'Sani Imilla' potatoes are displayed during a potato festival in the highland region of Tiwanacu, some 70 Km (43 miles) of La Paz, Bolivia April 27, 2008. The humble potato -- long derided as a boring tuber prone to making you fat --
'Sani Imilla' potatoes are displayed during a potato festival in the highland region of Tiwanacu, some 70 Km (43 miles) of La Paz, Bolivia April 27, 2008. The humble potato -- long derided as a boring tuber prone to making you fat -- Reuters

Everyone face some kind of problem when it comes to household cleaning. Something or the other, and the trouble never stops.

But remember your grandma and mother made use of lot of tricks to use food items as substitutes for costly cleaning products?

A cleaning expert spoke about the science behind it; the reasons why some foods come so handy to tackle rust, some to remove stains, and the list continues.

According to the report by Daily Mail, Alex Depledge, chief executive of cleaning site Hassle.com, shared her view on tomato ketchup, stating it is good for cleaning brass, copper and silver elements.

"Tarnishing mainly occurs due to sulphur compounds in the air. When the ketchup is applied to the metal, the natural acid in the tomatoes reacts with the oxidising of the tarnished silver, brass or copper," said Depledge. "Potatoes and baking soda are effective at tackling rust because the oxalic acid in the potato mixes with the baking soda to help to dissolve the rust.”

Vinegar is an extremely fine rust remover because it dissolves the hydrated iron oxides present in rust. Phosphoric acid found in cola drinks, and citric acid in lemon juice also can do the job.

Banana skins are quite useful to buff leather, followed by a damp cloth. It is so effective because the potassium in bananas gets absorbed and eventually works to plump up the scratches, she explained.

To remove marks on wood, mayonnaise, which contains oils and proteins, can be used as they softly diminish scratches and marks on wood. The oil in Brazil nuts can also be used for the same purpose.

To refrigerate smelling fish, putting dry ground coffee in a container with holes in the lid will eliminate odours as through a process called absorption smelly substances attach themselves to the surface of coffee beans, Depledge suggested.

She recommended a substitute to lime scale remover by cutting a grapefruit in half and sprinkling one half with salt.

She advised that cola drinks come across to be good toilet cleaner because they contain carbonic, citric and phosphoric acids.

Use these great methods to have a cleaner home.