DIY Life

I have a bottle of hairspray somewhere in my linen closet, but for the life of me, I couldn't tell you where it is. I used hairspray all the time when I had a full time job and actually fixed my hair, but for the last 3 years I have worked at home, so fixing my hair when I had a toddler on one arm and a screaming baby on the other was the last thing on my mind. The lonely unused bottle of hairspray sadly migrated to the back of the closet, never to be heard from again.

I'll have to find that bottle, because Gomestic shares with us 16 extraordinary uses for hairspray. If you have an unused bottle of hairspray taking up space, and you don't ever plan on using it for your upswept hairdo again, please join me after the jump for a list of hairspray uses and links to past posts here on DIY Life.

• Preserve kiddies drawings and keep them from fading by coating with hairspray.
• Use hairspray to remove ink marks from walls.
• Use hairspray to remove ink stains from fabric by spraying the item before you wash it.
• Stop pantyhose from a continuous run by spraying with hairspray; if that doesn't work, and the pantyhose can't be worn anymore, here are some tips on reusing those pantyhose.
• The next time you have to wrap a present with newspaper, give the paper a nice sheen by spraying with hairspray.
• Preserve leaves in your flower arrangements and the color in autumn leaves with a spritz of hairspray.
• Spray over chalk artwork to keep the chalk from coming off.
• Spray polished metals like brass and copper so they keep their shine longer and are more resistant to fingerprints.
• Easily remove glue by spraying liberally with hairspray.
• Spray a zipper that wants to fall down with hairspray. It will stay in place. When it comes time to get the zipper down, use baby oil to get it unstuck.
• Pet hair removal is easily accomplished if you spray a tissue with hairspray and wipe the furniture. The pet hair sticks to the tissue.
• Kill flying insects with a shot of hairspray. I like to do this if a bee or wasp gets into the house, as it is less toxic than using bug spray.
• Save your recipe cards from food stains by spraying them with hairspray to keep them clean. Just wipe off when you are done using the recipe card.
• Straighten ruffled curtains by holding the folds in the curtain and spraying with hairspray to keep the folds in place.
• Remove lipstick stains by spraying the stain and letting sit for a few minutes before wiping away the lipstick.
• After you are done polishing your shoes with a banana, spray them with hairspray to keep them shiny.
• Maureen Carter has a great post about making rub-on transfers: one of the necessary items to make the transfers is hairspray.

I hope this list and the links are helpful to you. Please feel free to comment and let us know your uncommon uses for hairspray.