Got milk? You don’t have to just drink it. 

Love it or hate it, milk has a place not only in your diet but also in your tool box and cleaning closet as well as among your toiletries. Raw goat milk, in its unadulterated and probiotic-heavy state, is the best to use. But seeing that unpasteurized milk is outlawed for sale almost everywhere in the U.S., pasteurized goat milk is second best. While not all milks are created equally, you can use any animal milk to successfully benefit from these tips. From curing a hangover to tending to those stained linens, milk has got your back.

Appetite Suppressant

To prevent overeating at mealtime, drink a glass of milk 15 minutes beforehand. Milk fills you up and gives you enough protein – 1 cup of non-fat milk contains 8.26 grams of protein – to keep you feeling fuller and less inclined to go overboard when food is served.

Hair Conditioner and Mask

With its vitamin and mineral content, milk works great on smoothing and shining your hair. Rinse your hair with fresh milk and let it sit wet for a few minutes before rinsing with water. You could also mix powdered milk with water to form a paste and then comb through hair, letting it to sit for at least 5 minutes before washing out.

Hangover Cure

Milk helps to settle the stomach, rehydrate the system, and raise blood sugar levels. These make it a great morning-after hangover cure. Additionally, milk contains the amino acid cysteine, which is known to neutralize a lethal dose of acetaldehyde, which is an alcohol metabolite.

Fish Freshener

Place frozen fish in a milk bath and let sit until the fish thaws. The milk makes the fish taste fresher.

Make-Up Remover

Mix powdered milk with water until a paste forms. Apply the paste to skin to remove make up. Rinse thoroughly.

Crack Eliminator

Before you toss Grandma’s beloved china, enlist milk to the rescue! The protein in milk reacts with the mineral kaolin in china to close cracks. All you have to do is place china in a pan, cover it with milk, and bring the mixture to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to a simmer for up to an hour.

Silverware Polisher

For glistening silverware, take advantage of milk gone sour. Simply soak silverware in sour milk, cover it completely, and let it soak over night. The next day, wash the silverware as you normally would. If the milk isn’t sour already and you want to make your own, for every cup of milk, mix in one tablespoon of lemon juice and one tablespoon of vinegar and let it sit for five minutes before use.

Bug Bite Soother

Mix milk powder with enough water until it resembles a paste. Apply the paste to the area affected by the insect bite to relieve pain. The enzymes in the milk will neutralize the venom.

Facial Cleanser and Mask

Milk is a natural cleanser. It contains vitamin A, riboflavin, niacin, and vitamins B6 and B12. The alpha-hydroxy acids in milk exfoliate the skin, reducing the appearance of wrinkles and discoloration. Use a cotton ball to dab milk all across your face. Let it sit for a few minutes and then wash with water before moisturizing. For a mask, take 1/4 cup powdered milk and add enough water until it becomes a paste. Mix thoroughly and apply to the face. Allow to sit for 5 minutes before rinsing.

Ink Remover

To remove ink from clothing, take the affected garment and soak it in a milk bath overnight. The next day, wash the garment as usual. The stain should be gone. To boost the milk’s effectiveness, mix two parts milk with one part vinegar as the soaking solution.

Body Skin Moisturizer

The butterfat in milk moisturizes the skin. And because the pH of milk is close to the skin’s natural pH, the skin is more receptive to the moisturizing effects of the milk. Pour a few cups of fresh milk or 1/2 cup powdered milk into your bathtub, Cleopatra style.

Dry Hands Softener

To relieve dry and chafed hands, rinse them in milk a few times a day. Over the course of a week or two, your hands will begin to feel softer and less Winter rough.

Leather Cleaner

Dab worn or dirty leather with milk and buff until clean. The milk removes debris and leaves the leather shiny and looking brand new.

Corn on the Cob Flavor Booster

Boil corn with some milk in the water – about 1/2 cup – and the corn’s sweetness will heighten and its flavors will become more developed.

Shaving Cream Replacement

Run out of shaving cream? Nothing powdered milk and water can’t fix. Mix enough water with powdered sugar to produce a paste. Apply the paste to your face, underarms, and legs and shave. This simple concoction is smooth enough to resemble the real thing.

Poison Ivy Soother

To reduce the itch from an unintended stroll through a poison ivy bush, dab fresh milk or a powdered milk and water paste on the affected area. The milk will reduce the itchiness, redness, and irritation.

Sunburn Soother

Delicately pat sunburned skin with fresh milk. The milk cools the burn and the enzymes in the milk help to offset the pain.

Fertilizer

A tip from farmers and seasoned gardeners themselves – use milk as a fertilizer. Milk has been used as an organic fungicide and fertilizer without harming the plant.

Furniture Polisher

Sour milk makes for a great furniture polisher. Apply sour milk to furniture surfaces through a disposable spray bottle and wipe clean. You can also make your own sour milk, outlined above.

Milk Carton Bird Feeder

No, we didn’t forget about offering you a way to re-use the milk carton! Here is a tutorial on how to turn the carton into a bird feeder.

