Don't Throw Out Old Nail Polish — Here's A Hack To Use It When Working With Screws

Nail polish has a variety of uses outside of its intended purpose (that is, polishing nails). Anyone who has worn panty hose will probably have used clear nail polish to stop a run, for instance. It can also keep cheap silver from tarnishing and save the jewelry-wearer from irritated or green skin. In addition, it's handy for filling cracks in wood or china, and allows you to thread a needle more easily (apply a small amount to the tip of the thread — works every time!). As great as nail polish is for your jewelry box or sewing kit, though, it's perhaps even more surprising to learn that you should keep some old nail polish in your toolkit. 

Why? Well, to put it simply, the hard-drying lacquer can stop screws from loosening. It's the perfect fit for some of your most frustrating household problems. For instance, you know the doorknobs that are constantly loose, even though you tighten the screws every week? Or the drawer pulls you have to approach cautiously, lest they come off in your hand? Clear nail polish such as Sally Hansen Advanced Hard as Nails is the perfect antidote to those pesky loose screws.

The process of adding nail polish to loose screws couldn't possibly be easier: Simply apply a layer of polish onto the screw threads and re-screw. Allow the varnish to harden and bond the screw to the surrounding wood before use (roughly one hour). 

Nail polish is a great option for fixing loose screws, especially if you already have it on hand and want to save some money. To sweeten the deal further, nail polish will protect the screws from rust and is fully removable when you are ready to update your space with new knobs. Later on, if you find you need to loosen a stuck screw sometime after you've done the nail polish trick, try heating it up with a hairdryer or hot water. 

Of course, professionals don't use nail polish: for them, the product known as Loctite Threadlocker is the popular choice, and if you find yourself dealing with loose screws often, it might be wise to add it to your screw-tightening arsenal. Like nail polish, you simply need to brush the threadlocker onto the threads, though it takes longer to fully cure (about a day). That said, that's a whole other product to buy, and if you already have nail polish sitting around, you might as well use it in this handy way.