10 Things You Didn’t Know Your Household Appliances Could Do

We all know the intended uses for our household appliances.

However, there are actually many other things that you can use your supposed one-use appliances for. We’ve listed 10 surprising ones here for you.

1. Irons

Irons, and really ironing, doesn’t exactly excite us as people. But, as it turns out, there are a number of alternative uses for the iron that you probably haven’t thought of before. In fact, once we did a bit of digging, we realised that ironing really is the least exciting thing you can do with this nifty appliance.

Irons can be used to pick up dried candle wax from surfaces, get some dents of of wooden floors, laminate documents, remove glued Linoleum tiles, re-stick Veneer, deal with deep carpet impressions and even toast a cheese sandwich!

2. Kettle

If you have a stovetop kettle or a kettle with concealed elements, pay attention because you might not be using your kettle to its full potential. While you probably already use the kettle for boiling up a batch of water for coffee and tea, or speeding along your dishwashing, there’s so much more! Kettles can be used to boil eggs, poach chicken, and cook noodles, rice or pasta. Yum!

3. Ice Cream Machine

Appliances like the ice cream machine are great for ice cream, but at the end of the day, they’re still a minimally used tool (unless you’re having ice cream everyday. But there is good news. It turns out that an ice cream machine is good for more than just making dairy treats. You can also use your ice cream maker to throw together some delicious soda slushies, some more grown up margaritas, and even frozen ‘hot’ chocolate!

4. Fondue Pots

Fondue. Pretty much the best thing ever. Whether you’re using it for chocolate, cheese, or any of the multitude of other potential pot-fillers, it’s a party favourite. Of course, it’s not something you use all the time, so how can you get more out of it? Well, the humble fondue pot can be used as a hot pot, to keep hot dips warm, and as a mini-deep fryer. In terms of the deep-frying capabilities, it’s great for temperature control and is super easy to clean!

5. Pasta Machines

We know so many people who have one of those old-style hand crank pasta machines floating around in their kitchen cupboards. Clearly at some point, they were all the rage, so what about now? Well if you have a hand-crank machine, there’s more to it than making pasta. You can use the rolling section to make pie crust, super thin and delicious crackers and wonton wrappers. We’ve even seen it used to roll out fondant icing!

6. Rice Cooker

Rice cookers are super handy, particularly if you’ve never quite mastered the art of cooking rice in a pot (or you just hate scrubbing the rice left on the bottom!). However, if you aren’t eating rice all the time, it can feel that that rice cooker is just gathering dust in the kitchen cupboard. Well, not anymore. Did you know that you can use your rice cooker to make hot cereals like porridge, which are super creamy and require no stirring, as well as to steam foods like pudding, dumplings and dim sims!

7. Food Dehydrator

Food dehydrators can be really handy tool for families, and it’s guaranteed to save you a bucket on buying dried fruit snacks for your kids. But other than drying out fruit and veggies, is there anything else you can use this bulky thing for? Yes! Food dehydrators can be used for a number of other things included crisping up stale crackers. They also make reasonable humidifiers when you add a few heat-proof containers of water to the racks. Interesting!

8. Clothes Dryer

Clothes dryers are a must for busy families, and they have saved our butts more than a few times with late night washing for important events. Still, there’s more to them than meets the eye. Clothes dryers can, amazingly, also be used to get wrinkles out of your clothes. Just pop them in the dryer, add a damp wash cloth to the mix, and set on medium heat. With the heat and the moisture, the wrinkles should come straight out!

9. Bread Makers

If you bought a bread machine, but you can’t bear the thought of eating another slice of bread (we’ve all been there, don’t worry about it), then don’t stress. There are actually a few secrets hiding in your bread machine. For one, it’s not just for bread. You can also use it to make the most delicious pizza dough. For another, bread machines actually make great jam. No seriously! It’s something you have to try, but check the manufacturer’s instructions first!

10. Dishwasher

Use a dishwasher to make flavoured vodkas! Mars bars, jelly babies, you name it.

You can also use your dishwasher to cook salmon. No, I’m not crazy! All you have to do is put your fish onto two sheets of aluminium foil, squeeze on a little lemon or lime juice, add some coconut oil or margarine/butter and salt and pepper if you’d like. Seal up the alfoil TIGHTLY and place onto the top rack of your dishwasher. DO NOT ADD DETERGENT. Set it to the hottest wash and run it on full cycle. Once the cycle has finished, the salmon will be cooked beautifully and super tasty!

Do you know other alternative uses for household appliances?