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Domestic Chores and Cleaning Away with Food

Fresh food is not only good for taste and our health. They can be really helpful in keeping our daily domestic tasks in order, in being part or all of our beauty kit, as well as becoming something you've never dreamt they could ever be!

Leftover Toothpaste - Silverware Cleaner
Baking Soda/Bicarbonate Soda - Freezer/Refrigerator Deodoriser
Lemon Juice And Baking Soda - Cleaning
Lemon Juice And Baking Soda - Carpet Deodoriser
Pandan Leaves - Debug and Deodorise
Tea Tree Oil in Water - Air Freshener
Tea Tree Oil as Antiseptic
Tea Tree Oil as Cleaner and Stain Remover
Cleaning Hard To Reach Area In Utensils
Soap Remains - Great for Cleaning
Starch As Glue

Leftover Toothpaste - Silverware Cleaner

Always gutted that you can never finish using the toothpaste left in the tube? Cut it open with a pair of big scissors, use up whatever you can for the last time. Should there be some leftover, use it to clean and polish your silverware and silver jewelleries. Works perfectly!

Baking Soda/Bicarbonate Soda - Freezer/Refrigerator Deodoriser

I put Baking Soda/Bicarbonate Soda in the freezer to get rid of raw meat and fish smell/stench. (Ed: It really works! I placed some in a salt & pepper dispenser. Even have one in the fridge. Thanks Viv!)

Submitted by: Viv

Lemon Juice And Baking Soda - Cleaning

Baking soda is often used for cleaning purposes, and lemon is a natural bleaching agent. Combine neat lemon juice and baking soda, add a little water if necessary. Slab onto tough stains or moldy part in the bathroom, and leave it for 5-10 minutes, then scrub. You substitute the normal dishcloth with the leftover lemon peel, to clean your basin or even dishes. No chemical involved and it's definitely not harmful to your hands.

Inspired by: Leo Hickman: Cleaning the Home

Lemon Juice And Baking Soda - Carpet Deodoriser

We also like to use it to deodorise carpets. Mix juice from 1 lemon with 1 tablespoon of baking soda and 1 cup of water in a spray bottle. Spray the solution on to carpet and leave it on for about 1 hour to dry up, before vacuuming the carpet. You can also use a few drops of pure tea tree oil instead of lemon juice, to prevent bug infestation. You can also use other pure essential oils such as lavender.

Inspired by: Baking Soda Book

Pandan Leaves - Debug and Deodorise

A lot of Southeast Asians place a few Pandan Leaves in their kitchen cabinets, to keep cockroaches away, as well as getting rid of odour caused by damp or bugs. They will need to be replaced every now and again to keep the effect going.

Tea Tree Oil in Water - Air Freshener

I often keep a spray bottle of water mixed with 5-6 drops of pure (100%) tea tree oil in my room as air freshener (good as humidifier in an air-conditioned room). Then I had this flatmate who has strong body odour - so bad that I can smell it from the hand towel he hung in the bathroom - without having to go near it. So I will spray some of my tea tree air freshener onto the towel every now and then, to get rid of the smell.

Wei

Tea Tree Oil as Antiseptic

It is quite widely known that tea tree oil has natural antiseptic property. Put a drop or 2 onto a piece of damp cotton wool and dab on to affected skin. I have been using it to sterilise minor wounds, and put an unknown skin condition - which has not yet been cured by some prescribed medication - under control. Touch wood!

Pheeb

Tea Tree Oil as Cleaner and Stain Remover

I often have dinner at my study desk, so getting some oil stain from a piece of roast chicken onto the desk is not surprising. After reading about using tea tree oil as air freshener on here, I thought I would try to use it to deodorise the desk. So I put a few drops of 100% pure tea tree oil onto a damp dish cloth, and wiped the desktop. Guess what? Not only is the food smell gone, so are those stubborn ballpoint ink stains, and some other unidentified long existed stains! Now that, is a surprising discovery!

ShenAw

Cleaning Hard To Reach Area In Utensils

Some may have tried cleaning hard-to-reach places for instance the bottom of a long, slim-neck bottle, by adding a little sand with water. But if sand is not available, you can try to add a handful of coarse sea salt (in tiny rock form) to the water, and shake it for a while. You will see the difference instantly.

Soap Remains - Great for Cleaning

Do you always throw away the tiny pieces of dried up soap remaining in the soap dish? By doing so, you would be throwing away a few bars in a year's time! Try collecting them in a used detergent bottle that comes with a squirt. Add some warm water and let it soak and dissolve. You can then use it for cleaning stains off any surface, or as window cleaner.

Starch As Glue

When we were little, our art teacher used to teach us how to make plates and other sculptures from paper mache. The main ingredient was a whole pot of glue made from starch - tapioca flour!

It is really easy to make. Just mix some tapioca flour with some water and pour boiling water into it while stirring it constantly. Within seconds it will turn into starch, and you can use it as glue!

The amount of tapioca flour and water are determined by how thick or runny you want the starch to be. More flour = thicker starch.

My auntie who is a tailor uses it to stick old newspaper together to make her paper pattern out of. It is also the same thing your mum or grandmother would have used for starching the linens.

Have you any natural food based cleaning and domestic tips? Please do share it with us!

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