Healthy Obsession: 3 Genius Household Uses for a Pumice Stone

If you’ve ever gotten a pedicure, chances are your callused feet have met a pumice stone. While smoothing soles is what it’s best known for, this small-yet-mighty tool is actually capable of so much more.

Pumice—a lightweight block of hardened lava foam—has a porous texture that softens your feet, hands, and elbows. Because of its gentle abrasive action, pumice stones can be used to scrub off more than just skin, making it a super versatile household item too.

To diffuse essential oils

Because it’s porous, a pumice stone works as a vessel for diffusing essential oil, making it a smaller, cheaper alternative to plug-in diffusers. Aura Cacia recommends putting the pumice stone inside a mesh, drawstring bag (to prevent the oil from leaking out and ruining surfaces), and pouring about 35 drops of your favorite essential oil over the bag. The oil will seep through the mesh and into the holes of the pumice stone and diffuse into the air. They’re portable and compact enough to tuck away in shoes, drawers, and gym bags.

To de-pill sweaters

After heavy wear, knit sweaters often form small balls of fluff on their surface. Constantly plucking these fuzzies off your sweater is one way to handle it, but using a pumice stone is a much faster solution. Here’s how to do it: Lay the sweater on a flat surface and gently swipe in a single direction along the fabric. We recommend testing it out in an inconspicuous area of the fabric to make sure you get the desired effects without ruining the material.

To remove pet hair

This method is great for hard-to-reach areas behind and under the couch where a bulky vacuum can’t quite fit. Scrub with short strokes along rugs, carpet, car mats, and more to scrape your fur baby’s hair into one pile, so you can easily vacuum it up. Again, test in a small area first to make sure it doesn’t damage the fabric.

If you want to give these tricks a try, we recommend reserving one pumice stone strictly for beauty purposes and an additional one or two for the above uses. Try Earth Therapeutics Natural Sierra Pumice Brush, which features a pumice stone on one side and soft bristles on the other to gently clean nail beds.

Photo credit: Alicia Cho