Unusual Uses for Ice Cubes

Intro: Unusual Uses for Ice Cubes

Ice cubes can be found in nearly every kitchen. Turns out they have loads of unusual uses you might not know about!

From cleaning to cooking to beauty - there are so many uses! I've only included uses for ice cubes that I've personally tested or used before, but I know there has to be more uses out there. :D

Have an unusual use for ice cubes that I don't mention here? Tell us about it in the comments!

STEP 1: Remove Gum From Clothing, Carpet and Hair

Ice cubes are great at removing gum from all sorts of surfaces. The ice cubes freeze the gum, which will allow you to chip the gum away. :)

If the gum is on a piece of clothing, put the clothing in the sink and cover it with ice cubes. Let the clothing and ice cubes hang out for a bit and chip away the gum once it's frozen! Check out this instructable for more in-depth information.

If the gum is on carpet, put ice cubes right onto and let them sit there until the gum is nice and frozen. Then you can chip the gum away with a butter knife.

Removing gum from hair is a little more hit and miss. Wrap the hair with the gum in it and some ice cubes up in a washcloth until the gum is frozen. At that point, you should be able to use your fingers to break apart the gum and free your hair.

If ice cubes fail for getting gum out of hair, try oil, peanut butter or mayo - those work really well but are definitely messier. :D

STEP 2: Perfectly Reheated Rice

Just place an ice cube on top before microwaving! The ice will melt and then steam as the rice reheats. :)

I've also had luck doing this with pasta!

STEP 3: Numb Your Tongue Before Taking Medicine

This is so so useful for choking down terrible tasting liquid medicine. I don't know about you guys, but I'd rather take 8 million horse-sized pills before taking liquid cough syrup or painkillers. BLECH

Holding your nose definitely helps, but an ice cube will seal the deal.

Suck on a ice cube just until your tongue gets numb. Once it's numb, take the medicine immediately! When your tongue is numb you won't be able to taste the bitterness very much at all. :)

STEP 4: Relief for Eyebrow Tweezing and Epilation

Ice cubes are a great way to numb your skin! If you hate tweezing your eyebrows (or epilating anywhere!), ice can really help out.

Wrap an ice cube in a wash cloth and hold it on the area you'll be removing hair from. Hold it there just until it's nice and numb and then get to plucking. Keep extra ice cubes nearby for when the numbness wears off. :)

You can also use ice after hair removal if the skin there is really sensitive to get some pain relief.

STEP 5: First Aid for Bruising

If you're like me and bruise crazy easy (yay blood diseases!!!), ice cubes may be able to put a stop to it before it starts!

Bruising occurs when you damage the skin via blunt force and capillaries under the skin burst. These capillaries release small amounts of blood under your skin since it has no where else to go.

To help prevent and lessen the severity of bruises, apply ice right after an injury. Wrap ice cubes in a towel or wash cloth and hold the ice over the place the bruise is sure to form. The cold from the ice will close up the capillaries so you don't end up with extra bleeding and seeping, meaning you'll wind up with a smaller and less pronounced bruise. :)

STEP 6: Less Painful Splinter Removal

Splinters are the worst. THE WORST

But ice cubes can help!

Next time you get a splinter, use an ice cube to numb the area before you start picking at it. This even works for the terrible ones you get under your fingernails. :)

STEP 7: Skim Fat From Soups and Stews

If you have a metal ladle or a small metal container to put some ice cubes in, you can speed up the process of removing excess fat from a soup or stew. :D

Fill up the ladle or container with ice, and drag it across the surface of soup or stew. The drop in temperature will cause the fat to harden and stick to the outside metal. Use a paper towel to wipe the fat from the ladle and keep going until you're happy with how much fat you've removed.

STEP 8: Help Fight Pimples

Ice cubes can help fight combat pimples because the cold lessens the swelling, irritation and redness that occurs!

I've also read using ice on a pimple can shrink it, but I'm not totally sure on that. I think what folks are really seeing is the swelling going down because the ice is reducing the inflammation in that spot - not the pimple being "cured." ;)

Wrap an ice cube in a washcloth or paper towel and hold it over the pimple for a minute or so. The cold will cause a temporary redness on the spot, but it will go away once your skin warms up a bit. You can repeat this as needed, just don't leave the ice on your skin so long that it starts to burn or hurt.

It's especially nice if you get deep cystic acne - I had a few years where I got cystic acne on my cheeks all the time and this really helped with the pressure and pain.

STEP 9: Remove Dents From Carpeting

Note: This one can be a little hit and miss, but it can't hurt to give it a go!

This tip works best on higher pile carpeting - the lower the pile, the less it will be able to expand as it dries and fix the dents. :)

Place the ice cubes along the dent and leave them to melt. As they melt and the carpet begins to dry, it'll fluff back up and look normal again.

P.S. I could have sworn there was an instructable over this, but I can't find it anywhere! I think it has a weird title. If you know it, put a link in the comments! I'd love to give the original author credit.

STEP 10: Makeup Primer for Smaller Pores

This is a great trick to use before you put makeup on. Wrap up an ice cube in a paper towel or thin washcloth and rub it all over your face.

The ice cube will reduce redness and shrink your pores so it's great for priming your face for makeup! Plus, it'll cool down your skin, which is perfect for putting makeup on during the summer. :D

This honestly feels so nice I might just start doing this all the time. Ha!

