Water from cooking vegetables or pasta is often considered waste and thrown away. However, many of them have interesting properties. Here are some ideas for reusing cooking water.
Weed with pasta cooking water
Once the pasta is cooked, the cooking water can be used in the garden as an effective and natural weed killer. But, to use, the pasta should be drained, keeping the water. Either put the drain in a large cul-de-sac to restore it, or rub the preparation to leave the liquid in the pan. Good to know. Potato cooking water is just as effective against weeds.
Clean surfaces with rice water
Rice water has many benefits, including gentle cleansing. For use as a household product, rice should be cooked in a pot and not steamed in a special pot (which absorbs all the water). You can also just use the rinse water which has the same virtues. Once the rice is cooked, this liquid can be poured into a spray bottle and used to clean surfaces or unclog a gas stove without damaging it.
In this video, the golden rules of going zero waste
Treat your skin and hair with rice water
Asian women have long known the benefits of rice water for hair and face. It can be heated on the skin to soften the tissues and moisturize the epidermis. Its concentration of antioxidants makes it active against skin irritation and aging. It can also be used as a hair conditioner in the rinse water. The starch that this water contains smoothes the hair fibers and tames frizz for shiny and silky hair.
Water the plants with vegetable and egg water
Many vitamins and minerals are released from vegetables during cooking. This rich water is very nutritious for indoor and outdoor plants. It acts as a natural fertilizer at a lower cost. Thus, we can water the garden, the vegetable garden, the flowers and even the compost, being very careful not to drown the whole at the risk of unbalancing the phenomenon of degradation. In this case, it is better to take organic vegetables and avoid salting the water (plants don’t like it very much). This trick also works with boiled or soft egg cooking water.
Clean silverware with potatoes, sorrel and rhubarb
Silverware requires special care and often expensive and polluting products. But it can be easily maintained by using potato, sorrel or even rhubarb water. For the first method, simply dip a silver fork directly into the potatoes (with their skins) in the water for a few minutes. They can then be cleaned. For rhubarb and sorrel, after blanching the fruit or leaves, soak a soft cloth in chilled water and gently rub the fork.
Take care of your clothes with spinach and white bean water
Natural textiles can also be gently cared for. The water made from white beans is used, for example, to separate woolen, silk or cotton clothes. But in order not to damage the fabric, it cannot be salted. As for fresh spinach cooking water, it can be used as laundry water to revitalize black clothes that are prone to fading.
Source: Le Figaro