Images: Muffet, Striatic, Sshreeves, Jenny Downing, Gagstreet, Markusram, Robert Benner, The Living Room

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More than meets the eye.

Aside from the one way we all know vodka can be put to good use, it’s not a completely pointless liquid otherwise. In fact, the alcoholic beverage spreads itself quite thin on the usefulness scale. Vodka’s anti-bacterial properties are what give it such potency in combatting a lot of common ailments and household issues – from earaches to carpet stains. Grab yourself a bottle, or two, and redefine what it means to booze.

Poison Ivy Reliever

Apply vodka to an area affected by poison ivy and it will dry up surrounding skin, getting rid of any oils that are causing the poison ivy to inflame and itch.

Laundry Freshener

Fill a small spray bottle with vodka and lightly spray clothes. The vodka smell goes away when the clothes dry completely. The vodka helps to remove any unwanted odors.

Flower Preserver

Plants produce the ripening gas ethylene, which promotes maturation. Vodka stunts ethylene production and allows for flowers to stay fresher, longer. Spray flower stems with a 2:1 ratio mix of vodka and sugar. Repeat every few days.

Insect Repellent

Keep the insects at bay by squirting some vodka on your skin before going outdoors. Add essential lavender oil. Insects hate the smell of lavender, and you will prefer it to the smell of vodka lingering on your skin. You could also mix vodka into your scented moisturizer.

Jelly Fish Bite Soother

Much like vodka helps to treat poison ivy on the skin, the liquid also helps to alleviate the pain and itch that come post nasty jelly fish bite. Bring along a 1:1 mixture of vodka and water in a spray bottle to the beach just in case of an attack.

Hair Shiner

Add 1-2 ounces of vodka to your shampoo and watch as your hair emerges from a shower feeling cleaner, silky, and shiny.

Band-Aid Remover

Vodka will help to dissolve the sticky edges of a band-aid and allow for a painless removal. Not that you would, but a few swigs before peeling the adhesive off won’t hurt either.

Computer Screen Cleaner

Using water to clean a computer screen often leaves behind distracting smears. Apply vodka to the screen and wipe away for a seamless and clear complexion.

Eye Glasses Cleaner

It may not be the best idea to carry around a bottle of vodka, but a small spray bottle may be less conspicuous and prove to be very useful. Your glasses will get star treatment on the go.

Air Freshener

Mix equal parts water and vodka in a spray bottle and spray around the house. The vodka dissolves odors and the solution is completely odorless.

Razor Blade Cleanser

Soak razor blades in vodka and dissolve away build-up and buff the razor all in one. This trick will keep your razor blades clean and disinfected whilst extending the lifespan of your razor collection.

Jewelry Cleaner

Let your jewelry sparkle and shine. Soak and lightly scrub them in some vodka to remove any impurities.

Pore Reduction

Lightly soak one side of a cotton ball in vodka and dab your face. The vodkas acts as an astringent, tightening the pores and removing excess oils.

Homemade Mouthwash

Because of vodka’s capacity to fight bacteria and prevent infection, you can gargle it in the A.M. (without swallowing) to clean your mouth. Vodka may not be the first thing you want to taste on a sensitive morning stomach, so dilute it with equal parts water add a few drops of mint oil.

Cold Sore Treatment

Vodka can help to reduce cold sore inflammation and redness by drying the affected area. Dip one end of a Q-tip into vodka and use it to dab sores.

Shower Cleaner

Attack those moldy, dark crevices with a toothbrush and some vodka. Spray vodka onto moldy areas, let sit for 15 minutes, and then scrub away. The vodka kills the mold.

Antiseptic

Vodka is a great disinfectant and antiseptic. Apply to minor cuts and burns to kill bacteria.

Stickiness Remover

Vodka works wonders on removing all that is gooey! From stickers on car surfaces to gum on the bottom of a shoe, a little vodka goes a long way.

Treat Ear Aches

Put a few drops of vodka into your ear. Let the alcohol sit in the ears for a few minutes each and then drain. The vodka kills bacteria that causes pain.

Stain Remover

Vodka effectively gets rid of ink, grass and lipstick stains. Dab stain with vodka and rub the stain away. Add the stained garment to the laundry afterwards for a more thorough clean.

Tooth-Ache Reliever

Gargle vodka without swallowing, unless you want a buzz. The vodka will prevent infection and reduce inflammation and soreness in the mouth.

Foot Odor Cure

For those of you who suffer from foot odor, consider vodka your new best friend. Soak your feet in a shallow bucket of vodka, which will kill bacteria-causing odor. Let your feet dry to get rid of the vodka smell or wash your feet with fragrant soap directly after the treatment.

Fever Alleviation 

Vodka works well as a liniment to reduce a fever, because it evaporates very quickly and can provide a cooling relief. Apply vodka to a soft cloth and place on your chest.

Images: Karola Riegler, Bark, Tasumi1968, Marcus Vegas, Seishin17

Aylin Erman currently resides in Istanbul and is creator of plant-based recipe website GlowKitchen.

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