Finding other uses for household products and items has almost become an obsession for me. Being as frugal as I try to be, I save everything. I also do lots of bulk shopping and use coupons like crazy.
For whatever reason, I found a bunch of Turmeric, a very common Asian spice used in Curry in my spice cabinet, and decided to do some research on the spice. I wanted to see if there was anything I could use it for besides cooking and dying eggs. Well, not only did I experiment on my own, but I also asked others what they could think of. The following suggestions are what I discovered.
Spice
Use Turmeric on foods to add a wonderful south Asian flavor to your foods. Rice and noodles taste excellent with this spice. It is also delicious on vegetables, meats and side dishes.
Dye
Use Turmeric as a dye. It gives a beautiful deep golden yellow color to easter eggs, foods, even clothing. I was also informed that it makes an excellent natural hair dye. However, I caution you before doing it. I am not sure exactly what it would do, but I would test it on a very small, discreet area of hair first. You are supposed to just mix it with water and put it into your hair the way you would regular hair dye.
Antibacterial Agent
Use on cuts, scrapes and wounds instead of using antibacterial ointment. Use it on hands and skin to clean naturally. Apparently it can also be used on acne, to not only help dry it up but to prevent it as well. Again, please use caution when trying something like that.
Repellent
Interestingly this can work in one of two ways as a repellent. Only one can I tell you actually works. The first, and the tried and tested, is that you can sprinkle it around the house and outdoors to keep ants and other small insects away.
The other idea, and I am not sure what to think, is that apparently if you use it regularly on your skin from a young age, it will help prevent hair growth on legs and underarms – however, it will also dye the skin yellow. Small price to pay? I’ll let you be the judge.
Face/Body Paint
This is an excellent natural way to apply face paint or body paint. But please recognize that it does act as a dye and is extremely difficult to remove. However, if you are so inclined to use it as a face paint, mix the Turmeric powder and some water into a paste and apply with a paintbrush.
Can you think of any ways to use Turmeric? Do you do anything additional with yours?
If you are looking for more ways to use up household products in new and different ways, check out the frugal blog!
If you are looking for some good recipes using Turmeric, please check out the food blog here at families.com.