Six Ways to Use Cat Litter (Even If You Don’t Have a Cat)
Cat litter is an interesting thing. Traditionally made from clay (but other shapes made from silica, pine or other materials are becoming increasingly popular), its sole purpose as stated on the label is to provide your feline friends with a place to run their business . Americans spend billions of dollars every year on cat litter and end up deliberately throwing away much of it.
But it’s worth keeping cat litter on hand, even if you don’t have a cat . You can buy pounds and pounds of it for less than $10 at most stores—and you should, because it’s an amazingly useful stuff, and if kept dry, it will last until you need it. And chances are, you’ll need it at some point. Here are six ways cat litter can be surprisingly beneficial that have nothing to do with cats.
Cat litter can provide traction
Whatever else you have in the trunk of your car, if you live in a climate where there’s a lot of ice and snow, make sure there’s a kitty litter bag in there. This is because cat litter can provide excellent traction on icy roads and give your car a little more traction to get out of snowy ruts.
In a pinch, you can also use filler to improve traction on icy sidewalks and steps. While it won’t help melt the ice, it will at least reduce the slip factor and make walking through the deadly winter wonderland that’s descended on your home a little easier.
Cat litter is an effective deodorant.
Cat litter does two things very well: absorbs moisture and masks odors. These are key things when your primary use case is cats going to the bathroom inside you. But the deodorizing properties of cat litter make it a great way to get rid of the smell of other things, such as:
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Shoes. Cat litter can definitely remove odor from your shoes. You can either line the bottom of your shoe with filler and leave it overnight, or fill a sock or other piece of fabric with filler and tuck it in there. Either way, after a day or so your shoes will smell much better.
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Garbage bins. Likewise, putting some cat litter in the bottom of your trash can will not only soak up any gross liquids that leak from the trash, but it will also reduce the amount of harmful fumes that enter your home every time you lift the lid.
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Closets and other small spaces. If you have a small space, such as a closet or pantry, that constantly smells, leaving an open container of trash in a bucket or small container will help absorb those odors and significantly freshen up the space. You can also make your own bags from an old sock filled with stuffing and hang them on a hanger in your closet.
Cat litter can help you clean up (non-cat) messes.
The filler is designed to absorb moisture, so it is a very useful tool for cleaning difficult stains, such as:
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Oily spots. If your car has left a puddle of oil in your driveway or you’ve spilled something greasy on the concrete floor of your basement or garage, sprinkle some cat litter on it and let it soak in. Come back after a few hours and sweep everything up—you may have to repeat the process once or twice to get everything up. Please note that this only works on fresh stains – once the stain is set, no amount of cat litter will help. You can also place a layer of cat litter on the bottom of your backyard grill to help it absorb grease as you grill, which can reduce brow-burning grease fires.
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Vomit. If you have a cat, you are familiar with vomit and how annoying it can be to clean it up. Whether it’s your furry friend’s vomit or your own, cat litter makes quick work of the problem: Sprinkle some litter on the dirt and let it clump, then simply sweep the dirt away. In fact, this process works on any liquid stain that you don’t want to wipe up with paper towels.
Use cat litter when throwing out old paint
Disposing of old paint can be a difficult task. Most local governments will require you to properly dispose of old paint, which may include taking it to a dump site, and will almost certainly prohibit you from simply throwing it in the trash, where latex paint can cause all sorts of environmental harm. But if you harden the paint and it’s no longer fluid, it can usually be thrown in the trash, and cat litter will do the job just fine. Simply mix an equal amount of cat litter with the remaining paint directly into the can.
Use cat litter to dry the area
The moisture-absorbing properties of cat litter also make it very useful as a dehumidifier for small spaces. While you won’t be drying out your entire home with trash cans, small enclosed spaces like closets, car interiors, and storage closets can be effectively dried out by simply placing an open container of trash in them. This can be as simple as opening a bag of stuffing and leaving it on the floor for a few days, or you can fill a sock with stuffing and tie the end off.
Use Cat Little to save your wet phone screensaver
Modern phones are becoming more and more waterproof, but it’s still quite easy to ruin an expensive device by dropping it in the toilet or other container of water. The old adage about putting your phone in rice won’t work , but cat litter will . Place the wet phone in something like a sock or other thin cloth to keep debris out, and then leave the sock in a garbage bag for a day or two. The filler effectively draws out moisture, possibly even saving your phone in the process.