What To Do With Potatoes – 7 Unusual Uses

Potatoes have been the basic food for so many people across the world. But beyond their well-known role in the kitchen, potatoes can play many other roles, such as perfect solutions to many of the daily problems we encounter in the ordinary life. Here is what to do with potatoes in a series of ideas you will find useful when in need.

Remove stains on hands after work in the kitchen. Otherwise hard-to-remove stains on hands from peeling carrots, oranges or handling pumpkin come right off if you rub your hands with a potato.

Your tarnished silverware is not as appealing as it used to be, bearing the marks of time. Do not rush to buy chemical products, but rely on this very simple solution. Grab a bunch of potatoes and boil them up. Remove them from the water and save them for another use. Place your silverware in the remaining water and let it sit for an hour. Then remove the silverware and wash. The tarnish should be gone.

To do away with rust, cut open a raw potato and rub it on a rusted area: the acid in the potato’s juice will dissolve the rust, while the skin of the potato should remove it. For extra effectiveness on tough jobs, add a little soap or salt. Use it on pans in the kitchen or on surfaces like your bathroom sink or tools.

Try as you might, your old shoes are just too scuffed to take a shine anymore. They don’t have holes, and they are so nice and comfy that you hate to throw them away. Before you give them the brush-off, cut a potato in half and rub those old shoes with the raw potato. After that, polish them; they should come out nice and shiny.

When you taste that soup you’re preparing and discover it’s really salty, here’s a way to fix it. Cut a few uncooked potatoes into large chunks and add them to the soup while it’s still on the stove. After about 10 minutes, remove them and the excess salt they have absorbed and you get the perfect soup.

A raw potato can give a fledgling geranium all the nutrients it could desire. Carve a small hole in a potato. Slip a geranium stem into the hole. Plant the whole thing, potato and all.

Potatoes retain heat and cold well. The next time you need a hot compress, boil a potato, wrap it in a towel, and apply to the area. Refrigerate the boiled potato if you need a cold compress.

Sources: Care2.com, Rd.com