7 ingenious ways you can use sugar

From keeping flowers fresh to getting rid of nasty odours, sugar has variety of uses beyond sweetening your taste buds

KARACHI: In efforts to get fit, you’re cutting back on sugar in the kitchen? Don’t toss the whole jar. From keeping flowers fresh to getting rid of nasty odours, sugar has a variety of uses beyond sweetening your taste buds.  As compiled from Reader’s Digest, and Prevention magazine, get resourceful with sugar without having it affect your waist size.

1. Keep flowers alive

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You’re not the only one who is owner to flowers that keep dying. Finally, that can be rectified. Simple carbohydrates in sugar not only provide nutrients to us but to plants as well. Add about three generous teaspoons of sugar and two tablespoons of white vinegar to a vase filled with water. The sugar will help the flowers stay strong, bright and perky, while the vinegar will kill bacteria and keep bugs away from your vase.

 

2. Keep cookies fresh



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The predicament with Pakistan’s weather involves crispy, freshly baked foods turning stale in no time. To prevent cookies or biscuits, home baked or from the bakery, from becoming stale, store in an air-tight container with a handful of sugar cubes or let about five teaspoons of sugar rest in the jar. This trick also works for breads, cakes, and even cheese. It will prevent mould growth and keep the eateries tasting fresh.

 

3. Remove grass stains from clothes



Nothing can ruin a fun afternoon like grass stains on brand new clothing. Be it family picnics, a sports game or lazing in the park, coming into contact with grass is pretty likely. To get rid of stubborn grass stains, mix warm water with sugar until it forms a thick paste. Rub the paste over the grass blemished area and let it sit for about an hour, then wash with your regular detergent and say hello to a brand new tee!

 

4. Dissolve grease from your hands

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This one’s especially for the guys! If working on your car left you with gunky and grease tarnished hands, quickly get the gummy grease off without the painfully harsh scrubbing by washing thoroughly with a mixture of five teaspoons of sugar and your everyday liquid hand soap. The exfoliating power of the sugar will leave your hands clean and tarnish-free in no time.

 

5. Exfoliate your face



You can whisk up your own sugar scrub for a fraction of the cost of the expensive ones sold in cosmetic shops. For brighter, clearer skin, mix three tablespoons of sugar with lemon juice. For an energising body scrub, blend equal amounts of freshly minced ginger (which stimulates circulation) with sugar, then add sweet almond oil. A sugar scrub can also help make your chapped lips smooth and soft by sloughing away dead skin. Simply rub granulated sugar on your lips and then wipe off with a damp cloth.

 

6. Prevent bees from ruining your picnic

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Bees can speedily kill the mood when you’re trying to entertain or eat outdoors. Make a trouble-free trap by filling an old plastic butter or yogurt container with water, add a little sugar, and punch a few holes in the lid. Place at a distance from your dinner table or picnic. The bees will fly into the container looking for the sugar, and then be unable to fly out.

 

7. Remove foul food odours from your hands

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Nothing is worse than capturing a whiff of that pungent fish and onions you were chopping three hours later, while you’re trying to brush your hair or prepping for a night out. Pour one tablespoon of sugar in your palm, wet with one teaspoon liquid soap, and rub your hands together for a good three to five minutes. Rinse with cold water to reveal clean, odour-free hands. 

Published in The Express Tribune, April 18^th,  2015.

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