Whenever my parents had heartburn or indigestion, they went for the Alka Seltzer. It has been well known for curing stomach ailments since 1931, and contains aspirin, sodium bicarbonate and anhydrous citric acid. Nowadays you can use Alka Seltzer in more ways than one, and some of them are pretty amazing. Check out what I think are the 15 best alternate uses for Alka Seltzer.
1.Alka Seltzer can help clean your toilet bowl while you walk away and do something much more interesting. Just drop a couple tablets into the bowl, wait about 20 minutes, and then come back to do a quick scrub with your toilet brush. It’s quick because the fizzy action of the Alka Seltzer has loosened everything up for you. Flush everything away and your toilet is now clean and fresh.
2. Use four Alka Seltzer tablets to loosen the gunk in a clogged drain. Drop in the tablets, and then immediately follow them up with a cup of white distilled vinegar. While it fizzes away and loosens the grime, boil a quart of water. Pour the boiling water down the drain to flush everything away. It’s perfectly safe to repeat this formula for an extra tough clog.
3. Make an easy, inexpensive, all-purpose cleaner. Put warm water in a bucket and drop in four or five Alka Seltzer tablets. Once they dissolve, you can use this mixture to clean or mop your floors. Put it in a spray bottle for easy cleaning of countertops, sinks, and the inside of your refrigerator.
4. For an easy fix to bakeware that has burnt-on gunk in it, fill your sink with hot water and drop in five Alka Seltzer tablets. Put your grimy pans in the sink to soak for awhile. Come back later and cleaning will be so much easier!
5. Vases with narrow necks are difficult, if not impossible, to clean. Alka Seltzer to the rescue! Put water in your narrow vase, add a tablet of Alka Seltzer, and let it fizz away and soak for 20 minutes. Rinse and enjoy a cleaner vase. You’ll need a fresh bouquet of flowers right away!
6. How about those plastic food containers that stain so easily if you put anything tomato-based inside? Don’t throw them out! Just put hot water inside them, drop in an Alka Seltzer tablet, and watch the stains disappear like magic.
7. Safely clean your diamond jewelry with Alka Seltzer. Put your jewelry pieces inside a small bowl and cover with water. Drop in one tablet and watch the fizzy action start to loosen dirt and polish them up like new. Allow your jewelry to soak for 20 minutes before removing from the solution. {Note: this is not recommended for soft stones like opals and pearls}.
8. Clean a coffee maker while hardly lifting a finger. Fill the water reservoir, and add three Alka Seltzer tablets. Once the tablets have stopped fizzing, run the coffee maker through a full brewing cycle, then run it again with nothing but plain water. Welcome to a cleaner, fresher coffee machine!
9. If you are trying to quit smoking, Alka Seltzer can help curb your cravings for nicotine. Just drink a glass of Alka Seltzer two or three times per day and you’ll feel better.
10. Alka Seltzer can help reduce the pain of bladder infections. Both the aspirin and the sodium bicarbonate work to reduce the pain and decrease the acidity of urine. Careful not to take extra aspirin if you use Alka Seltzer.
11. After you have stored a cooler for the winter and get it out for the first picnic of the summer, it can smell a little nasty! For a quick cleaning and deodorizing, put an inch of water in the bottom and drop in four tablets. Let it sit and work for one hour, then rinse and dry. Your cooler will smell fresh and be good to go!
12. Alka Seltzer is a great alternative to the more expensive denture cleaning products you can buy. Add two tablets to a glass of water and then drop in those dirty dentures. Soak for 10 minutes and then rinse clean. Grime and stains will be gone!
13. Like a vase, you can clean a reusable water bottle very easily with Alka Seltzer. Fill with water and add two tablets. Soak for 20 minutes, then rinse and dry.
14. Soothe an insect bite with Alka Seltzer and a cotton ball. Dissolve one tablet in half a glass of water, then soak a cotton ball with this solution. Hold the cotton ball on the bite to relieve pain and itching.
15. To quickly get rid of nasty odors in your fridge, drop one Alka Seltzer tablet into a cup of water and put it on the shelf in the middle of your fridge. Close the door and leave it for 30 minutes. When you open the door again, the odor should be gone.
Drop 4-5 Alka-Seltzer tablets down the drain followed by a cup of ordinary white household vinegar. Allow the 2 substances to mix for a few minutes, then turn the hot tap on full and allow it to flush the pipes out.