This blog post is about nail polish. Guys! GUYS! Before you start making those cringing faces or decide not to read on, listen up! I’m not suggesting you start painting your nails and/or toes! (Some men do have their fingernails professionally filed and buffed, but not polished.) Remember, this is about hacks – other ways – that nail polish can be a handy thing to have. In fact, anyone who has basic tools should also have a bottle of clear nail polish, regardless of gender! There are also hacks for colored polishes, but for now, we’ll stick with clear.

Women of my generation, who lived before it became a trend and appropriate to go bare-legged, will most likely tell you that they were never far from a bottle of clear nail polish. It was the “go-to” whenever nylons got snagged or the beginning of a run in their hosiery. But there are so many gender-neutral reasons that a bottle of clear nail polish is good to have handy!

Clear nail polish can be used to smudge-proof important labels. Whether it’s the address on a letter or package that you’ll be mailing out that you think might be handled in inclement weather, or the labels of important information on bottles and tubes of medicinal items, a stroke or two of clear nail polish will prevent weather, water, even humidity from breaking down the ink that holds the important information.

If you keep anything in a metal container – like shaving cream in your medicine cabinet or paint cans in your garage – you know how easily moisture interacts with the metal and leaves rust rings. An easy way to keep those rings from forming it to use clear nail polish on the bottom rim of the container. No more worrying when family and/or friends are visiting and have the opportunity to take a sneak peek into your medicine cabinet!

If you want to keep buttons attached more permanently to your clothing, apply a coat of nail polish to the threads holding the button in place (front and back, if applicable). It keeps the thread from fraying, preventing the disaster of losing a button when you’re out in public. Make it a habit to do this with all new clothes you purchase as well as all buttons to an article of clothing when you sew a button back on.

Speaking of sewing, forget those silly gadgets that you can never figure out how to use when threading a needle. Simply run the cut end of the thread through the nail polish brush, rub it once or twice between your thumb and forefinger to tighten the threads and viola, it will go right through the needle’s eye!

Clear nail polish is a handy temporary fix to a windshield ding or crack! Working in the shade, dab or paint both sides of the ding/crack and then move the vehicle into the sun so that the polish can dry thoroughly. This will give you some time to get estimates and/or arrange a repair appointment without further spreading. Dabbing clear nail polish over any dings and chips of your vehicle’s paint will also prevent rust from forming at the site.

Got a threaded screw? Brush some clear nail polish on the screw head, insert the screw and let dry before using again! If you ever do need to remove the screw, just use extra pressure with your screwdriver in the reverse position and it should break the seal.

Oh, no! You notice a small hole has been poked in your window or door screen. Rather than attempting one of those repair kits or worse yet, go through the expense of replacing the entire screen, if the hole is 1/4th inch or less, you can dab on some clear nail polish. Not only will it stop any small bugs from getting through, it will also prevent the hole from enlarging!

These are just a few hacks that make a bottle of nail polish a good investment for anyone! I’ve used it on a large pretty shell I found at the beach to keep it shiny and protect its pastel colors from fading. People on low sodium diets often paint it on some of the holes on the inside of a salt shaker lid to limit the amount of salt that dispenses. It works on the underside of silk flowers and foliage to repair a small tear. A little bit painted on the underside of any decorative ribbon guarantees that the ribbon won’t fray.

Seriously, the uses for clear nail polish are only limited by your imagination! So make sure you have a bottle and the next time you’re wondering how to “fix” something, try it!