If your leather bag or furniture looks a bit worn, and you don’t have a dedicated leather conditioner on hand, no worries. Just dap a few drops of olive oil on a clean cloth and buff it into the leather, focusing on the areas with the most wear and tear. Olive oil is a great conditioning agent, and it will turn leather soft and supple again.
Seasoning metal kitchenware is the best way to protect it from scratches, water damage, tarnish, and rust. You should season your baking sheets, pots, and pans a few times a year by heating up a little bit of oil in a clean pan and letting it cool off 2-3 times. This creates a protective coating over the kitchenware. To maintain the results, take few drops of olive oil and rub the oil onto the surface of a clean and dry stainless steel item with a soft cloth. Repeat once a month or so.
If a ring you just tried on is too small and tight, so much so that you can’t remove it, coating the finger in a smidge of olive oil can lubricate the ring and free it up right away. Using a cloth will help you hold onto the ring and slowly slide it off of your finger.
Soak a cotton swab in a tiny bit of olive oil and then rub the oil on the teeth of the zipper on both sides. This should loosen up a stuck zipper, and you’ll be able to slowly move it and ultimately pull it down completely.
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This trick works for solid surfaces, but we wouldn’t try it on paper or fabrics because it causes staining. Dab a few drops of olive oil on the sticker you want to remove and let it sit on the label for 15 minutes or so. Then, just remove the sticker by hand or using a cloth, and remove any oil residue from the surface with a cloth.
Wooden salad bowls, spoons, and cutting boards are more susceptible to water damage, scratches, and even mold growth than any other material. For this reason, you should clean and protect them regularly to extend the life of wooden kitchen utensils. Coating wooden kitchenware with a little olive oil by carefully rubbing it into the wood with a paper towel will nourish and protect the wood. It also prevents cracking and will make the wood look shinier and brighter in color.
Olive oil may not be able to take off any tarnish from silverware, but it can enhance the look of freshly-cleaned silverware and slow down the oxidative processes that cause tarnish, to begin with. Just rub a little oil into the silverware with a soft cloth, and your eating utensils will stay nice and shiny for much longer.
If you notice that your olive oil is getting rancid or is just old, don’t throw it away. Certain plants, such as palms and ferns, love olive oil as a fertilizer. Just add 2 tablespoons of olive oil into your watering can once a month and water the plants as usual.
Any DIY or home repair project that involves paint can leave stains on your hands and nails. Rubbing a little oil into your skin can loosen up any stuck bits of paint and makes washing your hands clean with soap much easier.
