Fluster Buster

Solving Everyday Problems

Image Map
  • Home
  • Homemaking
  • Recipes
  • Great Ideas
  • Beauty

Household Tips: 27 Uses for Newspaper Uses (WWII Series)

August 26, 2013 by Robin 6 Comments

This post may include affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy for more information.

Leave it to those wonderful women of WWII to come up with a list of frugal living tips using newspaper. Anything that was in abundant supply during that time was sure to be used for more than what it was made for and newspaper was in great supply.

 

Household Tips
Image from: History

I use old newspaper all of the time, for arts & craft projects, as a liner when I’m painting, I even use them for my scrapbooking. In fact the other day I saw a really unique use which I want to do in my office, Smoking Designers used newspaper for wallpaper. There are so many great ways that we use newspaper but I did you know that there are a lot of practical ways that you could use it too?

 Kitchen
  1. Containers – to deodorize,
    fill the container with balled up newspaper. Seal and let it sit overnight.
  2. Funnel – to make your own in
    a pinch, use rolled up newspaper.
  3. Refrigerator – to keep the
    vegetable drawer dry, line the drawer with newspaper.
  4. Tomatoes – to ripen, wrap
    the tomato in newspaper and let it sit out at room temperature.

Cleaning

  1. Glass – for a streak free
    clean, use newspaper with window cleaner.
  2. Shoe Mat – to absorb water,
    place a pile of newspaper near the door to store wet shoes and boots.

Garden

  1. Frost – to protect plants,
    cover plants with newspaper.
  2. Garden – to prepare for
    spring planting, in the fall, cover the section of grass where you want to
    plant your garden with several layers of newspaper. Pile your fall leaves on
    the newspaper. Saturate it with water. This will break down into compost and
    strangle the grass.
  3. Seeds – to sprout, place
    seeds between two pieces of damp newspaper. Store in a warm place, keep the
    paper damp.
  4. Weeds – to discourage, line
    the rows of your garden with newspaper.

Miscellaneous

  1. Bedding – to keep animals
    warm, line their bed with strips of newspaper.
  2. Candles – to make them fit
    tightly into holders, wrap newspaper around the base of the candle.
  3. Car – to give it traction
    when your stuck, place a thick pile of newspaper under the tires.
  4. Drafts – to eliminate, stuff
    newspaper under doors and in cracks.
  5. Drywall – to repair small
    holes, stuff the hole with balled up newspaper before applying drywall mud.
  6. Furniture – to protect when sanding
    or painting, cover furniture with layers of newspaper.
  7. Gifts – to wrap, use
    newspaper.
  8. Insulation – to insulate your home, use newspaper in your walls
  9. Kindling – for an easy fire
    starter, tie a piece of newspaper in a knot and place it under the fire wood.
    Light both ends of the newspaper.
  10. Knee pad – to make your own,
    use several layers of newspaper.
  11. Logs – to make your own,
    tightly roll up newspaper and tie it with twine.
  12. Packing – to protect fragile
    items, wrap with several pieces of newspaper. Stuff crumpled up newspaper to
    fill the empty space in the box.
  13. Purse – to store, fill the
    purse with crumbled newspaper to help it keeps its shape.
  14. Sewing – to make a pattern,
    use newspaper.
  15. Shoes – to dry, stuff them
    with crumbled newspaper and allow them to sit overnight.
  16. Shoes – to tighten, dampen
    shoes and loosely fill the shoe with newspaper.
  17. Umbrella
    – to make one in a pinch, use a thick piece of newspaper.

Do you have any household tips using newspaper?

** If, by some small miracle, you worked at Amway in Ada, MI in the 1980’s and were the person my mother loaned the notebook to, please contact me. The notebook is a small (aprox. 6″x9″) black leather, 3-ring binder, and contains hand drawn patterns (teddy bear), recipes and household tips and tricks. It would mean so much to my family to have it back.

Filed Under: Frugal Tips, Save, WWII Series Tagged With: how to, two cents'

Comments

  1. Linda @ With A Blast says

    August 26, 2013 at 11:45 am

    Great collection as always, Robin! I love going through all these uses 🙂

    Reply
  2. Tammy N says

    August 26, 2013 at 2:22 pm

    Wow! I didn't realize there were so many useful things you can do with newspapers. Thanks for compiling so many great ideas.

    Reply
    • Robin Buster says

      August 26, 2013 at 5:22 pm

      I was just as amazed! My recycling man is going to love me for making my recycling bin a little lighter every week.

      Reply
  3. Julie Stowe says

    August 26, 2013 at 9:07 pm

    And who would have thought all these uses attributed to the humble newspaper. Oh no! What are we going to do as everything is headed electronic. Try cleaning windows with an iPad or e reader! Lol. Thanks for this interesting array.
    Julie 🙂 Mrs Stowe's Kinder Cottage

    Reply
  4. Gracie Lathrop says

    September 1, 2013 at 11:50 pm

    Goodness gracious thats a ton of uses!! I love packing and wrapping with newspaper or newsprint 🙂 As an artists I've used it for all kinds of things on this list!

    Reply
  5. Deanna Domingue says

    January 26, 2014 at 10:50 pm

    Roll up some newspapers and put them in the fridge to absorb odors. Change out as necessary.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Image Map
Featured Blog (Sidebar)
Sponsors (Sidebar Header)
The Network Niche
Find Your Influence

Copyright © 2023 · Fluster Buster · Log in · Privacy Policy