Potato Multiple Uses

Discussion in 'The Green Patch' started by Ganado, Sep 12, 2015.


  1. Ganado

    Ganado Monkey+++

    I have used and tried some of these and they work. (2, 7, 8, 11, 13, 15 The others, I dont know about but thought they were interesting, anyone have any other good potato uses?


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    1. Remove Stains
    Foods like turmeric, berries and beetroot are fabulous additions to any meal, but they have a habit of leaving their traces all over your hands. It can take a lot of scrubbing with normal soap to remove these stains, and it's really hard to reach underneath your nails. Don't fear though, just keep half a potato back when preparing the dish and rub it over the affected area to magically remove the blemish! Make sure you get right under your nails too. This will work well on grass and ink stains as well.

    2. Make a Hot or Cold Compress
    This is one you might have read about in books, and it's been used for centuries. Potatoes retain their temperature for a surprisingly long time so if you are out and about on a cold night, keep a couple of hot potato slices in your gloves or pockets. Similarly, if you need to keep cool, use a frozen or chilled potato. If you want to ease aches and pains, then make a hot or cold compress using potato slices inside a sock.


    3. Clean Your Windows
    Potatoes make for a terrific non-toxic glass cleaner. Take a raw, uncooked potato and rub if over your windows, car windscreen or even eye glasses, before wiping away the juice with a clean cloth. You will be left with gleaming glass, without damaging your hands or leaving the smell of chemicals up your nostrils. This works well on clear plastic like swimming or ski goggles as well.


    4. Use Potato Juice for Your Ailments
    Ok, so potato juice might not sound like the yummiest mixture in the world, but it has been used for centuries to fight various ailments. It is considered effective against ulcers, sprains, gout, sciatica, heart burn and bruising. The juice is rich in vitamins and it's dead easy to make. Just put a couple of potatoes in a blender, zap them for thirty seconds and you're done. Add carrot or cinnamon juice to improve the taste and you have your own home made medicine.


    5. Remove Warts
    Warts are a rather unsightly annoyance, and if you get one, you will want to rid of it. There's no need to go and have it lasered off though, just treat it with a raw potato. Carefully rub the cut end of the potato across the wart, and leave juice on. Repeat the process every day until the wart is banished for good!


    6. Shine Your Silverware
    If your cutlery is cloudy and your trinkets are tarnished, why not use a potato to restore their sparkle? You can rub a raw potato over the items if you like, but I find it best to soak them in potato water. This also means you don't have to use extra potatoes to perform the task, simply use the water from the batch you have boiled for your dinner. Add any peeled skins into the water for great results.


    7. Remove a Broken Light Bulb from a Socket
    This use of potatoes is trumpeted by numerous sources! At some point in your life, you've probably faced the annoyance of a light bulb breaking as you attempt to unscrew it. You might be wondering why companies can't design bulbs that don't do this, but in the mean time, you have a trusty potato to help you deal with the problem. Cut the potato in half, and gently press the flat side on to the remainder of the bulb. When the bulb is firmly inserted, you can simply screw it out.


    8. Feed Your Geraniums
    The nutrients in potatoes will help your pot plants grown. You can either carve a small hole in the potato and plant the stem of the flower inside it, before putting the whole thing into the soil; or you can sprinkle some potato shavings into the soil around your already growing flowers to give them a fantastic, natural boost.

    9. Sort Out Your Skin
    Potatoes are great for your skin, so making yourself a potato face mask once a week can reap rewards. You only need to use mashed potato mixed with water, and leave the resulting paste on your face for 30 minutes. A couple of slices of potato can also be used to reduce the appearance of puffy eyes and black circles, and are a great alternative to the more widely used cucumber. The ability of potatoes to clear up minor rashes and acne have been known for centuries!


    10. Soothe a Headache
    Potatoes have been used to help ease headaches for centuries, and you will only need a few slices. You can rub them into your temples, or for more sustained relief, fix them against your forehead using a head band or bandage.


    11. Relieve a Burn
    If you burnt your fingers on a hot pan, or clipped your arm against the stove while it was still on, reach for a potato. Just 1 slice of raw potato should do the trick - apply it to the burn and fix in place using whatever you have handy.


    12. Make Some Great Personalized Art
    We all remember making potato stamps and dipping them in paint in art class at school. But don't for a second think that this practice is just the preserve of children. These great cushion patterns were made using a potato stamp. Just draw the shape you want on to the cut potato, carve out the shape and dip it in fabric paint before dabbing it over your canvas. Personalise bags, cushions, walls - whatever you like! It's a really fun and easy way to personalize your home, and is great for kids too.


    13. Absorbs Excess Salt from a Soup or Cooking Pot
    If you have over-salted your pot of soup or pasta by mistake, then throw in some potato slices or cubes to restore the balance. Leave the potatoes in while the mixture simmers for ten minutes or so, and then scoop them back out.


    14. Banish Rust from Metal
    Are your old tools or kitchen utensils starting to look like antiques? Restore them to former glories by chopping a potato in half, adding a liberal amout of soap or salt to the cut end and rubbing it over the affected surface. Rinse and dry the object thorougly afterwards. This works great on along the edge of large carving knives!


    15. Power a Light Bulb
    Ok, so we expect this one is more for fun that anything else, but it's still fascinating and great for entertaining the kids/grandkids. Did you know that potatoes contain lots of energy, and the chemical reactions that take place between the potato juices and a couple of dissimilar metals create enough voltage to power a small electrical device?

