Other Uses for Beer Besides Drinking It

Who would have known? There are many household uses for beer… here are some of them:

Polish furniture. Lifehacker recommends letting the beer go flat first and then apply it to your furniture with a clean cloth.

Drown fruit flies. All you need is a jar, some beer and a rolled up piece of paper. The fruit flies will be attracted to the beer and fly in. By giving them a very narrow way of getting in and not much of chance of getting out, they’ll eventually drown.

Drown slugs in the garden. Fruit flies aren’t the only insect attracted to beer. Care2 instructs gardeners to burry a wide mouth container up to its neck so it’s flush with the ground around a garden that’s being attacked by slugs. Fill the container halfway with beer, and the slugs will just slide in for a swim and never get back out.

Highlight your hair. SheKnows recommends using a six-pack of light-colored beer for some natural summer highlights. Use four of the beers to saturate your hair; drink the other two while you’re lying in the sun letting it bleach your mane.

Give your compost a boost. SFGate suggests mixing a bottle of beer with one cup of ammonia in 4 gallons of water, and then pouring it over the compost pile to get the pile cooking. It’s the yeast and sugar in the beer that’s helpful.

Clean your car battery. If corrosion on the battery terminal of your car is keeping the car from starting, Yahoo Shine says pouring carbonated (not flat) beer on it will melt away the problem.

Soak your feet. There are spas dedicated to bathing entirely in beer, but that could get cost prohibitive at home. Philly Beer Scene recommends a variation on the beer bath – a beer foot bath. This will help to remove dead skin and calluses and could even help alleviate a toenail fungal problem or Athlete’s Foot.