15 Clever Uses for Toothpaste Around Your RV

Keeping our teeth clean and our gums healthy is among the more commonly understood uses for toothpaste, but we’ve actually heard about a bunch of clever ways to use toothpaste for various tasks around the RV!

We decided to toss them over to you in today’s post because toothpaste is a thing every RVer has on hand in the rig. Let’s go see all it can do!

What Are the Typical Ingredients in Toothpaste?

Let’s start by taking a look at the ingredients found in most commercial toothpaste brands to get a sense of why there are so many other uses for toothpaste around the household besides brushing teeth.

• Fluoride: is the decay-fighting ingredient that makes tooth enamel stronger and more resistant to damage from acid.
• Glycerol: gives toothpaste its texture, while also keeping it from drying out. It’s the reason why you can squeeze the tube and the contents glides out uniformly.
• Sorbitol: is actually a sugar alcohol (polyol). In addition to assisting glycerol with the task of holding the toothpaste ingredients together in form & texture, sorbitol is a sweetener.
• Calcium carbonate: serves as an abrasive agent to remove plaque, food particles, and stains from teeth. When you finish brushing your teeth and they feel smooth and clean, you’ve got the abrasive nature of calcium carbonate to thank. It’s also one of the main reasons why there are so many other uses for toothpaste around your RV. Although calcium carbonate is abrasive enough to remove plaque, it’s gentle enough to avoid damage to the tooth surface. (This is important to the usefulness of toothpaste for household tasks as well. Stay tuned!)
• Sodium lauryl sulfate: is a detergent. That bubbly foam in your mouth? That’s a result of sodium lauryl sulfate.

What Other Uses for Toothpaste Are There Around Your RV?

Okay, now that we know what’s in many toothpaste brands, and what the purpose of those ingredients is, let’s see what other uses for toothpaste there might be around your RV. Keep in mind… toothpaste may not be the BEST product for accomplishing each of these tasks… but it may be the only option you have on hand when you need it (you DO make sure you’ve got plenty of toothpaste on board, right?!?)!

Deodorizer

Toothpaste can be used as a deodorizer for such items as bottles, thermoses, and food storage containers. It can also deodorize your hands! Been cutting onions or garlic? Wash your hands with a bit of toothpaste!

Remove Crayon and Permanent Marker

Did your little curtain climber exercise his or her inner Picasso on your RV wall? You can use toothpaste to remove crayon and even permanent marker! (Take a picture of the artwork first, though! ????)

Erase Sneaker Scuffs

Are unsightly sneaker scuffs taking away from the brightness of your nice new white sneakers? Use a bit of toothpaste to erase them!

Remove Soap Scum

Due to its gentle abrasives, another of the many uses for toothpaste is the removal of soap scum from around sinks, showers, and countertops. Just make sure to use toothpaste very carefully and gently if you’re trying to clean plastic/fiberglass sinks and showers because the abrasives could otherwise scratch those surfaces. To be sure the surface is “toothpaste safe” test a small area first.

Erase Water Stains

Water stains can be a real pain in the neck to remove. Try a little toothpaste on a cloth. Often the water stains will vanish, with very little effort!

Soothe Itching

Mosquito bites keeping you awake? Soothe the itch from bites with a little toothpaste! This tends to work best with peppermint or menthol toothpaste.

Polish Foggy Headlights

Those foggy plastic headlight covers need renewed clarity and shine. Grab a tube of toothpaste and head outside for some headlight restoration to bring clarity to cloudy lenses. We’ve actually used this more than once, and it does indeed work! It’s one of those awesome, didn’t-believe-it-would-work-but-it-does uses for toothpaste around your RV. Don’t believe us?

Whiten Outdoor Furniture

Outdoor summer furniture taking on that old yellow appearance? Whiten it up with a bit of whitening toothpaste!

Buff Out Paint Scratches

If you’ve got some light paint scratches on your bumper (or anywhere, really), try a little toothpaste on a cloth and use it to buff them out! (just be sure to always start your buffing very gently, remembering that your toothpaste contains an abrasive agent… so test an inconspicuous area first.)

Remove Scuff Marks & Sticky Residue from Floors

Scuff marks from shoes, and sticky residue that falls to the floor, can both be removed with a little toothpaste on a cloth.

Remove Tea & Coffee Stains

Got some stains from coffee or tea in a sink or on a cup, etc? Use a bit of whitening toothpaste to erase the stains and renew the appearance of the surface.

Polish Bathroom Fixtures

Bathroom fixtures looking a little dingy? Polish them right up using a little bit of toothpaste on a cloth, almost as though you’re waxing a car. This works best on metal fixtures, as toothpaste can cause fine scratches in plastics. Be gentle when rubbing, and again, test an inconspicuous area first.

Scrub Toilets

Out of bathroom cleaner? Believe it or not, another of the many uses for toothpaste is as a toilet scrubber! Just note that this works best on porcelain toilets because plastic toilets can get fine scratches from the toothpaste abrasives.

Defog Bathroom Mirrors

If you’ve got a NON-PLASTIC mirror that needs to be defogged so that you can see clearly despite the steam that rolled in from the shower, try a little toothpaste on a cloth to buff away the fog and leave your mirror capable of reflecting your smiling face.

Shine Jewelry

This really works. Use a little toothpaste (on an old toothbrush or a cloth) on your jewelry to make it shine like new! Works great on gold or silver!

Bonus Personal Grooming Tip

Because toothpaste is designed to kill bacteria in the mouth, it can also kill bacteria in other places. If you feel a “blemish” coming up on your face (or anywhere else actually), but don’t have any acne treatment on hand, just rub a tiny bit of toothpaste into the skin there. The bacteria-fighting ingredients that work on teeth and gums are also effective against the bacteria that cause zits! You’d be amazed this unconventional use for toothpaste will nip things in the bud after just a couple of applications.

Have You Found Any Other Creative Uses for Toothpaste Around Your Home or RV?

Okay, fess up. What unconventional uses have you found for toothpaste? Toss us a comment and add to our list of clever uses for toothpaste around the RV!

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