8 Alternative Uses for Your Iron That Are Borderline Genius

A clothes iron is a much handier appliance than you might think. Not only can it make your clothes look great, but it can also repair dents on your wooden furniture, leaving the surface as good as new. And if you can’t scrape bubble gum off your clothes, an iron can also help you with this!

We at Bright Side love when people do something unconventional using ordinary things. So here are a few things you wouldn’t expect an iron to be useful for!

1. You can fix dents on wood.

To remove a dent from your wooden table or any other wooden piece of furniture, you’ll need an iron, a piece of cloth, and water. Spray some water on the dent, cover it with a damp piece of cloth, and iron it. Every minute or so, add more water on the dent, and apply the heat again. Repeat this until you see the dent has been removed.

2. You can remove candle wax.

If you’ve got candle wax stains on your clothes, your carpet, or any fabric, you can remove it with an iron. Simply place the area that has the stain between 2 towels and press it with a warm iron (make sure it’s on a low setting). The wax will stick to the towels, and you’ll be able to get rid of the stains on your clothes. The same trick can be used to remove candle wax from hard surfaces.

3. You can remove chewing gum from your clothes.

Put the area with the chewing gum on a piece of cardboard, so that the side with the gum touches the cardboard. You’ll then have to iron the opposite side of the fabric. The gum will become softer, and it`ll stick to the cardboard, making it easy to detach the rest of it from your clothes. Make sure the temperature is not too high, otherwise the gum will melt and it’ll be hard to remove.

4. You can cook food.

You can use an iron to prepare basically anything you would normally cook on a stove. Just put tinfoil on it, add some butter or oil — and you’ve got a frying pan! Another way to do it is to put food between 2 sheets of foil and then heat it up with an iron. You can even fry bacon that way! For that, you might also need a cutting board and a towel to make sure you don`t damage any surfaces and to remove the grease from the iron.

5. You can remove heat stains from wood.

If you put hot dishes or cups on a wooden table, heat stains might appear. To remove them, first place a towel over the stains. Then iron the area with the steam on.

6. You can remove furniture indentations from carpet.

If you decide to get rid of or move a piece of furniture, you might notice that it left an impression on the carpet. To remove it, take a damp towel and put it over the indentation. Then heat up the towel with a steam iron. From time to time, lift the towel up and fluff the carpet fibers. Repeat a few times until you see the desired results.

7. You can preserve flowers.

It usually takes a few weeks for flowers to become dry enough to preserve them in a book. With an iron, it’ll only take a few minutes. Put the flower between 2 pieces of paper and flatten it with something heavy. With the iron on a low setting, press it on the upper piece of paper for 15 seconds. Then let the paper cool off for 15 seconds and repeat the process until the flower is dry.

8. You can laminate your paperwork.

You don’t have to buy a laminating machine to laminate your documents. Just put a piece of paper between 2 laminate plastic sheets, place a piece of cloth on top, and iron it. Make sure the temperature is not too high and that there isn’t any water in the iron.

Have you ever done any of these things? What else can you do with an iron? Do you know about any other hacks you could do using the ordinary stuff you have at home?