and your hands after using WD-40, as you don’t want the chemical compound to linger on your skin for an extended period of time.
11 Remove Glue From Hands
While DIY projects can be fun and exciting, they can also be quite messy, particularly if you’re using glue. No matter how careful you are, glue always manages to find its way to your hands. Simply washing it off fails to remove all the sticky residue. But with our WD-40 tricks, you can get rid of glue easily.
Next time you end up with glue all over your hands, don’t bother heading to the sink. Instead, spray each hand with just a little bit of WD-40. Rub your hands together and watch as the sticky residue melts away. Once that’s done, you can finally head to the sink and wash away the compound and all the glue that will come with it.
12 Prevent Foggy Bathroom Mirrors
It’s just a fact of life that your bathroom mirrors are going to be foggy when you step out of the shower. Or is it? While foggy mirrors are the norm, they are a bit of an inconvenience, especially if you have to get ready quickly. With our WD-40 tricks, however, you can say goodbye to foggy bathroom mirrors forever.
Before your next shower, spray your mirror with a bit of WD-40. Then, wipe it off with a soft cloth. The compound will create a barrier over the glass that wards away moisture. The barrier will keep condensation from forming during your next hot shower. Repeat the process every few days to ensure your mirrors never fog up again.
13 Clean Your Toilet
While there are plenty of products available that promise a clean toilet, WD-40 just might be the best option. Unlike some cleaners, WD-40 easily cuts through stains and lime build-up, leaving a sparkling porcelain throne behind.
Next time you’re cleaning your bathroom, spray a bit of WD-40 into the toilet bowl. Allow the product to sit for about a minute before scrubbing the inside of your toilet with a brush. When all the grime inside the bowl is removed, flush the WD-40 and the built-up muck down the drain.
14 Prevent Splintering On Wood-Handled Tools
If you have a large tool collection, then you know keeping your instruments in working order takes a bit of effort. This is especially true if you’re dealing with wood-handled tools. Over time, the wood will begin to splinter and break apart as it corrodes. Not only will this render your tools ineffective, but it also raises the risk of you getting a painful sliver of wood stuck in your hand.
To prevent this problem, just use a favorite among WD-40 tricks. When you first store the tools, rub the wood handles with a generous amount of WD-40. The solution will protect the wood from moisture and other elements that lead to corrosion, keeping the wood in tip-top shape for a much longer period of time.
15 Keep Watch From Getting Caught In Wrist Hairs
Watches are a fashionable accessory for both men and women. But good as they look, they can also be a little painful. Watches, especially ones with stainless steel straps, have a tendency to get caught on your wrist hairs as you move, pinching your skin and causing unnecessary pain.
If you want to prevent pain from your watch, use our WD-40 tricks. Simply spray the band of your watch with a bit of WD-40 and wipe off the excess. The compound will create a barrier that allows the watch to sit comfortably atop your skin without pinching your delicate hairs.
16 Create Waterproof Shoes
There’s nothing worse than stepping out on a rainy day and immediately feeling the water soak through your shoes. If you neglected to plan ahead, you’ll be forced to spend the rest of the day tromping around in wet socks and dripping shoes. But if you don’t have the time or the funds to buy a pair of rain boots, just turn to WD-40.
If you spray the tops and sides of your shoes with a little WD-40, you’ll effectively waterproof your kicks. As a moisture-wicking solution, WD-40 creates a barrier against rain and snow that will keep your shoes and socks dry. Creating your own rain boots is really that simple.
17 Break In A New Baseball Glove
If you’re a big baseball player, then you know how difficult it is to play the game with a brand new glove. New gloves are stiff and need time to mold to your hand. Without a little assistance, they can affect your ability to play effectively.
But with our WD-40 tricks, you don’t have to suffer through a few bad games before your glove is broken in. Simply spray the glove with WD-40, put a baseball in the palm, and fold the glove sideways. Allow the glove to stay in that position for a while by securing it with a heavy book or rubber band. After some time, the WD-40 will help the glove to soften, creating a pocket that perfectly fits the ball. After allowing the glove to sit for a while, wearing it on your hand to ensure the leather molds to your specific shape.
18 Remove Stickers
Stickers, while not meant to be permanent, certainly feel irreversible when it comes time to remove them. Even if you manage to remove the sticker itself, you’re often left with a stubborn residue that just won’t come off. That is, unless you use WD-40.
Before you try and remove the sticker, spray it with a bit of WD-40. Once the sticker is covered with liquid, allow the WD-40 to sit for several minutes. Then carefully peel the sticker off and wipe away any residue with a rag. Thanks to the compound, the sticker and all sticky substances should come right off.
19 Make Your Stainless Steel Appliances Shiny
While stainless steel appliances are the ultimate mark of a modern kitchen, they’re not exactly easy to maintain. While the shiny steel looks amazing, it can easily collect fingerprints and other marks that dull the glorious sheen. But with a little WD-40, you can keep your appliances as shiny as the day you bought them.
To clean your appliances, spray a bit of WD-40 directly onto the steel or onto a rag, depending on your preference. Then use a little elbow grease to wipe the compound away. The WD-40 will easily shine the appliance, restoring sparkly stainless steel once again. Plus, the WD-40 will add a protective layer to the steel, making it more difficult to gather fingerprints in the future.
20 Remove Chewing Gum
Getting gum anywhere is always a bad situation. Whether you get a wad caught in your hair or you step on a stray piece on the sidewalk, the sticky substance isn’t easy to remove. In the worst cases, gum can be ruinous, forcing you to throw out your favorite pair of shoes or even cut your hair to get rid of it.
But with our WD-40 tricks, you can beat chewing gum. If you get gum somewhere you don’t want it, grab your trusty can of WD-40. Spray the area affected by the gum with a bit of the compound and gently scrape away at the substance. If the gum is trapped in your hair, gently comb it out. The WD-40 will decrease the stickiness of the gum, allowing you to remove it easily with no disastrous consequences.
21 Kill Weeds
If you’ve got stubborn weeds popping up around your yard, lay them to rest with a bit of WD-40. Spray the liquid onto the weeds and allow it to sit for a few days. The weeds should quickly wither and die, allowing you to pull them right up and throw them away.
However, you shouldn’t use WD-40 in areas where you still want to keep surrounding plants alive. The strength of the WD-40 will kill everything, rather than just the weeds. Instead, focus this hack on weed-filled areas that have nothing worth salvaging.
22 Clean Tomato Sauce Stains
Tomato sauce stains almost as badly as wine. Whether it’s a Tupperware container that’s permanently stained after housing a tomato-based sauce or a bright red stain that just won’t come out of your favorite shirt, tomato sauce is a dangerous concoction.
With our WD-40 tricks, however, you can ensure that tomato sauce is never a problem again. Simply spray a bit of WD-40 onto the tomato sauce stain, fully covering the affected area. Allow the liquid to sit for a couple of minutes, then wash it off with a little soapy water. It will take that pesky tomato stain right out!
23 Protect Silver Jewelry From Tarnishing
Silver jewelry is both classic and beautiful. But while it looks gorgeous when it’s brand new, it also gets tarnished easily. The resulting discoloration and corrosion age your jewelry and make it look almost dirty, which discourages you from wearing your favorite pieces regularly.
To ensure your silver jewelry maintains its shine, use one of our WD-40 tricks. Simply spray WD-40 onto a cloth and wipe the cloth over your accessories. The WD-40 will protect the silver, allowing it to maintain its shine and sparkle for years to come.
