If you’re often baking or cooking with flour, chances are you’ll always have a bag of flour in the pantry. Keeping things in stock is also taking a risk that some of them would go bad — but that doesn’t have to happen with flour.
You might wonder — what to do with expired flour? Apparently, A LOT! Here are 15 different uses of flour around the house when it’s not good for cooking anymore.
Clean A Stainless-Steel Sink
Stainless steel sinks can be hard to clean. Refined flour can help remove the dirt and grime and make it easier to scrub the sink without damaging it.
Just pour some flour into the sink and use a sponge to clean it. Rinse it when you are finished, and the steel will look new.
Soak Up Oil
If you accidentally spill cooking oil on your counter or stove, you may struggle with cleaning it up. Pour some flour on it, and it will soak up the oil.
You can then wipe it all up much more easily.
Play Dough
If you have kids or just want to make something fun for yourself, you can use flour to make some homemade playdough. Just mix one part water, four parts flour, and some food dye, and knead until it’s the right consistency.
Kids can even pick what color they make it. They would surely have lots of fun with this flour and water dough.
Have an Expired Bag of Flour? Make Some Glue!
If you don’t have any glue on hand but need some, you can use a bag of flour to make it. Just mix it with water and create a sticky paste. You can use a paintbrush to apply it to your craft projects.
Salt Dough
Salt dough can be used to make a variety of things. It’s great for making ornaments and other items. Just mold it, cut it out, and let it air dry.
Once it’s dry, it can also be painted and decorated as desired. To make salt dough, mix two parts flour with one part water and one part salt, and then knead to combine.
Fabric Stiffener
Some people starch their laundry to make their jeans and other items stiff. If you don’t have any fabric stiffener but would like to make your laundry stiff, you can make your own.
Just mix water and flour in a spray bottle. Spray it on the clothing you want to stiffen, and allow it to air dry.
Rice Flour Mask
One incredible rice flour uses is using it in a face mask. Just apply it to your face and leave it on for several minutes. It will help soak up dirt and oil and make your face look clear and healthy. Rinse it off when you are finished.
Remove Stains In Car Carpets
Your car probably has more stains on the carpet than you would like to admit. If you don’t get to them right after they happen, they can be hard to remove.
Add some flour to the stains to absorb any grease or liquids that may be causing them, and then vacuum it up.
Wallpaper Adhesive
If you run out of wallpaper paste midway through your installation, just make your own to finish the job. Mix water and flour together to make a thick paste. Apply it to the back of the wallpaper and then hang it on the wall. Be sure to smooth it out.
Ripen Avocados
Avocados can be tricky to buy. You want to make sure they are ripe enough to use but not so ripe that they go bad before you eat them.
Buy one that is not yet ripe and place it in a bowl of flour. It will ripen overnight.
Red Grape Face Mask
You can mix red grape juice with flour to create the perfect face mask, which can open up pores and increase circulation in the face.
Apply it to your face and rinse it off after a few minutes. You will note immediate results.
Clean Sticky Playing Cards
If you play with playing cards a lot, you know they can get sticky and gross. It can be hard to remove that residue with water and soap, but flour can help. Just dust the cards with flour to remove the sticky residue.
Clean Appliances
Appliances can be hard to clean, but it’s something you just have to do. A little flour can make the job easier.
The flour can help loosen up dirt and grime, so you can wipe it up more easily. Just apply the flour with a rag and then wash the appliances with soap and water.
Loosen Plastic Lids
Lids for plastic containers can get stuck after you have used them for a while. Don’t throw them out. Give them a good dusting of flour the next time you have the lids off. They will be easier to remove the next time you try to open them.
Modeling Clay
Flour can be used to make modeling clay.
You can mold the clay into shapes and color them with food dye. You can also paint the clay and then allow it to dry or bake it on a low temperature in the oven to dry it faster.
Takeaway
The days of wondering what can you make with flour are all over. You don’t have to worry about that expired bag of flour because there are so many great uses for it in your household.
Source: Care 2 Healthy Living, MNN, One Good Thing by Jillee, Simple Most, Spend With Pennies, Simplistically Living