LEWISTON, Maine — If you're only using potatoes or bananas for eating, you're missing out. You can get a lot more use out of each; from shining your shoes to removing a splinter.
There are more than 50 life hacks inside the 2020 Farmers' Almanac. Here are just a few...
Coffee Grounds
- Exfoliant: 1/2 cup coffee grounds + 1/2 cup sugar + 1/4 cup coconut oil
- Fishing: Fill a worm container with coffee grounds, instead of dirt. The grounds make the worms more hyper, and more attractive to bass.
- De-icer for walkways: sprinkle on ice to add traction
- Steroid for carrots
- Repellant for slugs, snails, and cats in your garden
- Use it to scour pots and pans
- Garbage disposal freshener (use only occasionally)
Potatoes
- De-icer for windshield: cut in half and rub on windshield the night before
- Splinter removal: hold against skin at infected spot for 10 minutes
- Poison ivy treatment
RELATED: Fall into a new running routine
- Eye de-puffer: cut chunks and place over your eyes to reduce swelling
- Rust remover: add salt or baking soda to potato and rub
Banana peels
- Shoe shine: rub inside of banana skin directly on the shoe and polish with a dry cloth
- Mosquito bite relief: before ointment, try rubbing the inside of a banana peel to reduce swelling
- Rose booster: place banana skins in a spray bottle of warm water and let it sit for two weeks until fermented. Spray on bushes
- Soil enrichment: add banana peels to soil to help tomato and green peppers thrive (bananas contain potash and phosphorus).
Pickle juice
- Relieve leg cramps: relieve the pain of a Charley horse
- Cure hiccups
- Steam vegetables to add the perfect touch of dill and salt seasoning
Gum
- Chew to help forget that song stuck in your head.