Today Show: Double Duty Clever Uses
Woman’s Day senior editor Taryn Morhman was on Today Show with Natalie Morales and Willie Geist to share some ways we can repurpose household items to solve common problems. Here’s how you can put tea bags, dental floss, straws, and balloons to work.
Today Show: Tea Bags as Fertilizer

Learn how you can put household items to use with these home remedies. Used tea bags can become a great plant fertilizer or help out with the dishes. (Jack Jelly / Shutterstock.com)
Tea bags are a household staple, but you can recycle used tea bags in your house plants. Cut open a steeped tea bag and pour its contents onto the soil of your plant. The tea contains traces of nitrogen, which will have a fertilizer effect and add nutrients to the soil.
Today Show: Tea Bag Trick for Dirty Dishes
You can also use the tannic acid from tea to help make doing dishes easier. Cut through grease and grime by soaking pots and pans overnight with two or three tea bags. Then it will be even easier to clean the next morning.
Today Show: Dental Floss To Hang Pictures
Double or triple high quality dental floss to help hang lightweight picture frames. Since floss is soft, it won’t scratch the paint off your walls. This could come in handy in a pinch, so pin it for easy access.
Today Show: Dental Floss Ring Remover
Is your ring too tight on your finger? Loop a strand of dental floss through the bottom of the ring. Then wind the floss from the base toward the tip of your finger. This will temporarily bind the finger and allow you to get the ring off. Then just remove the dental floss and your finger will be back to normal.
Today Show: Prevent Necklace from Getting Knots
Some pieces of jewelry can easily become tangled and knotted. But you can prevent this problem before you pack for your next trip. Use a straw to help keep a necklace in great shape. Feed an end of the chain through the straw and clasp it once it comes through the other end. This is a genius packing tip that will keep your necklaces from becoming tangled.
Today Show: Straw Simulates Vacuum Seal
When it comes to storing food in your refrigerator, air in the container is what will cause leftovers to spoil faster. To avoid this, place the food you want to save in a resealable back. Insert a straw into one end of the bag. Seal the bag and press out as much air as possible. Then suck on the straw to make something akin to a vacuum seal. Remove the straw and finish sealing the bag.
Today Show: Balloons Packing Material
Leftover balloons can be a great packing material, especially when it comes to fragile objects like ornaments. They will keep items from shifting around in storage or transit.
Today Show: Balloons Identify Drinking Glasses
You can also use balloons, Morhman said, to help keep track of which glass belongs to each guest at a party. Cut off the neck of the balloon and stretch the remaining portion over the base of your wine glass. You could also cut balloons into a band shape for use on tumbler-style glasses.
Which of these bright ideas is your favorite?
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