7 Toilet Paper Life-Hacks that Could Save Your Life

Of course we all know the obvious use for toilet paper, but there quite a few other creative uses for it. My favorite provider of hacks—the Crazy Russian Hacker—has compiled a video with seven very interesting and inventive hacks concerning this household staple that may just come in handy one day. You never know!

Video:

1. Stop Your Pet from Ruining the Toilet Paper

I’m sure all pet owners have dealt with this frustration. The first time that I walked in on my cat ripping the roll to shreds and scattering toilet paper shards all over the bathroom was kind of cute and funny, but the next few times became a real pain. So all you have to do is tuck that loose hanging piece into the inner roll so that they don’t have anything to grab on to. It’s simple, it’s obvious… and now I feel stupid for not thinking of it before.

2. Keep Your Toilet Paper Dry when Camping

If you’re an outdoorsy type then you’ll understand the irritation of wet toilet paper. It totally defeats the purpose of the paper if it’s wet. So what you can do is take an empty coffee container (or something similar) and just keep it safe and dry in there. You can even cut a slit on the top or side to turn it into a makeshift dispenser.

3. Use Kitchen Paper Towel as a Backup

I wouldn’t recommend this as any everyday thing since paper towels are more expensive than toilet paper, but if you ever find yourself in a pickle, just cut the paper towel in half and put that in the bathroom. At least it’ll look better than a little pile of napkins.

4. Makeshift Slingshot

Need an easy way to keep the kids entertained and out of your hair for a while? Snip off the bottom part of a balloon and stretch it over the top of an empty toilet roll to create a very interesting homemade take on a slingshot. In this instance, the Crazy Russian Hacker is a bit too crazy here for my liking as I don’t recommend shooting marbles at animals, so just find something a little less deadly and maybe set up some empty cans as targets.

5. Safely Store Wrapping Paper

Pretty wrapping paper can cost a pretty penny, so you want to store it safely so that it doesn’t get crumpled in between birthdays. So just take your empty toilet roll, cut it open vertically and then pop it on the rolled wrapping paper. This will stop it from unrolling and getting ruined.

6. Keep Warm with a Tuna Torch

So this is quite out-of-the-box but you never know when you may need it! People always seem to take tinned tuna along when camping, so if you find yourself in a chilly situation, you can use it to get warmed up. Open up the tuna can, take a few squares of toilet paper from your coffee container dispenser and put it on top of the tuna – let it soak in a bit of that oil (tuna in brine won’t work). Then just set the paper alight; it’ll burn for about half an hour.

7. Make a Can Heater and Cooker

This is another hack that will come in handy when camping, or if you have a power outage at home. Remove the inside roll from the toilet paper and stuff it into an empty can. Pour in some alcohol (70% isopropyl alcohol aka rubbing alcohol or surgical spirits is the safest to use indoors) so that the toilet paper soaks it in, and then set it alight. The paper acts a wick so it won’t burn; you’ll just be burning off the alcohol. Not only does this produces a good amount of heat but you can also use it for cooking.

Tutorial by CrazyRussianHacker Youtuber.