Five Surprising Household Hacks For Sugar

Sugar is great in a cup of coffee, or to use when making sweet treats like cookies and cakes.  However, did you know it can be helpful in other ways as well?

A natural pain reliever

Looking for some other hacks? Check out our ancient grains you’ll love, and 10 articles to help you get healthier this year!

Just like the song says “A spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down.” Sugar really offers some benefits to easing pain.

Most of us know how it feels to burn your tongue on that hot chocolate or hot coffee.  Next time just take one teaspoon of sugar and let it melt on your tongue or suck on a sugar cube.

If you have taken a bite of something that ended up being a little or a lot spicier then you thought it was going to be try sprinkling a little sugar in your mouth to ease the spiciness.

If your taking your infant or toddler in for shots try giving them a little sugar mix to help ease the pain of the injection.  Mix four parts water to one part sugar and give it to them in a sippy cup or on their pacifier.

Sprinkle some sugar on a bug bite, sting or open sore and it will kill the bacteria.  Sugar is a fantastic anti-bacterial alternative.  It should also help lessen the pain and the itching as well.

Get rid of pests

Get rid of those pesky pests both indoor and out doors with sugar.

Wasps hanging around your house?  Try boiling a little water with 4 tablespoons of sugar.  You want it to be a sticky liquid.  Let it cool, then pour it into glass jars like mason jars.  Leave it outside or in wherever you typically see wasps.  They will fly in because of the sweetness but because of the stickiness they won’t be able to fly out again.

Roaches are just nasty.  But did you know they like sugar?  Just combine one part baking soda and one part sugar.  Place it in a small dish like the lid for a jar and place it low so they can climb into it.  The baking soda is a natural roach killer. So the sugar will lure the roaches and the baking soda will kill them.

Keep baked goods fresh

It is never good to be craving that chocolate chip cookie only to bite into it and it be stale.  Use some sugar to keep those baked goods fresh for longer.

Place a couple sugar cubes in the container where you keep your cookies, biscuits and any other baked goods.
You can also sprinkle a bit of sugar on top of freshly cake slices or baked bread.

Don’t rush out to buy sugar cubes when you can easily make your own.  Take 1 cup of sugar and 3 teaspoons of water.  Mix thoroughly together.  Place some parchment paper in a baking dish (A bread pan size dish works perfect)  Spread the sugar water mixture evenly in the bottom of the pan.  Using your hands press it down firmly in the pan.  You want it to be tightly packed down in the pan.  Bake at 250 F for about an hour.  Let it sit for 10 to 15 minutes to cool.  Carefully take the parchment paper out of the pan and very carefully break the sugar cubes apart.

You can also keep cheese fresh a bit longer if you store it in an air tight container and add a sugar cube to the container.

Remove odors

Sugar would not have been my first go to item for making cleaners but works very well for removing stains and getting rid of odors.

When kids are playing outside it seems grass stains are inevitable.  Next time to get them clean mix a sugar water paste (you want the paste to be thick)  using equal parts water and sugar.  Apply the paste on the stain and let it sit overnight.  Wash as normal.  Check for the stain when you get it out of the washer and if it is still there repeat the sugar/ water paste treatment.

Stinky appliances are never a good thing.  Scoop about half cup of sugar into the dishwasher/ washer or other appliances and run it though.  Take a sniff and enjoy the odor free smell!

Clean your kitchen of those left behind food smells by boiling some water with a little bit of sugar.  This will get rid of all the unpleasant odors.

A natural cleanser

We have all heard of sugar body scrubs but there are other beauty ideas you can use sugar for!

After working outside in the garden or on the car your hands can be covered in dirt an other grit and grime.  Mix some sugar in with your hand soap and scrub your hands clean.

Mix a bit of olive oil with sugar and rub it on your lips.  Allow it to sit for a few minutes then wipe it off with a wash cloth.  This will leave your lips soft and smooth.

This may seem very odd but extend the life of your lip stick.  After you apply it to your lips dip them into a shallow bowl of sugar.  Lick the sugar off and you will be amazed at how long the lip color lasts.

Sugar is a great natural exfoliant.  Mix several tablespoons of olive oil, a cup of sugar and a couple drops of your favorite essential oil.  Simply rub the sugar scrub on your skin and wash it off in the shower with warm water and a wash cloth.

Do you have any household hacks for sugar around the house?