77 Household and Therapeutic Uses
It’s the liquid you pour onto your finger after you accidentally cut yourself while doing the dishes. It’s what you use to disinfect your child’s knee after a fall, but did you know that there are so many other uses for hydrogen peroxide?
Maybe you’ve recognized it by its chemical formula, which is H2O2. In the purest form, it’s a colorless liquid, and it’s just a bit more viscous than water. Some of the most popular hydrogen peroxide uses involve disinfecting, bleaching and oxidizing.
In fact, if you know someone who listens to the famous rapper, Eminem, maybe they told you that he used hydrogen peroxide to bleach his hair! You can think of hydrogen peroxide as being water that is equipped with an additional oxygen atom. The truth is that these two compounds are very different.
Fact: Pure hydrogen peroxide will actually explode if you heat it to its boiling point.
For this reason, most household products contain a diluted solution of the chemical. The majority of household solutions containing HP have as little as 3 to 5 percent of the active chemical in them.
A lot of people don’t know that the fizzing that you see when you pour HP onto a cut is actually H2O2 bonds breaking apart. The bubbles are really just free oxygen molecules.
While the science is quite fascinating, the practice uses of hydrogen peroxide are even better! Let’s dive right into the exciting world of HP and see what it can do for you!
Note: The term “HP” used in this article is just a shorter way of saying “hydrogen peroxide”. Also, the majority of these “uses’ should be carried out using a 3%, standard-grade purity of HP.
The Complete List
1.) Eliminate Viruses. You can use about three drops of 3 percent HP in each of your ears. Some experts say doing this can greatly reduce the duration of the flu and cold. Once you apply the drops of HP, let the HP sit for about 10 minutes before allowing it to drain. Another benefit is that it will take the ear wax with it!
2.) Get rid of pesticides. Most fresh vegetables are produced using spray pesticides. These are harmful chemicals that you don’t want to consume. Add about ¼ a cup of HP to a bowl with 3 cups of water and allow your vegetables to soak in it for about 30 minutes. Rinse the veggies well and stick them in the refrigerator for a while. You obviously want to make sure the vegetables don’t have any open wounds that will soak up the HP/water solution.
3.) Get rids of airborne germs. If you have a humidifier, you can mix 1 pint of 3 percent HP with one gallon of water and add it to your humidifier. Let the humidifier run until the mixture is depleted. The disinfectant and antibacterial properties of the liquid will eliminate airborne germs.
4.) Whiten Your Teeth. In case you didn’t know, the active ingredient in most teeth whitening products is HP. It can whiten your teeth naturally by oxygenating the surface of your teeth. First, brush your teeth normally with toothpaste. Next, mix 2 teaspoons of water with 1 teaspoon of 3 percent HP. Swish this mixture around in your mouth for up to 60 seconds but make sure you don’t swallow any of it. When you’re finished, rinse your mouth with water and do this up to three times a week.
5.) Bleach toe and finger nails. To do this, all you need to do is place your toes or finger tips into some HP. Just use your standard diluted HP product that you would buy from the store. You can pour it into a small container or bowl.
6.) Bleach hair. When compared with other household bleaching agents, HP is milder, so you can use it to bleach your hair.
7.) Create hair highlights. Just spray some HP onto damp hair, and it will give you sun-bleached highlights. You need to allow it to sit on the hair for up to 15 minutes before you rinse it away.
8.) Rejuvenate and detox your body. You can soak in a bath with some HP, and it will rejuvenate and detox your body. All you need to do is pour 1 cup of 35 percent HP into a tub of water. Just soak in the tub for about a half an hour, and you’ll feel the benefits of the HP.
9.) Eliminate stuffy sinuses. When your sinuses are stuffy, it can be painful. Unclog them with a homemade nasal solution containing HP. In most cases, you can mix 1 cup of water with 1 cap full of HP. If your sinuses are really stuffed, you might consider a slightly more concentrated mixture of HP.
10.) Stop toothache pain. We’ve all had a toothache at some point in our lives, so you know how painful they can be. To soothe some of the pain, you can gargle a mixture of coconut oil and HP. The antibacterial properties of HP help to eliminate the bacteria that are causing the toothache pain.
11.) Disinfect wounds. HP works very well to disinfect most small wounds. In most cases, a small cap full of a standard 3 percent solution will do the trick. Just pour the liquid directly onto the wound.
12.) Make an antiseptic mouth rinse. It’s true that HP can whiten your teeth, but it’s also effective as a mouth wash. Just mix 1 cup of water with about 2 caps full of HP.
13.) Eliminate acne. Most of us have had acne at some point. If you’re a female, you know that acne can be especially degrading. You can create a face rinse that can clear up acne. The face wash will eliminate the germs that cause acne breakouts.
14.) Get rid of boils. You can use HP to get rid of boils. Just fill up your bathtub with water and a single cup of 35 percent HP. This mixture of bath water and HP will treat boils, but it will also rejuvenate and detoxify your body.
15.) Soften calluses and corns. If you need to soften calluses and corns to get rid of them, just soak them in a mixture of equal parts HP and warm water. This mixture will naturally soften most corns and calluses.
16.) Get wax out of your ear. Most people have an enormous buildup of wax in their ear and don’t even know it. Get rid of it with 2 drops of HP in each ear. After adding the HP to one ear at a time, add a couple drops of olive oil. Wait a couple of minutes and drain the solution out of the ear. Most of the wax will flow out with the HP.
17.) Prevent the dreaded swimmer’s ear. Also known as swimmer’s ear, a typical ear infection is no fun! To get rid of it, just mix a 1 cap of HP with some vinegar in a small dropper bottle. After swimming, just apply a few drops of this solution to each ear to prevent infection.
18.) Get relief from ear infections. By applying about 8 drops of HP to an infected ear, you can ease many of the symptoms and clear the infection out.
19.) Eliminate skin mites. A lot of people suffer from skin mites. You can use HP to kill them off. All you need to do is spray some HP on the affected skin. Repeat this process a few times after a few minutes, and it will kill skin mites.
20.) Get rid of foot fungus. Just mix some HP with water inside of a darkened bottle. The bottle needs to be darkened because HP isn’t supposed to be exposed to sunlight. All you need to do is apply the mixture to foot fungus. It’s usually best to use equal parts 3 percent HP and water for the solution.
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