Beer can be used for more than just human consumption. If you ever have leftover beer lying around, here are amazing ways you can use it around the home and garden.
Slay a Few Slugs
Who knew? Those pesky, slimy sliders that nibble on your garden plants can’t resist a nice brew. To cut down on their numbers, bury jam jars so their rims are level with the soil, then fill them with a few inches of beer. Slugs, drawn by the barroom aroma, will crawl in and meet a happy death in the drink.
Polish a Table
Next time someone leaves you with a half-finished bottle of Bud after a backyard barbecue, save it to use as an all-natural wood polish. Applying flat beer to wooden furniture with a soft cloth reportedly gives the wood grain a fine sheen (but do test this treatment first on a hidden part of your furniture before you slop the drink all over it).
Shine Up Fine Metals
If you’re lucky enough to own copper pots and pans, use a bit of beer on a polishing cloth to buff away tarnish spots. This home-brewed remedy also works on other brass items, such as lamps, doorknobs, and grillwork.
Pamper Your Lawn
When your lawn is looking a little wan, try feeding it with homemade fertilizer. Many homeowners have found success with a simple and surprising concoction of beer, household ammonia, and baby shampoo. Intrigued?
Make Your Faucets Sparkle
Carbonation—the fizz factor in beer—works wonders on dull faucets and handles in the bathroom. To try it out, fill a plastic bag with flat beer and tie it around taps or spouts that have lost their shine. Remove after a few hours of soaking, and enjoy newly sparkling fixtures.
Keep Bugs at Bay
When entertaining outdoors, pour a bit of brew into shallow bowls and set them on the perimeter of your deck or patio. Rather than pestering your guests, winged insects like wasps and flies will be drawn toward the beer’s sugars.
Bust Rust
If rust has locked a screw in place, try dousing it with a fresh, fizzy beer. The carbonation is said to break down rust just enough to allow the screw to be loosened. Turn the screw as needed, then celebrate by drinking the rest of the beverage.
Treat hair
Put the life back into dull hair with flat beer.
Mix three tablespoons of beer with half a cup of warm water. After shampooing, rub in the solution and let it sit for two minutes, then rinse clear.
Remove carpet stains
Pour a bit of beer over a coffee or tea stain to remove it from a rug or the carpet. Lightly rub it into the stain and it should disappear. Repeat the process if there are still traces of the stain.
Tenderise tough meat
Soften up hard or budget cuts of meat by pouring a can of beer over the meat about an hour before cooking. Better still, leave it to marinate overnight in the fridge.
