10 Surprising Uses for Booze — Besides Getting Drunk

The weekend is done, so it's a safe bet that you enjoyed some adult beverages. Weekends are for fun, and alcohol is fun! By Monday though, you probably need a break from alcohol consumption. Fear not! There are tons of uses for booze that we promise won't give you a hangover; in fact some of them even take away pain. (No, we don't mean hair of the dog.)

Clothes cleaner

Yep, vodka will do the trick when you want to clean or deodorize your clothes. The method is simple: put a little vodka into a spray bottle, and squirt your clothing before a wash. If your clothes aren’t terrible dirty in the first place, spray them down with vodka and then hang them up so they can dry. Vodka kills bacteria but won’t leave a smell, so don't worry about smelling like last night's bender.

PEst control

When the slug army invades your yard, you can fight back with a saucer full of beer. Slugs, like dudes, love beer and will be drawn to the scent. Once they climb inside the saucer, they’ll drown. If they’re lucky, they might get a bit tipsy first, to ease their passing into that great slime ball in the sky, slug heaven.

moisturizer

Are you someone who suffers from rough and dry skin, who also happens to love beer? Well, now you can have it all. Or at least two things you like. Beer is a wonderful skin conditioner. At home, you can just add a good amount of brew to your bath, and soak. If you really want to get fancy, head over to Germany or The Czech Republic and indulge in a ‘beer spa.’ Just remember, the beer is for soaking and exfoliating your skin, not for drinking. That comes after your bath, in the pub.

ice pack

Why would you want to use a vodka icepack, rather than a standard one? If you mix vodka and water into a Ziploc or watertight bag, you’ll end up with the perfect icepack; since the vodka won’t completely freeze (it’ll become kind of slushy), you can mold the icepack to your injury or sore body part, and reuse the pack again and again.

toothache relief

While it can cause a splitting headache, whiskey can also help ease the pain of a terrible toothache. Put a few dabs of whiskey on your fingertips, and gently rub them around your sore tooth for relief. You can also dampen a cotton swab or piece of fabric with whiskey, and work it around the tooth to alleviate the pain. Also effective: drink a lot of it, and pass out.

mouthwash

Got a hot date, but you’ve just run out of mouthwash and toothpaste? Don’t worry. Vodka can save the day. Because vodka is a powerful germ killer, you can simply swish a bit of it around your mouth, and then spit it out (you don’t want to get drunk before the date even starts). If you’re going to make this a regular thing, you can add mint leaves or tea tree oil into the mix, which will help give your mouth that zesty feeling.

fly trap

If you want to trap and kill those pesky fruit flies, either take your garbage out more often, or try baiting them with some wine? The sticky, fruity allure of red wine makes it the perfect bait for the buzzing pests. To set the trap, pour some wine into a glass or jar, cover the top with plastic wrap, and poke several small holes (fly size) into the plastic. The flies will fly into to the jar, but they wont be able to fly back out.

shampoo

Beer-based shampoo works very well full for those of you who want glossy, healthy hair. The complex carbohydrates, proteins and vitamins found in beer will hydrate and coat your hair, giving it a much fuller feel. First boil the beer, let it cool, and then mix it in with some normal shampoo (or another hair-friendly binder such as raw egg.) Use the mixture as you would a normal shampoo, but don't let it sit around or your hair will smell like a party-house sink on a Sunday Morning.

fertilizer

Don’t throw those half empty beer bottles away after a party; they can be put to good use fertilizing plants in your yard. Just plop those bottles neck down into the soil, and let the stale beer drip down into the dirt. Beer is full of lots of good stuff like yeast, which helps plants grow. There are some fancier methods for using beer as a fertilizer, if you've got a green thumb.

mold killer

As we’ve seen, vodka can be used to clean your clothes, and the germs in your mouth. Did you know that vodka also destroys mold? Spray it directly on moldy patches in the shower, or on your smelly shoes, to get rid of nasty smells and make mildew disappear. The cheap stuff works just as good as the more expensive stuff. Save your top shelf potato juice for drinking, not cleaning.