Surprising Uses of Everyday Foods

Food is necessary to fuel our bodies, but sometimes we buy too much of it at the grocery store. When your produce starts to go bad, or when you’ve kept those spices around for just a bit too long, or when you thought you’d make a recipe out of all of those ingredients but just didn’t get around to it, there are many other ways you can still use your food instead of throwing it away. Surprisingly, it doesn’t involve eating it either.

Fruits

Before throwing away old banana peels, use them to shine up metals and leathers that you have. Rub the peel against the surface and then polish it with an old cloth. Banana meat is also good for reducing wrinkles. Dab a bit on those trouble spots, let it sit for a while, and then wash it off, and your wrinkles will disappear. Lemons are great to lighten skin and hair. If you have troublesome acne scars, dab a bit of fresh lemon juice on them and leave it overnight. You’ll notice a difference in the morning. Apple slices will help ripen tomatoes quickly when the two fruits are placed together in a paper bag, and orange peels are great fire starters for your next backyard fire pit party.

Vegetables

A slice of cold potato over your eyes can reduce puffiness and redness on your eyelids. Sit with the potato over your eyes as you would with slices of cucumber in a spa. Garlic removes splinters with ease. If you rub garlic over a splinter, it will come right out.

Oils and Condiments

Mustard can make you feel a lot better if you are suffering from a cold. If you use it like a vapor rub and apply it to your chest under a wet towel, you’ll feel better in no time at all. Butter can help you untangle all of those knotted necklaces that are in the back of your jewelry drawer. Just slather some on, watch the necklaces slip apart, and rinse them off. That high-calorie mayonnaise in your fridge that you are trying not to eat because it will ruin your diet is great for getting crayon off of the walls. The next time your kids draw all over, don’t worry. Slather some mayo on there and wipe it all away. Olive oil is a great product for your skin, as well as to quieten creaky hinges. If your dog or cat brings home fleas, using salt is a great way to get rid of them around the house. Just pour salt into the vacuum cleaner and around the baseboards. Let it sit, then vacuum the salt up. The salt dehydrates the fleas and kills them. Be sure to throw away the vacuum bag or empty the vacuum bin immediately, or some of the fleas can crawl back out.

Beverages

Everyone knows the trick of using club soda to get dark stains out of the carpet. But did you know it also works to get pet urine out of the carpet too! Beer is a great hair lightener. If you are out of lemons, try soaking your hair in beer before going outside. Just don’t forget to wash it out afterwards. That old 2-liter bottle of pop will work wonders if you need to clear out a clogged drain. Just pour it down the drain and watch the fizzes do their job of breaking up the gunk. Milk is great for stain removal, especially if your stain is some type of ink. Just soak some into the stain and watch it loosen up.