Did you know that there are some brands of olive oil that cost more than bottles of wine? Many things seem particularly wrong with that statement, but surely one of the oddest is that while wine allegedly gets better with age, olive oil most assuredly does not. So you would think that olive oil couldn’t possibly cost more than any but the cheapest wine. Frankly, I can’t see paying such exorbitant amounts for either, but that’s me. If your bottle of olive oil has lingered around longer than it should for quality use in the kitchen, don’t go thinking you have to throw it out. Turns out that olive oil kept past its prime is extremely effective for a variety of uses throughout the house. And outside of the house, for that matter.
Baseball Mitts
Baseball players should keep a small bottle of olive oil handy in the locker room as a way of softening up the leathery goodness of a fine baseball mitt. Olive oil is especially useful for softening up a baseball mitt when the leather has been allowed to dry out and become cracked and hard.
Wooden it Be Nice?
Sure, you could spend money on a product designed exclusively to dust wooden surfaces and give it that nice glowing sheen. But why spend money on a monotasking product when you have the multitasking power of olive oil right at your disposal? One minute you’re using a bottle of olive oil to polish up your wood furniture and a little later you are using the very same bottle of olive oil to give some flavor to your stir fried vegetables.
A Close Shave
Literally. A liberal application to any part of your skin you wish to shave more closely will allow you to walk away smoother than when you arrived . As a personal intrusion into this narrative, let me suggest putting the oil oil into the microwave for just long enough to warm it until it is comfortable to the touch. Just be careful when heating up the olive oil and take care not to burn your fingers or any part of the skin you plan on shaving. I have found that warm olive oil tends to leave the skin feeling as though you haven’t even shaved at all.
Whack a Mole
If you are having trouble in your yard or garden with the pesky appearance of a certain underground pest that cannot help but mole its way into your bad graces, you can rid yourself of this specific problem in a way that won’t cause bloodshed. I’m not exactly sure where an old neighbor of mine picked up this information and I certainly can’t validate the presence of any scientific evidence to support my own firsthand anecdotal confirmation of its effectiveness, but I can say that I have, indeed, witnessed a veritable infestation of moles stopped dead in their tracks by virtue of soaking especially permeable wooden stakes into the holes already made in your yard by those moles .
Prettifying Plants
Unexpected company on the way over to the house? While you are rushing madly about the house trying to clean it and put things in order you notice that you have been especially lax when it comes to keeping your plants clean. Olive oil to the rescue! Rub a little olive oil on the leaves of either real plants or fake plastics to remove grease and grime and bring out its naturally shiny glow.
