While people are still debating about gluten’s health effects, bread is being touted as being surprisingly beneficial around the house, even without being eaten! It can help you stop crying because of onions or even with annoying splinter pain. Moreover, it’s the ultimate natural cleaning product.
We’ve listed all non-edible uses for bread to inspire you. Don’t throw your stale bread away. You may be trying to stay away from eating it, but it’s always a good idea to keep some within reach just for these 14 reasons.
1. Remove splinters
Don’t try to dig into your skin with needles or tweezers. Without getting it soaking wet, pour some boiling water on bread and let it cool enough to be able to touch. Place it on the injured area and cover it with a bandage or any other clean cloth. You can tie knots at the ends to prevent the bread from moving. Keep the bread that way as long as you can and repeat the process, if necessary. Hot water softens the skin around the splinter and bread will pull it out while it’s getting cold and dry. It’s that easy!
2. Give another life to your old paintings.
The soft part of the bread has a great texture that allows you to get into tiny dents and hollows. That’s a great feature when it comes to cleaning detailed surfaces like old paintings. Just dab a piece of crustless fresh bread lightly on the painting and you’ll see the dust and dirt get stuck on it. If you notice crumbs, use a soft brush to wipe them off.
3. Get rid of stains.
The spongy texture of the bread is also amazing for cleaning stains. Make a firm ball out of crustless bread and use it for kitchen or bathroom stains. It will work like an eraser and you won’t need to worry about the chemicals in cleaning products!
4. Forget the tears while cutting onions.
This may look funny, but it works like a charm! Put a piece of stale bread in your mouth, leaving a little portion outside of your lips. The reason that you cry when cutting onions is because of the sulfates that are released while cutting. The bread absorbs the gas and creates tear-free air for you.
5. Keep your cake fresh for much longer.
Whatever is exposed to open air will lose its structure and deteriorate over time. And what bread can do is to be a shield between your cake and the air! Cover the sliced part with the stale bread to keep it fresher for longer.
6. Prevent the bad smell of greens.
Remember the humidity factor from the previous point. It also affects your green leafy vegetables, even if they’re in the fridge. After drying the greens, place a slice of bread in the container you keep them in. This will prevent them from going bad fast, which also eliminates the risk of a possible rotten smell.
7. Pick up glass pieces safely.
Fiber is the texture you need while trying to pick up teensy-weensy pieces like smashed glass, and bread has this texture. Use the soft part of the bread like a cotton ball and clean the accident area by pressing it on the surface.
8. Give your feet a treat.
When it comes to a natural foot treatment, apple cider vinegar and bread can create miracles together. Vinegar’s acidic properties help moisten dried and cracked skin. Meanwhile, bread’s porous structure will stay damp longer when compared to cotton or a regular cloth. Leave it overnight, covering your feet with plastic bags and socks. You’ll wake up with softer skin on your heels.
9. Remove the excess fat from food.
Bread can absorb liquid easily. That’s what makes it perfect for eating. It also becomes handy for the things you don’t want to eat! To skim the fat off of soup, a sauce, or a hot pot dish, dip some bread directly onto fat. It’ll be easily absorbed and can be taken out and thrown away.
10. Also remove grease from fabric!
Again, bread is absorbent and very good at stopping fluidity. Press some bread gently on the spill and wait for a while. Then you can just wash it off.
11. Freshen up your dried marshmallows.
Once the marshmallows lose their fluffy look, they will not taste the same in your head. But there’s a simple solution to fresh them up. Leave a bread slice inside the marshmallow bag for a few days. After you see them plumped up, take the bread out.
12. Eliminate the burnt taste from overcooked rice.
If the rice is burnt, don’t throw it away. Just get rid of the problematic part first and place a slice of bread on top of the remainder to remove the smell. Nobody will notice!
13. Clean coffee grinders and other difficult-to-reach areas on your kitchenware.
Bread crumbs will fit into small places that you just can’t jam your sponge into. Grind some bread chunks in a coffee grinder and it will create wonders for picking up powder-like remains on the bottom. Empty the coffee reservoir and rinse it. That’ll be all!
14. Clear smudges from walls
The greasy fingers and fresh-out-of-the-dirt hands of children will stain your walls. You can try to rub them off with a sponge but it might leave a mark and change the color of your walls over time. Use the white part of the bread and smudges will disappear with no aftereffects.
