How can I reuse or recycle lip balm tubes?

lipbalmWe’ve had another email from our good friend Am (aka Delusion):

Me again, just wondering how can I recycle / reuse empty lipbalm tubes? I use the twisty lipbalm sticks and admit I use them a lot. I have a stash of small tubes with their lid casings and no ideas on how to re-use them.

I emailed the company that I got them from to ask for any suggestions / ideas on if they could be re-used by the company or recycled and surprise, no response! Anyone else help?

I’m also a bit of a balmaholic, particularly in the winter, and seem to have about a half a dozen sticks on the go at the moment in various bags and pockets around the place. I think I might move onto little pots – since they’re been easier to refill/reuse – for some of my balming needs but since I don’t always carry a bag, I’ll have to stick to tubes for those slip-in-the-pocket moments.

So any suggestions?

Apparently you can use Chapstick ones to hide microphones when you want to take down a president but, personally, I think those wires give it away a bit.

If there are any balm-makers out there, can you tell us if it’s possible to make homemade balm solid enough to refill the tubes?

(Photo by asolario)

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9 Responses to “How can I reuse or recycle lip balm tubes?”


  1. Patti S says:

    This seems to be what you might be looking for.
    http://www.pretendingsanity.com/projects/lipbalm.html

  2. sally says:

    a honey and vasoline recipe

  3. Anonymous says:

    use them to store tiny beads and craft stuff

  4. Lizzy says:

    Anything with enough beeswax would stay in there – try beeswax and coconut oil , or shea butter, or whatever you can get hold of – even a bit of sunflower/olive oil. If there are local beekeepers near you then they could sell you some wax. Melt it all down and pour it into the tubes . :)

  5. Uluska says:

    Store needles in it.

  6. Uluska says:

    Hide in it secret message or money.

  7. Lora says:

    Steven and Chris had a cool episode where someone came in and made an all natural lip balm out of coconut oil, olive oil, essential oil and strawberries. Not sure which episode but you might be able to find it online.

  8. Faith says:

    You can use it for lots of things!
    To name one,
    you can roll up bills and hide them in it!

  9. Alex says:

    I have a bunch of clear ones as I actually used to work for a company that went out of business and gave away all their stuff and I thought they might become useful so I took them I have over 100! I’m actually really stuck myself as to what to do with them except of make my own lip balm, I don’t have many beads so there is nothing to store in them and they have a small hole at the bottom so liquids are definitely a no no! I suggest selling them! You could clean the up and sell them!



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