Everyone—at least everyone with healthy teeth—probably has some dental floss in a bathroom cabinet that you use each night to get food out of the crevices of your teeth each day. But in case of certain binds, dental floss is actually great to have on hand in many other instances too.

Keep this list handy for all the situations where floss can solve your problems—and none of them involve your teeth.

1. Quiet a dripping sink

   Is water dripping from a sink not the most annoying sound when you’re trying to sleep? As a quick fix before you call a plumber, take a piece of floss and tie it to the bottom of the faucet, guiding the string down the drain. The string will muffle the water as it slides down the string and into the drain.

2. Clean computer keys

   Just like floss cleans the cracks in your teeth, it can clean the cracks of your computer keys. Tie the ends of a piece of floss to your index fingers and get into that dust, dirt, and grime caught between the crevices. This works for any tight place, like furniture cracks or tile.

3. Remove sticky photos

   Looking through grandma’s photo albums again? Old photos have a way of adhering themselves onto the pages. But of course you don’t want to ruin them. To remove them, just slide a piece of floss between the picture and the page, and it’ll separate effortlessly.

4. Tighten loose eyeglasses

   You know when a tiny screw pops out of your glasses and they keep falling off your face? Thread a piece of floss through the hole that the screw came out of and tie a knot. It’ll keep the earpiece in place so that you can still wear them until you get that screw fixed.

5. Slice a cake evenly

   Baking a layer cake? Cutting those things straight and evenly can be a real struggle, but it turns out a piece of floss honestly works better than a knife or fancy cake cutter. Simply place toothpicks around the middle of the cake (use a ruler to be exact), and then wrap a piece of floss around it right above them. Cross the floss in front and pull with a slow, steady motion. See how it works here. (Note: You probably want to steer clear of waxed or flavored floss for this trick). This also works for evenly cutting cheese or other soft foods.

6. Slide cookies off a tray

   Speaking of baked treats, you know when your cookies come out of the oven and you just want to get them off that tray to cool so you can eat them? Just slide a piece of floss underneath to get them up, then gently slide them off.

7. String popcorn for your Christmas tree

   Ran out of string hanging all your ornaments and have nothing to string popcorn with? Grab the floss. Its sturdy, waxy texture helps hold the popcorn in place without the pieces moving about so much. Floss can also work in the same way for kids to make macaroni or pasta necklaces in case you’re out of string.

8. Remove a stuck ring

   Wrap a piece of floss around the finger that the ring is stuck on, continuing to move toward the ring as you go. Once you get to the ring, try to feed the floss through the ring. Once you do, you should be able to start unwrapping the elastic and it’ll bring the ring with it. Here’s a video that uses an oxygen mask strap, but floss will do the trick just as well!

9. Tie up your hair

   Forgot a hair tie? Tie a piece of floss around your ponytail instead if you just need to get your hair out of your eyes for a bit. This may not work so well on people with thick hair, but it’s pretty sturdy for those with thin.

10. Create a makeshift shoelace

    Broken shoelace? Weave a piece of floss in between the holes instead. It’ll hold up for a few walks, or until you can get a new shoelace.

11. Start a fire

    It’s fine if you’re not really an outdoorsy person—starting a fire is easy with a piece of floss. Just wrap a piece of the waxed variety around a few sticks and light it with a match. It’ll burn like a torch!

12. Keep rope from fraying

    Rope inevitably can unravel and fray. To prevent this, wrap a piece of floss tightly around the bottom inch or so.

13. Tie up a chicken

    Or really any kind of meat that needs to be bound when cooking it. If you don’t have any twine, floss works in the same way. An unwaxed floss will ensure it won’t melt, and an unflavored one will make sure it doesn’t ruin your dinner.

Did you know floss had so many uses that didn’t involve your teeth? What have you used floss for in the past?