Comments

[jessyratfink]

Here's another one from LaurelR3 regarding cold sores! I have a feeling I'll be using this one for the rest of the winter:

"For those of us who suffer from cold sores, rubbing an ice-cube on the spot the moment it starts tingling until the ice-cube completely melts will actually prevent the cold-sore from breaking out! Even if it starts appearing, you can ice it to prevent it from getting larger."

[ooohlaa]

wow thanx nothing works so i will try this if I ever get one again ....

[jonhodg16]

I used to get cold sores every winter without fail but since using Daktarin cream it's never came back. And it's been over 25 years now! This isn't what Daktarin is meant for but it was recommended by a friend and I had nothing to lose so I tried it, so glad I did. Hope this helps :)

[ooohlaa]

not clear, do you use it ongoing or you used it 25 years ago?

[jonhodg16]

I used Daktarin cream one time only and I've not had a cold sore since. Amazing stuff :)

[Jarun]

Was your sore on the outside of your lips or somewhere on the inside of your mouth? If it was on the inside then you were getting canker sores ulcers. In which case this would make sense. It is looking like canker sores may be, in fact, a type of oral thrush infection but more of an allergic reaction to sub-infection levels of yeast vs infection. It is extremely rare, cut canker sores can be on the outside of the lips.

Go get a herpes test or if you have already had one. If it was negative, then what I described above was indeed the case.

[jonhodg16]

Thank you Jarun, I appreciate your heartfelt concern, but it was most definitely a cold sore. And I haven't had a reinfection for well over 20 years now so no need for a check up :)

[Jesusandme]

So just dab the Daktarin as soon as you feel the tingling and continue dabbing or is once enough?

[jonhodg16]

You can apply Daktarin at any stage of a cold sore and then just keep applying it until the cold sore's completely gone, which shouldn't take long. I was amazed that it worked so quickly but then I was absolutely stunned that it never came back (not even a tingle in the 25 years since!). I was young at the time so a cold sore was a big deal for me and it used to knock my confidence quite a bit, so finding a cure changed my life :)

[gr8fldanielle]

you beat me to it, I was going to post this. I had no idea anyone else knew this trick. It's a lifesaver!

[wabpita]

I discovered this a while ago myself. it does work!

[useless ustass]

Hi i have'nt heard the ice trick for cold sores but this works for my hubby, as soon as he gets that tingle he dabs aftershave or perfume on it at regular intervals and this dries it out and most times it comes to nothing.

[VictoriousVixen]

I would think the scent and taste of those would be horrible if he licked his lips. (I can't *stand* the taste of perfume!) Why doesn't he just use a q-tip or a cotton ball dipped in rubbing alcohol instead? It's the same thing, and it doesn't have a lingering scent. :)

[hippiechk]

Please, just a friendly reminder...ice for no longer than 10 minutes on & then off... repeat in intervals...also just place it, don't rub. Don't want frost burns to complicate things. My mom used to send me out for an icicle so she could spot treat hers! ✌

[macwiley]

Cool ideas! (sorry)

Using bulk ice in your concrete mix will slow down its cure speed on a hot day. Just don't use too much because the extra water will weaken the cured concrete.

[AlbertaDoc]

Actually, the ice would aid in control of the heat caused by the chemical processes taking place during curing. Also the ice adds water to the mix which needs to be accounted for when calculating the mix ratios of the ingredients (how much cement, water, gravel and sand is needed to meet a certain PSI strength). Concrete mixes typically get "designed" as per the required PSI strength needed. Generally more cement is need if more water is added or the actual strength will be lowered below the intended design strength. Also concrete will continue to strengthen over time as long as there is water and un-hydrated cement available. So if you don't provide enough water in the concrete mix, the process of cement hydration will continue only until the water is used up.

[Phil_S]

Some concrete expert months ago reckoned that cooling concrete wasn't necessary in hot weather.

Nice to see someone who agrees, as well as the folks who poured the Hoover dam, which I beieve had cooling pipes built in and was cooled for months if not years.

Good job that wasn't a fast weak cure.

[yeti bear]

the dam had cooling pipes in with the pour to remove heat from the concrete, this is true. However it was not to prevent the premature curing, it was to speed up the process. Curing concrete is an exothermic reaction, and without a way for the heat from the poured concrete to excape (imagine the whole dam done as one big pour) it would not set properly. Thats also why they poured blocks in place. If it had not been for the cooling pipes the dam would still be in the curing process (150 years was the estimate I heard)

[oliver90owner]

Cooling in large masses of concrete is simply to prevent cracking during te curing process. The exothermic reaction is particularly pronounced in the early part of the strength gain - from the tri-calcium silicate content reactions. The di-calcium silicates are slower in curing, but all the heat of reaction will expand the curing mass and cause cracks - outer skin would cool and crack shortly after the initial setting process. Most concrete continues to cure over a period of years, but for building purposes, the structure needs early strength (removal of shuttering, placement of more concrete above, etc). Modern day dam structures would be using fly ash (coal ash from electricity generation) as part of the cementitious mix, to slow the strength gain, while giving more than adequate final strength. Of course, there is also the extra problem that chemical reaction rates increase with temperature, so the expansion problem is further exacerbated in huge structures such as dams.

[dragon flyer]

The engineering company my son works for did a project to renovate a massive 100 year old concrete grain elevator into something usable. They planned to put an elevator in the centre, only to discover how incredibly hard the old concrete floor was where they wanted to dig a pit for a below grade-level equipment room. They jack hammered for days and tried all other modern equipment available, without success; eventually they gave up and built the elevator up the outside of the building...!