12 Wacky Uses for Silly Putty®

1. Make a toothbrush, pencil, pen, or silverware utensil easier to grip. Wrap Silly Ptty around the handle of the toothbrush or utensil to make a convenient grip.
2. Align and test CAT scanners. Silly Putty’s specific gravity is similar to human flesh.
3. Clean a lipstick stain from clothes. Flatten a ball of Silly Putty into a pancake, and use it to pat the lipstick stain, which will come up into the Silly Putty.
4. Clean ink and ribbon fiber from typewriter keys. Roll Silly Putty into a ball and press into the typewriter keys.
5. Lift dirt from car seats. Mold Silly Putty into whatever shape best fits into crevices.
6. Retrieve small items from crevices. Use Silly Putty to pick up small, dropped items like beads, or get them out of crevices.
7. Strengthen hands and forearm muscles. Squeeze Silly Putty for ten minutes every day in each hand.
8. Remove pet hair from clothes and furniture. Roll Silly Putty into a ball, flatten it into a pancake, and use it to pat hair-covered furniture. The hairs stick to the Silly Putty. You’ll have furry Silly Putty, but a clean couch.
9. Fix a wobbly table. Place a piece of Silly Putty under the short leg to balance the table (unless the table is sitting on carpet).
10. Stop a small machine part from rattling. Wrap Silly Putty as a buffer between two pieces of rattling metal.
11. Demonstrate elastomeric properties. If you rip Silly Putty apart quickly, it acts as a brittle object and fractures. If you pull it slowly, it acts as a maleable object and elongates.
12. Calm your nerves. Playing with Silly Putty has therapeutic value in reducing emotional pressure and calming nerves. At the 1969 Woodstock music festival, medics working the First Aid tents handed out Silly Putty to pacify anyone having a bad LSD trip.