Cat litter is a necessity for individuals who dwell with feline companions. Nevertheless, the litter field shouldn’t be the one factor that kitty litter is sweet for. There occur to be a number of completely different ways in which it may be used round the home (and outside) to boost your personal high quality of life in a technique or one other. Listed below are fascinating cat litter hacks that it is best to know.
The 13 Secret Makes use of for Cat Litter
1. Freshen Your Sneakers
Identical to kitty litter helps maintain the litter field recent, it may clean up your footwear. The litter absorbs moisture and helps take away odors which might be lower than nice to the nostril.
To freshen your footwear, seize a knee-high nylon, or minimize a foot off an previous pair of pantyhose. Then, fill the nylon with about 1 cup of cat litter, and tie the tip to maintain the litter from falling out. After you have created two “shoe inserts,” place one in every shoe that you just wish to clean up. Depart the litter within the footwear in a single day, and you ought to be left with dry footwear that don’t offend the nostril after they’re being placed on or taken off.
2. Maintain Pests Away
Whereas the odor of kitty litter doesn’t usually offend folks or family pets, it does deter pests like mice and moles. They hate each the feel and odor of kitty litter, so it may be used to maintain them out of your private home. Simply pour litter into the tunnels and holes that mice and moles use. Lay down a considerable amount of litter alongside the partitions within the basement too. This could assist make sure that these pests don’t take up everlasting residence indoors.
3. Save Your Smartphone
You’ve gotten most likely heard that submerging a smartphone in rice after it’s been dropped in water will help dry out the insides so it should work once more. The method appears to work nicely for many individuals!
It seems that cat litter might be much more efficient at absorbing moisture that has infiltrated a smartphone. To avoid wasting your cellular after it’s been submerged in water, defend it with an previous sock (so litter gained’t get within it), after which place the sock in a bag of kitty litter. Depart the cellphone in there for not less than 2 days. As soon as it appears that evidently all of the moisture has been absorbed, flip it on and check it.
4. Give New Life to Used Objects
Outdated garments, books, stuffed animals, and different objects can get musty after being saved within the storage or a self-storage unit. It may be robust to promote this stuff at a storage sale or resale retailer. Fortunately, you possibly can clean up these previous issues and put together them on the market with the assistance of kitty litter.
To take action, fill the underside of a big plastic storage bin with kitty litter (not less than 2 inches value), and place the objects that you just wish to clean up in a single layer on high of the litter. Put the lid on the storage bin, and depart every thing inside for not less than 24 hours. All the things ought to odor recent and new whenever you take it out of the bin afterward.
5. Keep Seasonal Objects
You need to use kitty litter to maintain your seasonal garments and equipment recent all year long so that you don’t have to scrub or change them whenever you’re prepared to make use of them once more. That is made doable by creating “kitty litter sachets.” Simply put about 1 cup of cat litter in an previous sock, then tie the tip, and also you’ve received your self a sachet. Place one or two sachets in with the tents, the packed winter sweaters, the coolers, and the suitcases stuffed with bathing fits.
6. Safely Eliminate Unused Paint
It’s not protected—and infrequently, not authorized—to pour unused paint onto the bottom or down the drain. You can’t throw unused paint away as-is as a result of it may leak and develop into a hazard. Happily, you possibly can flip your unused paint into stable waste by mixing it with cat litter. Stir a handful or two of litter into the paint, and let it sit uncovered in a single day till all of the liquid is absorbed, including extra litter as mandatory all through the day. At this level, you possibly can both throw it away or recycle it, relying in your county tips.
7. Maintain Your Trash Cans Recent
Simply maintain your private home’s trash cans smelling recent by sprinkling a small quantity of cat litter (a few tablespoons ought to do the trick) onto the underside of every can. You possibly can put a rubbish bag proper over it and depart the litter within the backside for a number of modifications earlier than it must be changed.
8. Soak Up Nasty Spills
Kitty litter is sweet for eliminating nasty spills which might be virtually unimaginable to scrub up with cleaning soap and water, like oil and grease spills. About 10 kilos of cat litter can sop up 1 gallon of spilled liquid! The more energizing the spill, the higher the kitty litter will work. Simply sprinkle a beneficiant quantity of your most well-liked litter on the spill, and let it absorb every thing for a couple of hours. Then, simply clear up the litter.
9. Get Your Automobile Unstuck
In case you’re extraordinarily fortunate, you’ve by no means been caught in mud, ice, or snow whereas attempting to journey in your automobile. Sadly, many individuals have, and in the event that they didn’t find out about this cat litter trick, the expertise could be terrible. Cat litter is an superior approach to create traction for tires to allow them to get out of “sticky” conditions.
So, if you realize that you just’ll be driving within the snow after every thing has iced up or in muddy circumstances, it’s a good suggestion to maintain a bag of kitty litter within the trunk of your automobile. In case you get caught, simply put a handful or two of litter beneath the caught tire(s), and it is best to be capable of work your manner out and get again on the highway very quickly.
10. Maintain Gardening Soil Moist
When the soil in your backyard stays moist, you don’t must water it as usually. The drier the soil, the extra usually the backyard should be watered. Whether or not you preserve an in-ground or potted backyard and whether or not you handle flower or meals crops, you possibly can make the most of cat litter to assist maintain the soil moist between waterings.
For this to work, the litter must be clump-free. In any other case, it should inhibit the flexibility of water to permeate the soil. Simply toss equal elements clay cat litter and gardening soil collectively to create your base. You possibly can fill new pots and gardens with the combination, or begin incorporating it into an already established backyard earlier than every planting cycle till you obtain an approximate 50/50 soil combination.
11. Use It for Crafts
Cat litter is the right filler for craft initiatives as a result of it’s cost-effective and holds up nicely. You need to use clay kitty litter to fill the bottoms of vases earlier than placing flowers in them to cut back the possibility of the vase falling over. You possibly can refill a stuffed toy or replenish a toddler’s bean bag with pure litter. You possibly can even use litter as a sand different for initiatives like a ship in a bottle or a Zen backyard. The choices are solely restricted to your creativeness!
12. Scale back Ashtray Odor
When you’ve got ashtrays round the home, you realize simply how pungent they are often. They can be offensive to guests who don’t use ashtrays themselves. You possibly can minimize down on odors by merely inserting a skinny layer of cat litter on the bottom of the ashtray. The litter will soak up odors because the ashtrays are getting used and lengthy afterward to assist maintain your home smelling more energizing total.
13. Fill In Small Holes
Whether or not your gravel driveway is creating small holes otherwise you discover divots in your superbly manicured yard, you possibly can economically repair the issues by filling them in natural clay cat litter. In case you are filling in holes and divots in part of the yard that isn’t frequented by folks usually, you possibly can even unload used kitty litter to fill in mentioned inconsistencies. Cat litter is a superb filler for areas which might be uneven earlier than they’re seeded with new grass.
Conclusion
There are such a lot of nice makes use of for kitty litter aside from being a filler for cat restrooms. It’s a good suggestion to stock up on kitty litter, whether or not you personal a cat or not, whenever you see it on sale. You by no means know when you will want it!
Featured Picture Credit score: Seika Chujo, Shutterstock