    To try this for yourself, you will need: 1 large potato, two small coins, two zinc-plated standard nails, three small pieces of copper wire and a small, low wattage light bulb:

    1. Cut the potato in half, cut a slit in each half. Wrap the coins in the copper wire a few times, using different wire for each coin. Then slide the coins into the slits.

    2. Take the remaining piece of copper wire and wrap it around one of the zinc plated nails. Stick the nail into one of the potato halves.

    3. Take the wire that's connected to the coin in the half of the potato that also contains the nail, and wrap it around the second nail. Stick the second nail into the other potato half.

    4. Connect the two loose ends of the copper wire to the light bulb and it will light up.

    Be careful when allowing children to handle the copper wires as they contain a small electrical charge, and don't perform the experiment near to an open flame.
     
  2. Pax Mentis

    Pax Mentis Philosopher King |RIP 11-4-2017

    For #7, make sure to turn off the power to the fixture...
     
    Altoidfishfins, Hanzo and Ganado like this.
  3. Motomom34

    Motomom34 Monkey+++

    Great post @Ganado. I never knew 2/3rd's of this. Very informative.
    I have a question about this one. Can a blender really handle a raw potato? Have you tried this?
     
  4. Ganado

    Ganado Monkey+++

    @Motomom34. I have no idea I have only done. (2, 7, 8, 11, 13, 15) but I will try it someday
     
    Motomom34 likes this.
  5. Hanzo

    Hanzo Monkey+++


    And why not just eat a raw potato? I used to have an office next to an Irish guy and a German guy. Sounds like a joke starting, but I assure you, it is most likely not. Both guys were really tall. And I saw them bring home lunches. They both brought raw red potatoes and would eat it with salt. Can't imagine why that wouldn't have the same effect as the juice.
     
  6. Motomom34

    Motomom34 Monkey+++

    @Hanzo you are correct. Eating them raw should have the same results. I think this is a case of the modern, materialistic world creeping in. I read somewhere that allegedly juicing vegetables has better absorption then eating them raw. It was probably in a pro-juicing article. I thought about this last night and I am unwilling to sacrifice my blender, I feel eating raw would be the best or I think a Nutrabullet (materialistic) could handle a raw potato.
     
    pearlselby, Ganado and Hanzo like this.
  7. Pax Mentis

    Pax Mentis Philosopher King |RIP 11-4-2017

    I would think one would have to cut it up first...
     
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  8. kellory

    kellory An unemployed Jester, is nobody's fool. Banned



    Follow the technique shown, and you should be fine. If you don't like what it's doing, stop. Just don't overload it too quickly.
     
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  9. KAS

    KAS Monkey+++

    hanzo ,,, i dont not believe for one minute you have an office or got to work {accept for that exercize thing you do }
    Im jelouse and it has been driving me crazy for ever about what goes on in your life...LOL

    another use for the raw potato is if you get a "flash burn"from welding slice a Raw potato and place the slices over your eye ...
    {if you do not have potatoes tater totts is not an acceptable substitute...
    Thanks for the post G
     
  10. Brokor

    Brokor Live Free or Cry Moderator Site Supporter+++ Founding Member

    Screenshot from 2015-09-13 10:26:29.
    You can make fried potatoes with onions on the grill in a cast iron pan. I know, it's crazy, but it works.

    [sarc1]
     
  11. Hanzo

    Hanzo Monkey+++


    I DO work. I do not discuss work. OPSEC. ;) The tai chi, I teach for free to give back to the community. Most of the students are seniors. And they ask me how is it that I can teach them in the morning and afternoon too.
     
  12. Ganado

    Ganado Monkey+++

    @Brokor lol well duh!

    @KAS Thanks for the tip on welding flash burns. I wonder if that would work with snow blindness. I burned my eyes skiing one year and it took a long time before I could go in the sun with no sunglassed. I still have to wear sunglasses most of the time
     
    pearlselby and Hanzo like this.
  13. kellory

    kellory An unemployed Jester, is nobody's fool. Banned

    Either way, do not hold them in place with toothpicks!:eek::cool:
     
    Hanzo likes this.
  14. DarkLight

    DarkLight Live Long and Prosper - On Hiatus

    Not one mention of booze? Seriously? Vodka not mentioned once. NO!!
     
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  15. kellory

    kellory An unemployed Jester, is nobody's fool. Banned

    What do you think we're drinkin' when we come up with this lame brained stuff?:cautious:o_O[booze]
     
    Hanzo and Ganado like this.
  16. Ganado

    Ganado Monkey+++

    @DarkLight. Shocking we did miss the booze! Do you have a good recipe!?
     
    Hanzo likes this.
  17. DarkLight

    DarkLight Live Long and Prosper - On Hiatus

    Nope...never run a still. Choosing to stay on this side of licensing/regulation (and if/when I do I will probably do it built from scratch and might forget that piece ;) )
     
  18. ghrit

    ghrit Bad company Administrator Founding Member

    Rub on the inside of snorkling masks to prevent fogging up.
     
    Dunerunner likes this.
  19. DKR

    DKR Raconteur of the first stripe

    In the cold, we put baked potatoes in our pockets as a handwarmer..

    Later, they make an OK snack.
     
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  20. Witch Doctor 01

    Witch Doctor 01 Mojo Maker

    Ammo for a spud gun..... or potato gun....
    you can also clean winch lines much like cleaning knives....
     
    Ganado likes this.
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