Don’t toss that floss! Novel uses for your stash
Sure, the jury may be out on the health benefits of dental floss — but it could come in handy in case of a prison break
We’ve all been there: Stranded on a sundrenched island, needing to dry your wet clothes as quickly as humanly possible, with nary a branch or flat surface to be found.
Luckily, you do have plenty of dental floss. And it makes a perfect clothesline. You saved the day, MacGyver.
If you’re saying to yourself right now, “of course that’s a thoroughly reasonable scenario,” you are probably the sort of person who walks around with plenty of dental floss at all times, just in case.
And that means you might have been upset to see widespread reports that the science is still inconclusive on whether it actually improves your health.
Sorry, scout, but rest easy: According to survivalists, crafters, do-it-yourselfers and felons, there are dozens of alternative ways to use your cache. Here are a few we found.
Cutting a cake: We haven’t tried it, but a video on YouTube looks pretty legit. Using a knife is also a pretty satisfactory option, though. Usefulness score: 7/10.
Hanging a picture: One way of hanging pictures is to use the wire that’s designed to hang pictures. Seems preferable, but apparently picture wire can damage your walls, so soft, waxy floss could be an alternative, sure. 5/10.
Making music: A guy restrung his guitar with dental floss in a YouTube video. It worked, but c’mon, guitar strings aren’t that expensive. 5/10.
Silencing a dripping faucet: It seems you can tie floss to the bottom of a leaky faucet and let it hang to the sink so the water will slide inaudibly down the string rather than dripdrip-dripping and keeping you up. We don’t know if it really works, but if so there’s some high upside. 8/10.
Escaping prison: Accumulate enough floss at the commissary and you could use it to fashion a rope as thick as a telephone cord, as one man in West Virginia did in 1994. Or you could combine it with toothpaste to saw through wire, as one man in Washington State did in 2002. Your prison has probably banned floss, but if you can get your hands on it, this seems pretty useful. 10/10.
Fishing line: Why are you in a boat with a fishing rod and dental floss but no actual fishing reel? 2/10.
Sewing up gunshot wounds: The Associated Press reported in 2012 that a group of escaped prisoners used floss to patch themselves up. Very resourceful, and they presumably had no better options. 9/10.
Pulling loose baby teeth: OK, this is dental in nature, but not the purpose floss was intended for. While it works in a pinch, the blogger behind “1,001 Uses for Dental Floss” warns against it. And he’s a dentist. 2/10.