Don't Toss That Old Broom, Here Are 17 Genius Hacks To Repurpose It Instead

An essential item that every home needs at least one of is the humble broom. Easily helping keep our houses neat and tidy, we may find ourselves with multiples and tossing these sweeping devices out, especially after years of use. But don't get rid of those items just yet because you can give them a new life! From creating mirrors to holding writing utensils, don't toss that old broom because we have 17 genius hacks to repurpose it instead.

There are a ton of different types of brooms, including angle, whisk, corn, and push with bristles made from a multitude of materials like acrylic, horsehair, and polyethylene. These cleaning tools also have handles consisting of wood, metal, or plastic. Sometimes, the head can be unscrewed while other times it is attached with screws, metal twine, and strong adhesives. You can find them in many different sizes and styles with some of them coming with additional accessories, like dustpans and hanging tools. There are even specific sweeping devices that work best for certain surfaces or areas. Most brooms are durable, lasting you years as long as you're properly cleaning and maintaining them, including washing them. However, even the most well maintained handy tools can sometimes have brush heads that lose some bristles or even come loose. And other times, we may just want an overall upgrade. Before using them in a DIY project, clean the broom from top to bottom, making sure you thoroughly remove all dirt, dust, hair, and other debris. 

When in doubt, the easiest way to repurpose your old broom is as a holiday décor piece, especially for Halloween. Set it out as-is next to a witchy scene or jazz it up by painting it black and adding cobwebs and fake bugs. Your old sweeping tools don't have to be just for Halloween, though. Many people make DIY Christmas décor with them by adhering ribbons and yuletide pieces. But with enough creativity, you can decorate your brooms for any annual holiday.

Use the broom trick for textured paint finishes on your wood pieces. This is a natural and sustainable way to create an organic feel and look on your surface. First, take the straw or bristle end from the stick, and reuse the handle for a different project. Dip the brush in the stain color of your choice and swipe on. Follow the directions In the can and let it fully dry before using your updated furniture. To protect your skin and clothes from paint or stain, wear gloves and an apron.

Give your home a nice scent by making a cinnamon broom. While wearing gloves, grab your old sweeping device and rub cinnamon oil on it after you sand all the old paint off. Once the oil dries, decorate with other natural elements like moss, cinnamon sticks, twigs, and dried fruit. You can even tie ribbons and twine to take it to new heights. Don't toss it out when it loses its scent; instead, you can revive last year's stale cinnamon broom to good as new with cinnamon extract.

Make a stunning mirror out of your old straw broom. Start by grabbing a mirror without a frame and make a backing that's the same shape. Unravel and remove the straw or bristles from the head and line up the pieces around the backing, painting it any color you want. After the paint dries, adhere it to your unframed mirror with hot glue. Add any other décor elements to create a beautiful hanging item. Once the glue dries, it is ready to suspend on your wall.

Those broom handles can turn into an integral part for an outdoor light arch. Take your sweeping tool, remove the brush, and hammer down into your grass. You may need multiple broomsticks if you want multiple arches. Evenly space out the sticks, making sure they are precisely across from each other. Grab a flexible tubing system and attach one end to a stick and then the other end to the handle on the opposite side. Finish by wrapping solar-powered twinkling lights around the arches. At night, watch as they magically light up your front entrance. 

If you live in an area where snow is common, keep that old broom and employ it as a snow sweep for your car, porch, driveway, or sidewalk. This is an affordable and useful way to get all that snow off so you can safely drive or walk. Since wet bristles can freeze over if left in cold places, dry off your sweeping tool and store away in a dry, covered area, like in an insulated shed or garage. You may need to combine with other efforts for thick ice or high piles of snow.

No need to toss your old, usable broom when you can cut it down to create a multi-purpose cleaning brush. Grab a saw and remove the two long sides, only leaving the bristles and base in the middle. Combine with water and a cleaning solution, using that smaller tool to clean showers, bathtubs, sinks, and tight corners and crevices. You don't even need to cut up the brush; instead, your entire broom could be the solution to scrubbing your dirty floors.

