Ever had lots of problems involving chemicals in everyday life? White water-proof stains in the toilet after using soap? These are simple stuffs you should know, at least to make your life much less miserable. ^-^
Food as cleaning agents:
Coke~
It's a great thing that God gave mankind drinks in the form of Coca-Cola. Later did we know that it can be used as a cleaning agent too! (Man this is gross). We all know that carbonated drinks contain A LOT of carbon dioxide (unless you think the gas comes from God-knows-where). This gas dissolves in the water used to make this drink to form carbonic acid. Then, you could use this "acid" to wash toilets (though the effect can only take place after a few hours). It's not really advisable to drink to much Coca-Cola because firstly it's corrosive, and the act that it is only sweet-tasting acid with a lot of colouring. No offense, Coke fans.
Food:
MSG, monosodium glutamate~
We, Malaysians, often refer MSG to the brand name Ajinomoto. Well, Ajinomoto does use monosodium glutamate as one of it's main ingredients. The main usage of MSG is to enhance the flavour of food, and especially protein (from the action of the glutamate in MSG). Though many people have claimed that MSG can cause loss of hair (EWWWW!) and excessive craving for water (thirst), research has countered the fact that MSG in not involved in this cases. But still, it wouldn't be good for people with hypertension to consume this kind of a stuff. Contains sodium.
Cleaning agents:
Chlorine bleach, sodium chlorate(I)
Oh the oh so nice smell of chlorine when washing with bleach. When washing with bleach, it is advisable not to use bleach with acid-based cleaners. This is because the acid will neutralize the sodium chlorate(I) salt and it will be rendered useless. However, it is recommended to be used with alkali-based cleaners. Doubles the cleaning effect, but still you wouldn't want your clothes to smell like bleach and soap powder, right?
Citrus fruits as rust removers:
Lemons, oranges and the like~
Well, that's what we always eat, but not many know that citrus fruits can be used as rust removers. These fruits contain a lot of vitamin C, ascorbic acid, and also citric acid, both being very potent reducing agents. Citric acid in these fruits can bond with rust, iron(III) hydroxide, to form soluble salt. This means that the brown coloured rust can be washed off easily after being smouldered in citrus fruit juice. But be warned that after prolonged usage, the object that you removed the rust from will corrode, i.e: becomes thinner. Sour citrus fruits highly recommended!
Self-care products:
Soaps, fatty-acid-sodium/potassium compound~
This is what we use to wash of freaking dirt of our bodies everyday (unless you are using liquid bosy wash, or you don't bathe). Do you realise that sometimes there are white coloured stains on the wall of the toliet wall, that many of us call scum? This is the reaction between hard water with the soap molecules. Hard water contains dissolved calcium and magnesium ions, and forms insoluble scum when you wash yourslef with "hard water". That explains why soemtimes you look so yucky even after bathing a million times with soap and hard water. On the other hand, if you wash yourself with "soft water", the soap will become a layer of fatty-acid, also comes in useless when you want to wash yourself with soap. The free hydrogen ions in the "soft water" displaces sodium/potassium to reform a fatty-acid. Ever used fats to bathe yourselves? ^-^ Tip: Don't use soap when you're going camping. River water contains a lot of dissolved minerals, including calsium and magnesium. So, buy liquid body wash that is biodegradable. Be nature-friendly!
Toothpaste, from simple sodium fluoride compounds to complicated toothpastey compounds~
Brushing teeth comes in much easier than using toothpaste rather than salt and crushed charcoal. It tastes better too. But toothpaste, is very corrosive. Never use too much toothpaste while brushing teeth. Want a demonstration or home experiment? Simple one~ Draw something random using a permanent marker on a waterproof surface (preferrably something that you don't mind scratching it all over). Apply small amount of toothpaste on the surface of the object, and rub it all over using a wet cloth. See the marks go away~! Magic!
Food as poison:
Raw almonds, cyanide~
If you consider yourself a nut freak, or just plain old slow-killer-assasin, you'll either love this or hate this. Raw almonds, and young almonds, contains cyanide. As you know, cyanide gas is widely used to kill innocent people during wars, from what I heard it was also use to kill people in Germany during Adolf Hitler's "reign". When eating almonds, roast them properly before eating them. Also, raw cashews are also poisonous. Sorry for all the misery, nut fans.
Electronics:
Handphones, computers, PDAs and the like~
If you have a digital device that is rather fit for the dumpsite rather than the trade-in store, destroy it! You'll find bits and pieces of gold in the circuits. Gold has a very low resistance to electricity, thus it is highly used as conductors in electronic devices, mainly to prevent overheating. But if you don't really have experience collecting gold... It's best to trade the device in... On the other hand, if you do know how to collect, you might get more than what you wish for~ ^-^*winks*
=chickenwings=
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