Friday, May 21, 2010

The Magic of Toothpaste

I was doing a bunch of cutting the other day and noticed that my rotary cutter wasn't functioning very well. Each strip had a few threads that didn't cut. Very annoying! I was a bit puzzled because my rotary cutter had a fresh blade. Bad blades? Nope.

Turns out that my cutting mats were so worn that I'd created grooves in certain places and when the rotary cutter hit those, it didn't cut like it should. My mats are reversible, so I flipped them over. A few months ago I taped the underside of my two mats together to make one big cutting mat for cutting long lengths of fabric. I used duct tape. That's sticky stuff and when I flipped them I took off the tape and of course left a line of sticky goo. What to do?

Well, I googled for a solution and found this site. I looked over the list and when I came to the 3rd item I knew that a tube of toothpaste was just steps away. So, Crest to the rescue.

One little line of toothpaste, a bit of rubbing, and a quick wipe with a damp paper towel and I was back in business.

The magic of toothpaste...and my mats are minty fresh too.

33 comments:

Sandra said...

Who knew? LOL!

Esch House Quilts said...

What a handy piece of info - I never would have guessed toothpaste would do that!

Sarah Craig said...

Wow! That's one to tuck away for future use!!

dutchcomfort said...

The magic of toothpaste goes even further. I use it when the bottom of my iron has become sticky!

Barb said...

good to know - it also polishes silver jewelry in a pinch.

NorahS said...

Minty fresh mats! Very cool!

Sujata Shah said...

I use the toothpaste for polishing my silver jewelery too! Works like magic!

Qubie said...

Whoot for minty fresh.

henny said...

What a cool idea, thanks for sharing.

Stephanie D said...

I love tipnut.com--she has the best stuff!

Cheryl said...

Too bad we can't use toothpaste for that sticky goo in the Gulf!

Lynn said...

I am having a similar problem, my rotary cutter seemed dull and is leaving threads, so I changed my blade and it still is not cutting well. I never thought it would be the mat, so after reading your post I ran my hand over the mat and I can feel grooves in it. Problem solved (well once I get a new mat)! Thanks.

Amy Friend said...

I think I will have to flip my mat too...I hadn't thought of that but the same thing is happening to me!

Q @ JAQS said...

That's great advice. I have to try that with my mat too. My cutting has become a little messy recently and I thought it was the blade. I will try the toothpaste method to make sure it's not the blade.

AllieKatMom said...

Toothpaste also takes writing from small children off of walls :)

Angela Nash said...

Wow - great tip! Duct tape goo is really hard to remove.

Tammy Vasser said...

Thanks for the tip! I'm going to keep that list handy!!

Christina said...

Toothpaste, who would've thought? Thanks for sharing!

Allabitrandom said...

My DH swears by toothpaste for burns. I suppose it makes some sort of sense as there must be antibiotic properties to it - only try it if nothing else to hand!

chris baker said...

LOL!! that story makes me think of the Dad in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding"...he thought windex could fix everything, and it actually does do alot more than clean windows. I use crest to clean all my jewelry, makes a dull diamond sparkle like it was new!

Anonymous said...

I have a use for toothpaste that I got from my sister even before I started having kids 45 years ago. When your kid gets a booboo, put plain, old toothpaste, not gel, on it and it won't swell as much, and won't bruise as badly. I don't know how it works, but I have 7 kids from 45 to 26, and it always worked like a charm for me! 8-)

em's scrapbag said...

That's too funny. Glad you were able to find such an easy fix and one that smells good to.

Lisa said...

cool! I was having trouble with my rotary cutter recently... always leaving a small line of fabric... took off the blade and lo and behold... there was 2!!!

MightyMom said...

Never tried toothpaste. But I always have alcohol pads around and they work well for sticky. So does windex!!

PioneerValleyGirl said...

Toothpaste - who knew?


Great tip, though

Audrie said...

What can't toothpaste do!

My husband currently has some on his face... on a zit that has emerged lol I don't know if it works but he swears it does. Weirdo.

bellsjo said...

Well I never! Nice tip - but you do wonder who first thought to try it out...

Kim said...

You are a hoot! Thanks for the tip. :-D

Kelly Rachel said...

Hey, this is a fantastic tip, thanks for sharing!
Now, to add some minty freshness to some sticky spots...
{Oh my, that didn't sound altogether too good?}

Esch House Quilts said...

Just had to let you know that I have been using toothpaste all weekend! I have been working on some fusible applique and the needle I use to bury the threads in the back always gets so gummy. This time I put a smidge of toothpaste on a kleenex and cleaned it off a few times and it was good as new! Thanks!

Amanda Jean said...

I use lighter fluid to remove goo. It sounds dangerous, but it's really not. ;) it cleans soooo well, I'm amazed every time. Hurray for simple remedies!

Darcie said...

lol You're not only genius...but cute and funny, too!

Robyn said...

I was interested in you tutorial re straight line quilting. I use a 'hera' marker to establish the first line, then quilt on this line using the walking foot. After that, I use the guide on my walking foot for all other lines. Works for me! The marker leaves no ink at all only a crease which disappears after a while.