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The Amazing Potato
Potatoes contain many natural vitamins and minerals that are essential for your food storage. But did you know that you can also use potatoes for cleaning, repairs, powering electronics, and more?
The simple potato is one of the most versatile vegetables out there and rarely gets the attention it deserves. Besides being delicious boiled, baked, diced or fried, potatoes have many other uses.
Below, we’ve listed 8 things you probably didn’t know you could do with a potato. Comment below to add your two cents and tell us what you’ve used potatoes for.
Remove stains on your hands
This month, when you’re carving pumpkins, your hands might end up with a lot of orange stains. Simply rub your hands with a potato and it should remove the hard-to-remove colors from your hands.
Taking salt out
Did you add a bit too much salt after you tasted your soup? Just cut a few potatoes into large chunks. Toss them into the soup that’s still on the stove. When the potatoes begin to soften – after about 10 minutes – just remove them. You can then save the potatoes for a potato salad or another dish!
Remove a broken light bulb
Have you been working out too much and every time that you try to change a lightbulb it just crumbles in your hand? Ya, me too. Many times lightbulbs can break while you’re changing them. Simply take a half of a potato and place it on the broken piece of the light bulb still in the socket. Make sure the lamp or power is off first. Use the potato to twist the end of the broken light off the socket.
Remove tarnish on silverware
Have high class visitors coming over tonight? You can remove the tarnish from your silverware with potatoes to be sure to impress your guests. Boil a few potatoes in a pot and once they are boiling, remove the potatoes. Place the silverware in the remaining water and let them sit for an hour or so. Wash the silverware and tarnish should be removed.
Power a clock
The starches in potatoes provide you with energy, but they can also provide your clock with energy too. You’ll need a LED clock and two galvanized nails. Check out how to make one here.
Keep your ski goggles clear
Before you go down the slopes this winter, rub the outside of your ski goggles with a raw potato. The potato should keep water and ice from disrupting your view on the way down.
Reduce your puffy eye problem
Need to spruce up for the day and you can’t seem to get rid of those tired eyes? Cut slices of raw potatoes and place them on your eyes. The cold potatoes will reduce the swelling of your eyes and reduce the puffiness.
Restore old shoes
Are your favorite pair of dress shoes too scuffed up that you can’t wear them anymore? Cut a potato in half and rub those shoes with a raw potato. After that, polish them like normal and they should come out nice and shiny.
Your recommendations
So, what have you used potatoes for? Comment below to tell us what you’ve used Idaho’s favorite vegetable for.
Did you know that eating a raw potato can help with a stomach ache? Try it sometime. I’m not
October 7th, 2012 at 3:35 pma medically certified person but it works for me.
WHEN I WAS A CHILD IN THE 1940′S LIVING IN NYC, I RECALL PEOPLE USING RAW SLICES OF POTATO SPREAD WITH BORIC ACID SET OUT AS BAIT TO KILL OFF ROACHES… ON A MORE POSITIVE NOTE – SLICED RAW POTATO APPLIED TO A BURN CAN BE AN EXCELLENT FIRST AID TREATMENT.
October 8th, 2012 at 5:13 amput chunks of raw potatoes inside of smelly shoes to eliminate stinky shoe odor.
October 8th, 2012 at 5:41 amBake them, load ‘em up with butter, eat and enjoy.
October 8th, 2012 at 8:29 amUse them as ammo in a spud gun.. mucho fun and who knows, they may sprout where they land and one day you might find taters in the wild!.
October 8th, 2012 at 8:53 amUse a cut potato to carve out a stamp and use the stamp with food coloring or ink to decorate your xmas cards or invitations..
October 8th, 2012 at 9:15 amUse a potato and coarse salt to clean a rusty cast iron skillet!
October 8th, 2012 at 1:07 pmWhen I was a child my mother used sliced potatoes soaked in vinegar, then placed them on our foreheads to bring down our high temperatures. Although a slight temperature is really good for the body since it kills bacteria, and viruses in the body, a high temperature is not good.
October 8th, 2012 at 5:05 pmPut baked potatoes in socks and give them to the truly poor. While still hot it provides heat. When warm it is something to eat to eat. Then use the socks on feet or hands.
October 8th, 2012 at 5:13 pmHave you ever cut hot peppers and experienced stinging hands, nails, or eyes after touching the peppers?
October 8th, 2012 at 5:33 pmCut a white potato, rub into the distressed area and watch the potato turn orange as it takes the pepper oil out of your skin. It’ll reduce the pain immediately.
Put your leftover baked potatoes in a ziplock bag on Saturday night…slice um up and fry with your eggs and bacon on Sunday morning!!
October 8th, 2012 at 8:19 pmOver 60 years ago my Grandmother taught me to use a slice of raw potato on a nail-hole (from running around barefoot LOL) – soak the foot in salt water (hot) – place slice of potato on dried foot – tape or wrap it down overnight. Draws out any and all infection. I’ve use this as a poultice allll my life on myself and my sons for many many wounds of various types.
October 9th, 2012 at 1:34 amPotato’s make great guns. Never know when you may need protection.
October 9th, 2012 at 3:31 pmHi, fantastic to see all these uses for the humble spud! Here’s another….I make jewellery from potato beads. You’d be amazed how beautiful they are!
October 9th, 2012 at 4:04 pmCut a potato (don’t know if it has to be a Maine Potato or an Idaho one) in half, soak it in vinegar flat side down. Rub it on warts and one day you’ll wake up and realize they’re gone. It worked for me as a kid.
October 10th, 2012 at 9:35 amTake potato slices, sprinkle lightly with salt and put on your forehead for headaches and high fevers. We use a bandana to hold the potatos on to our head. it works really well. My family has been using potatos since the 1800s
October 12th, 2012 at 10:06 amI used to be terrified by brown recluse spiders. I believe I have been bitten between 15-20 times but I discovered the remedy that has worked for me. I live in Texas and worked in my greenhouses. The first time I was bitten I didn’t know what it was. It didn’t hurt but was steadily spreading despite every thing I was using to treat it (antibiotic salve, fungal, etc… It had a red ring around it with the center raw. It was hot to the touch but was not painful. The first time I noticed it was a slight itch behind my knee and the skin came off when I scratched it like a blister. Anyway the night before I decided to go to the dr I remembered potato draws out infection. I wasn’t expecting too much because I had applied everything I could possibly think of to cure it. I cut a potato into and pressed it directly on the area for about 30 min before retiring for the night. The next morning I was stunned to fond the fever in it was gone and was well on the way to healing up! It healed up with only a pimple like bump remaining. I scraped the top off of it and applied another piece of potato to it. That’s all it took. No scar no after affects that I have read other people have suffered I wished I had taken a picture of the sore because it was getting quite large. I am still amazed by this simple remedy that worked for me!!! Also has worked on other members of my family. This is long and I have no idea if it will work for everyone but surely shouldn’t hurt to try it. It has worked for me many times. The little bluster is the tell tale sign becauseost of the time one won’t see the spider because they are very fast and I have never felt the bite at the time.
October 13th, 2012 at 2:53 amYou can put a raw potato in an old sock and use it as a weapon. Lol
October 18th, 2012 at 4:34 pmBoil red potatos and drink the potato water for stomach ulsers. You can use the potatoes for other meals but drink a cup of the potato water once a day for a couple of weeks…cured my dads stomach ulsers when nothing else helped…
October 28th, 2012 at 5:51 pm