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Picture by: dbspecial
Again this week my family and I have come up with with another long list of uses for a common household product, This week it’s cornstarch. Other than the common use, as a thickener for gravies, it can be used on your skin, your hair, as a cleaner and even for some fun projects that will keep the kids entertained.
As I’m doing this series, there has not been a week that has gone by that I’m not completely amazed at how versatile all of these products are. Despite my amazement I’m a little upset that I didn’t know all of this information when I was younger. To think, all of these years I have been paying big money for name brand products when all I had to do was look in my cupboards for a more economical solution.
Enjoy the list and as always if you have any additional uses I would love to hear them.
More Modern Uses:
- Ornaments – to make your
own, mix 1 cup cornstarch, 2 cup baking soda and 1 ½ cup water in a large
saucepan. Cover and cook over medium heat until the mixture becomes thick.
Remove from heat and cover with a damp cloth. When cooled to the touch knead
until smooth. Roll out to ¼-inch thick, cut
and place on a baking sheet in a 250 degree oven for 20-30 minutes. Paint. - Moon Sand – to make your
own, mix ½ cup cornstarch and ¾ cup liquid starch over medium heat. Add 1 cup
of fine sand and stir. Lay it out flat on a baking sheet and allow it to dry in
the sun. - Watercolor Paints – to make
your own, mix 1 tablespoon white vinegar and 2 tablespoons baking soda in a
small bowl. When mixture stops foaming add 1 tablespoon cornstarch and ¼ teaspoon
glycerin. Add food coloring to tint. - Clay – to make your own, mix
1 cup cornstarch, 2 cups baking soda and 1 ¼ cup water. Knead until well mixed. Related Post: Make your own Garden Stakes. - Jewelry Clay – to make your
own, mix ½ cup cornstarch, ½ cup salt and ¾ cup flour. Slowly add warm water to
create clay. Shape as desired and air dry. Paint. - Face Paint – to make your own, mix 2
parts cornstarch and 1 part vegetable shortening or cold cream. To tint add
food coloring. - Finger Paint – to make your
own, mix ¼ cup cornstarch and 2 cups water in a sauce pan. Boil until the
mixture has the consistency of paint. To tint add food coloring. - Paste – to make your own,
mix 3 teaspoons cornstarch and 4 teaspoons cold water. Mix well.
** If, by some small miracle, you worked at Amway in Ada, MI in the 1980;s and were the person my mother loaned the notebook to, please contact me. The notebook is a small (approx 6×9), black leather, 3-ring binder, and contains hand drawn patterns (teddy bear), recipes, and household tips and tricks. It would mean so much to my family to have it back.
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OneMommy says
Who would have thought it would have so many uses?? I am going to remember the knot idea next time my daughter ties up something 100's of times!
Danni Baird @ Silo Hill Farm says
I had no idea there were so many uses for cornstarch! Thanks for sharing these!
amy mayen says
I know! It's crazy how windex gets invented & people forget to tell the next generation…then you end up with us who don't realize windex is made from simple ingredients we already have 🙂
kcdoodle says
If you use the wadded up newspaper ads, all black and white, to dip in this mixture to clean and dry windows, they get CRYSTAL clear… like leaded glass! You won't believe the difference…
Lori Powell says
Can you use on technological screens, ie..TV, computer screens, cell phones, ect.
Susan Ramsay says
Yes, but spray lightly on a cloth; don’t spray directly on electronics, and don’t use a saturated rag. Squeeze ALL the excess out of the cloth or rag.
Magali@TheLittleWhiteHouse says
Amazing, I oly used Corn starch in cooking, guess that's going to change!
Makeiteasycrafts.blogspot.com says
Thanks for all these uses for cornstarch. I didn't know of lot of them. I've made clay before and it really has a nice soft texture. Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Mixed Kreations says
Great info on cornstarch. I didn't know that it had so many uses. I am going to have to try the clay for jewelry making. Does it dry really hard?
Linda
condoblues says
I used to buy face powder with cornstarch because my skin is very oily. I used cornstarch when I ran out of powder. It works just as well so that's what I use.
Maria Lipkin says
wow. Who knew? Thanks for sharing this info.
I'm stopping by and following along via the linkin' with my ladies hop. 😉 Maria
Terri S. Vanech says
Thanks for the great info! Gotta go find my cornstarch now…
Katherines Corner says
terrific! Thank you for sharing at the Thursday Favorite Things hop xo
Kathy Shea Mormino, The Chicken Chick says
Great ideas……Thank you for sharing with the Clever Chicks Blog Hop this week; I hope you’ll join us again!
Cheers,
Kathy Shea Mormino
The Chicken Chick
Mamal Diane says
That is great information. I have always been fascinated by the stuff. Thanks for sharing at The Gathering Spot this week 🙂
Peggy~PJH Designs says
Wonderful information and definitely some I will use like removing wax build up on furniture. Thanks for joining us at Transformed Tuesday.
Hugs,
Peggy~PJH Designs
Tanya Runkle says
Who knew? This is wonderful information, I don't usually think about corn starch for anything other than cooking. Thank you so much for sharing your ideas with us at the Pretty Things party this week!
xo, Tanya
Jann Olson says
I was happy to see diaper rash as #1. That's what I most remember from when my children were little. A remedy given to me by my mother. Thanks for sharing with SYC.
hugs,
Jann
The Busy Bee's says
Thank you for sharing this very informative post on our Busy Bee's (Thursday link party) Thanks so much for joining us and making our party better each week! We really do appreciate you!
Joye & Myrna
The Busy Bee's
Kathy A Delightsome Life says
Fascinating – I am going to clip these ideas – had not thought corn starch had so many uses! Fabulous – I do appreciate you sharing with Home and Garden Thursday,
Kathy
The Thriftiness Miss says
Wow I have no idea there were so many alternate uses for cornstarch! Definitely going to try this the next time I get a burn.. Since nothing I've found yet helps very much 🙂 Thanks so much for sharing with us at Weekend Wonders. Hope you're enjoying your week so far.
Diana Taylor says
When my son & his girlfriend’s dog had hot spots so bad, she licked herself raw & got her skin infected. Their vet recommended, along with the antibiotic he prescribed, using corn starch on her raw skin to help with the oozing she was experiencing. It worked wonders!
Karen Cowdrey says
Hi my name is Karen and I live in Australia,we don’t have corn starch is corn flour the same
Robin says
I’m really surprised that you don’t have cornstarch, I don’t know what I would do with out it. Cornstarch is not the same as corn flour.
Teresa says
Actually in other countries it is called corn flour. Here in the US when we hear corn flour we think of corn meal. But yes if is the same.
JoEllen says
Back in 1969 when my daughter was about 6 months old she got diarrhea so bad none of the medications we tried would stop it. Finally my father used a remedy from his childhood. A cornstarch enema of warm water and cornstarch. It coated the bowels inflammation and stopped the diarrhea with one try. I was amazed and thankful that something so basic could save my daughter.
It is these old time remedies that many of us have lost or have not been passed down. Today my father would be 92 years old if he was still with us.
Robin says
WOW, I’ve never heard of that! Some of these old remedies are definitely worth bring back.
Teresa says
Thanx so much! I love hearing of ways to make my own cleaning and other items!
Rich Davis says
I started using a medium paste to hold a bolt in a socket for hard to reach locations. It helped while working on some tight spots on a snow blower.
Robin says
That’s an interesting use.