If you have multiple push brooms, you can build yourself a boot scraper. Find a platform that has a sturdy, easy-to-clean base, like a metal or plastic one. Then, you'll put one head on the bottom and the other two on either side. Once adhered together, brush your footgear back and forth, instantly scrubbing it clean. Stick it in your garage, porch, mudroom or anywhere else you kick off your dirty shoes. Remember that you'll need to wash off the bristles, especially after super muddy days. 

Cut up your old broom sticks to create custom wood furniture handles. To easily achieve this DIY, remove the brush head from the stick and sand it to remove old stains, scratches, and paints. Head over to your saw and cut the wood into evenly matched pieces that fit on whatever you are trying to put knobs on. Sand the pieces to make them smooth, then decorate and install. Depending on how many drawers or cabinets you have, you may need multiple broom handles, but just one can easily provide several.

Make use of that broom handle by sticking it in your garden as a stake. Take off the bristle or straw head and keep it for another repurposing project. Moisten the dirt of where you want to place your stake, preferably around plants like beans, peas, or tall flowers that need help properly growing. Jab the wood handle into the ground until it is sturdy. With it being outside, it will eventually succumb to the elements, so toss it once it becomes too weathered or unstable.

As an efficient way to get rid of weeds, you can screw on a cutting tool to the end of your broom handle to seamlessly pull up driveway and sidewalk weeds straight from the roots. First, remove the bristle head off the broom. Combine a Zenith Industries crack and crevice cleaning tool and screw it onto your stick. Then, go to your sidewalk and driveway cracks and pull at the weeds with your new tool. Once done, blow away debris, put the tool away in a garage or shed, and apply weed prevention solutions.

With imagination and the right design layout, your old brooms can easily turn into décor pieces. For this project, pick a spot or theme where these cleaning devices make sense, like a mudroom or utility room. Short brooms with hanging mechanisms can be lined up and suspended on a hanging rack or even on the wall. Larger ones can also be on the wall horizontally as long as they have secure brackets in place. Don't forget that you can even decorate them to match your home's aesthetic.

Add some fall whimsy by making a scarecrow for your garden. Stuff your broom inside of some clothes and then fill it full of straw. You'll want the brush head to be the face that you then decorate to go with whatever scarecrow design you can think of. Then, set it out on your porch or in your garden all autumn long. Some towns even may have a scarecrow decorating contest where you can submit your creation while also helping your local community stay festive throughout the season.

Do you hate that your broom doesn't collect all the dirt or crumbs, prompting you to want to toss it? Don't. Instead, wrap tape along the bottom. While you may want to stick on any kind, packing tape is the ideal option. You can clearly see the debris being collected and it's a durable option since it's made to withstand the rough handling that comes with moving boxes. After you easily collect the dirt and crumbs, unravel the tape, toss it away, and put away the cleaning tool until you use it next.

Grab your old push broom and remove the brush from the handle. Place it down with the bristles up on your desk. Stick your writing utensils in and the stiff bristles will keep them upright. If you are a painter, you can even stick your brushes in, especially during drying. This is a unique and sustainable way to keep your desk or table organized. You can even decorate it to match your current set up. If you use a vintage brush head, combine it with other retro finds.

Develop texture on your walls with an affordable item you already have lying around your home — an old broom. Dunk the ends of the sweeping device into your paint color and wipe off excess paint so it doesn't drip. Then head to your walls and start applying texture everywhere. The bristles or straw ends on this cleaning device seamlessly add those raised bumps that you can find in many standard homes. You can even keep the brush head attached to the stick to touch hard-to-reach places like high walls and ceilings.

Never skip out on dusting those high places in your home again when you have a handy, old broom that can reach. This repurposing trick is fairly simple: Just hold the brush end up to collect all the dust and cobwebs that may be lingering on your ceilings and high walls. You can attach a microfiber cloth if you don't like webs and dust bunnies tangling into the bristles.