10 Uses For Coca Cola You Weren’t Aware Of

This family-friendly soft drink has been around for over a century. It originated in US Georgia as a medicine drink at the end of the 19^th century (invented by John Pemberton), but a few years later (at the beginning of the 20^th century) it was bought and rebranded by a business man (Asa Griggs Candler) to become the longest-standing and most common brand in the world. Its popularity is undisputable. We might not all like it, but we all know it and we all tried it at least once. Believe it or not, Coke can be used for many other reasons, apart from human consumption. Due to its interesting properties, the fizzy drink in question can be very handy around the house. You can use it to clean stuff, defrost surfaces and even as pesticide. It’s still up for debate whether the drink is harmful for humans or not, but this is a discussion for another time. Don’t drink it if you don’t trust it, but take a look at this 10 uses for coca cola, the wonders it can do in everyday life situations.

1. Rust remover

Coke is a fizzy drink, and it’s filled of phosphoric acid, which can loosen rust from every surface as long as that object is exposed for a long enough period of time. If we’re talking about rusty tools or other pieces of metal that you’re trying to clean up, you can simply fill a recipient that’s big enough with Coke and place the object you wish to clean inside. Let it stir for a while; after you’ll take it out the rust will be easy to clean if you scrub it with some tin foil and wipe off with a cloth (works especially well on chromed surfaces). It also does wonders on rusty bolts: just spill some cola over the bolt, let it sit, wipe it and give it another go. You’ll be amazed of how well it works.

2. Oil stain remover

Oil stains are a pain in the neck. It takes only a moment of carelessness for your pavement or garage floor to get stained forever. If you’ve dropped that pesky motor oil (or any type of oily substance for that matter) and made a mess, don’t worry. Just go out and buy a Coca Cola bottle. Spill it over the oil stain and give it a couple of hours to work its magic. When you’re done waiting, simply whose off the stain from the pavement. Because it works so great, some people even use Coke to clean their car engine’s; and with great results too.

3. Pots and pans cleaner

If you have old and burned pots and pans that have been worn out with time but you still can’t let them go, you’ll be happy to know that a Coke treatment can make them (almost) brand new. To remove those pesky burn stains, simply pour the wonder-soda into the damaged pot or pan and simmer for a while. After you’re done, empty the pot or pan and rinse with water. Wipe it clean and there you have it! Coca Cola works not only for burned spots, but also for cleaning all sorts of build ups and scales.

4. Coin cleaner

If you’re a hardcore coin collector and want to make your new additions shine like there’s no tomorrow, just fill a glass or jar with Coca Cola and dump the coins in. In about 10 -20 minutes the excess muck will have been dissolved, so dump the soda and take the coins out one by one and wipe them clean. They’ll be shiny and clean.

5. Defroster

The soda does wonders for defrosting any type of surface, as the acidic compounds melt ice in no time. So defrosting you car windows (or any type of window for that matter) will be no problem at all. Just pour the drink all over the windshield / windows etc. and watch the ice melt in under a minute. After the ice is turned to mush, you can just wipe it off with a cloth or just let it come off on its own in a matter of minutes.

6. Window cleaner

It can clean windows just as well as it can defrost them. It’s good for any shinny surface for that matter, thanks to the high
amount of citric acid it holds. Normal window cleaners are citric acid-based as well, so there’s not much difference. You can pour Coke over a piece of cloth and wipe the windows with it or put Coke inside a spray bottle, spray it all over and then wipe the surface clean. The choice is up to you, but the outcome will be the same: cleanliness.

7. Stain remover

It works perfectly well as any other expensive stain remover available on the market. You can pour the soda in the wash, alongside detergent and it will work just fine in removing the stains from your clothes. Also wine stains or blood stains from carpets or similar surfaces won’t be a problem if you pour coke on them as soon as possible. This procedure is not recommended for light fabrics, because Coca Cola is brown. It might remove the red, but it will leave a brown spot in its place.

8. Toilette cleaner

If you’re out of toilette cleaner but you happen to have some Coca Cola lying around the house, perfect! Just pour the soda inside the toilette bowl and let it sit for a few minutes, just like you would with you regular product. After the time is up, scrub and flush like always. Your bowl will be so sparkly, that no one will be able to tell that you used a fizzy drink instead of a professional product.

9. Gum remover

If by some reason or another you end up with gum in your hair, the only reasonable thing to do is to cut it off. Well, not really. Just pour some Coke over the “warzone” and wait about 5 minutes. The fizzy drink will break down the stretching properties of the gum and it will make it much easier to pick up and wash off.

10. Pain reliever

IF you get stung by some nasty creatures (bees, wasp, jellyfish etc.) you’ll be a world of pain. You probably know the main approach to jelly fish stings is urine treatment. Fortunately, making a fool of yourself in public won’t be necessary if you happen to have some Coca Cola on you. Just open the bottle or can and pour it over the affected area. Thanks to the chemical structure of the drink, the pain inducing substances will be neutralized a couple of minutes.

Whether you like Coke as a drink or not, is not up for debate. But having some around the house will undoubtedly come in handy at some point or another. I always keep a couple of bottles, just in case. You never know when you’ll run out of cleaning props or pain relief ointments.

By Alec Deacon