15 clever uses for olive oil

Olive oil is a kitchen staple, but have you ever thought of the other ways that it may be used around your home? For these tasks, keep your expensive Spanish or Greek varieties the shelf and grab an inexpensive bottle and put it to use!

1. Shave: A natural and safe alternative to shaving cream. It also creates a very close shave.

2. Moisturise fingernails: Massage a small amount of olive oil into you nail cuticles as an alternative to hand and cuticle cream to keep them soft.

3. Condition and control hair frizz: Leaving olive oil in your hair overnight will add moisturise to dry hair. Brushing through a small portion of olive oil through your hair will stop flyaways and tame any frizz.

4. Unstick a zipper: If your jacket zipper won’t budge apply a dab of olive oil using a cotton bud to the teeth of the zipper (avoid contact with the cloth) and work the zip gently backwards and forwards.

5. Remove eye makeup: Using a cotton wool bud, dab the olive oil on the eyelids and under the eyes and wipe away.

6. Polish: Olive oil is an easy and cheap way to polish wooden furniture; a teaspoon of olive oil on a rag will shine it up in a jiffy! You could even mix a small amount of vinegar and citrus with the olive oil to remove tricky stains and add a pleasant fragrance. It also helps to condition wooden chopping boards that have dried out.

7. Remove sticky substances: Sticky substances can easily be removed from spoons and measuring tools etc, by rubbing them with olive oil.

8. Clean and shine: Pour a little bit of olive oil onto a rab and rub stainless steel and brass to prevent and remove streaks, corrosion and tarnish.  A light coating to your sink will also get rid of any water marks and prevent streaks.

9. Condition leather: Rub olive oil onto tired leather such as jackets, shoes  and couches and let it set for 30 minutes. Simply wipe away the excess and breath a whole new life into your leather.

10. Soften skin: Olive oil has regenerative power and leaves the skin soft and supple when applied regularly. Apply a small amount to course areas such as elbows, knees and heels. It also is effective relief from sunburn.

11. Remove paint from skin and hair: After some home improvements remove paint from your skin and hair  by gently rubbing the area to ease out the colour.

12. Body scrub: Create a DIY skin scrub by combining lemon zest, olive oil and sugar and together and rubbing gently on your skin.

13: Silence squeaky hinges: Forget reaching for the WD40, instead add some olive oil and work it through the hinge by opening and closing it

14: Prevent mosquitos from breeding: Open containers of water such as a water barrels or a small ponds are targets for mosquito breeding. Add some olive oil to the water to prevent the larvae from hatching.

15: Infused ice cubes: To extend the life of herbs such as oregano, sage and rosemary, fill an ice cube try with the chopped herbs and fill each cube with olive oil and freeze. When you are ready, pop out one or two the cubes and start cooking!

Tell us! Do you have any other interesting uses for olive oil?