8 Brilliant (and Totally Surprising!) Ways to Use Wax Paper

A few years ago I ran across a ridiculous clearance sale on wax paper at a drugstore. I can’t pass up a bargain, so I bought a stack of it. Then I had to ask myself what I was going to do with all that wax paper. It took literally years to get through it all, but that’s only because I wasn’t in on the world of wax paper hacks. Yes! It turns out there is more to be done with wax paper than lining your cookie sheets. Who knew?

It seems there is an endless number of things you can do if you, too, possess an abundance of wax paper, but here are a few of the most clever tricks, starting with my favorite.

I know, you can’t see your cabinet tops, but you still know they’re there, collecting the ultimate awful combo of cooking grease and dust/hair/what-have-you that floats around. The cleaning rag you use to tackle that particular gunk-fest with gets especially disgusting, not making any of us any more likely to do it more often. But hold on, because this is a game-changer. You don’t have to clean them! True story. Becca Napelbaum, a cleaning expert from the on-demand home service app Handy, shared this amazing idea: Just line the tops of the cabinets with wax paper and let its magnet-like superpowers get to work catching all that stuff floating around. Boom! A few times a year just swap out the grubby wax paper sheets for fresh ones, and your cabinet tops stay nice and clean!

The same trick that works on cabinet tops will also work on your fridge — another surface prone to that greasy, grubby coating. Now if you’re tall or your fridge is not, you’ll probably be able to see it. So what? Use some double-sided tape to keep it in place, and I bet you nobody even notices. And if they do, they’ll just think you’re brilliant for never having to de-grease the top of your fridge.

How often do you clean the produce bins and other trays in your fridge? How about never? No matter how well-sealed things are, somehow sticky, yucky residue ends up in the bins. Skip the scrubbing by lining them with wax paper. It’ll take the bullet for you, so instead of frantically cleaning when you realize how encrusted they’ve become, you can just trade the crusty wax paper for a clean new sheet!

You know how you really shouldn’t use a wooden cutting board for handling raw meat? Yeah, the thing is wooden cutting boards look so much nicer than most plastic ones, so maybe you’ve opted for that route. Just line wooden cutting boards with wax paper before you cut up that poultry and it’ll help keep the board looking like new (and it’ll be easier to clean).

Haven’t gotten around to buying a kitchen funnel but suddenly find yourself in dire need of one? Don’t tempt fate by trying to freehand your pour — just fashion a funnel with a section of wax paper and voila! It works with liquids and dry ingredients.

Skip the plastic wrap when you’re rewrapping a wedge of cheese. Wrap it in wax paper instead, so it can breathe. Fact: Plastic wrap is basically the worst thing you can use to store your cheese.

Read more: How To Store Cheese: What to Do When You Get It Home

Tired of looking at waterspots or a dull finish on a chrome faucet? Wax paper to the rescue! Just rub the fixture with a little piece of wax paper to shine it right up.

No matter what you’re nuking, chances are, you end up with sauce splatters all over the inside of your microwave. Keep messes contained by topping plate, bowls, and containers with a protective sheet of wax paper.

Got any other good ideas to add here? Leave them in the comments below!