Who doesn't love a handful of household and beauty hacks to make your life easier? And how about food? Even better, right? When you combine the two things, amazing results are bound to happen. There are plenty of hacks that use food to make for a pretty neat and eco-friendly way to get stuff done around the house. Some of the most unlikely things you have in your kitchen can actually work better just as well as anything you'd buy at the store. So now you're saving money, as well as being creative, resourceful, and not wasting time heading to the store to pick up cleaning supplies. You can just start calling yourself Miss Organized, Green, and Financially Responsible.
In the hustle and bustle of today's busy (and very expensive) world, multitasking has pretty much evolved into a praised skill necessary for survival, so it only makes sense to find ways to use foods other than, you know, just eating — although, yes, that is kind of the best thing of all. I sought out a little advice and found some great tips from online home-keeping sources, like the trusty Old Farmer's Almanac. From cleaning aids to beauty tricks to even amping your arts and crafts game, tap into these foods that you probably already have and can use for those common household uses.
1. Lemons
When life gives you lemons, clean stuff. Aside from freshening up some of your favorite recipes, lemons work wonders with deodorizing and disinfecting because of their high acidic content. They’re great for kitchen sinks, polishing up furniture, and removing strong odors from your hands and cutting boards. The Old Farmer’s Almanac also suggests sprinkling a few drops of lemon juice into your vacuum’s dust bag to help the whole house smell fresh.
2. Baking Soda
Don’t be so quick in putting it away after adding it into the mix of the Pinterest baking masterpiece you’ve finally decided to try. Baking soda is a great eco-friendly cooking aid with a mind-blowing amount of uses, most prominently for cleaning. Here’s a little chemistry crash-course. Because baking soda, (or sodium bicarbonate), regulates pH, every time it comes into contact with an acidic or alkaline substance, it naturally neutralizes the pH. So why is that important? Well, with this neutralizing ability, it can do things like offset acidic odors or balance pH levels in water to strengthen any and all cleaning efforts. Sustainable living writer Melissa Breyer offers an extensive list of ways to use baking soda.
3. White Vinegar
Like its friend baking soda, white vinegar has just as extensive an amount of alternative uses. They both have that acid thing going for them, which, as mentioned earlier, is key to effective cleaning. Reader’s Digest offered up some great advice for all the different ways you can combine vinegar to help you around the house.
4. Yogurt
Packed with probiotics that help you in just about any way you can imagine, it's no wonder so many people make yogurt a fundamental part of their diet. In fact, yogurt's myriad uses can be traced back to ancient civilizations around the world, according to NPR.
But it’s also your skin’s new best friend. You can wash your face with yogurt to get that healthy, glowing skin you've wanted. The lactic acid in yogurt is what helps smooth any roughness and dryness, prevents premature aging, and dissolves dead skin to keep your face feeling young and fresh. Make sure to use plain, whole-milk yogurt though because that's what contains the live active cultures that do the trick. Yogurt's probiotics can also help relieve sunburn by restoring the skin's natural barrier, dermatologist Francesca Fusco, M.D told Cosmopolitan.
5. Honey
Aside from being extremely yummy, honey has great beauty benefits. Because honey is a natural humectant (moisturizer), you can use it to exfoliate, hydrate those dry lips, and even heal sunburns because of its antibacterial and antifungal properties. You can also toss the cough drops and the ibuprofen because honey can help soothe sore throats and cure hangovers.
6. Olive Oil
This cooking staple works wonders far beyond the kitchen. My favorite trick is using olive oil to take care of squeaky door hinges by lubricating them with just a few drops. You can also use olive oil as a makeup remover, according to Good Housekeeping, and more unexpected beauty hacks from battling frizzy hair to using it as a natural skin moisturizer. Olive oil can even remove chewing gum or unwanted stickers so you can let your nails rest easy, according to The Huffington Post.
7. Flour
Feeling crafty but you're all out of that Elmer's? You can actually make your own glue! Prepared with a little water and sugar, you can use this homemade glue recipe from Penniless Parenting that’ll amp up your DIY game in any project you tackle.
8. Rice
We’re aware of that common phone-in-rice life hack used as a last hopeful revival to save our phone from its potential water-damaged death. Because rice grains absorb moisture, it can actually work — depending on the level of damage and how quickly you act of course. But there's more! I recently stumbled upon a nifty little infographic on Secret Tips from the Yumiverse that offers some great non-edible uses for rice grains. You can use it to clean out your coffee grinder and awkwardly shaped objects like vases. You can also help relieve sore muscle tension by filling a (clean) sock with rice and heating it up in the microwave for a few seconds. Pour it into your saltshaker to free any pesky salt clumps caused by moisture.
9. Salt
While you’re at that, keep hold of the salt because there’s plenty more where that came from. I can tell you from personal experience that salt is the perfect quick solution to any spilled drink, grease, or even blood stain. But the trick is to be quick. Pour some salt immediately on the affected area so the salt can soak up the stain before it's been saturated. EHow contributor J. Williams explained how club soda and salt get a wine stain out because the white color of the salt will change to the color of the stain and absorb it. Depending on your type of stain, you'll want to consider mixing it with something else for the prime effect.
And there you have it, reason #5837456 why food is awesome. I mean who knew that aside from being tasty, food could bring so much resourcefulness and creativity to the table? The more you know.
Images: Pexels
