Milk may come in handy not only in cooking and baking. It is great for beauty and home care as well. Milk is an inexpensive alternative to some aggressive cleaning agents and you can apply it whenever you need to. Check out these clever and unexpected uses of milk:

• Polish your silver jewelry – mix a glass of milk with a little lemon juice and use the mixture to clean your silver. If your silver items are too dark then you can soak them in the solution for a few hours. Then wipe and wash them with plain water.

• Fix your porcelain items – that may seem strange to you, but milk can help you repair small cracks in the white porcelain. Put the porcelain item in a large saucepan and cover it with milk. Heat the milk until boiling, reduce the heat and allow the liquid to boil gently for 45 minutes. The proteins in milk can help to restore the links in the porcelain surface and to close the rift.

• Clean your shoes – dampen a cotton ball or a rag with some raw milk and use it to clean your shoes. For more glitter, leave the milk to dry on the shoes and then polish them with a soft cloth to remove any small scratches.

• Wash your hands – if your hands are too dirty, disinfect them with a mixture of oatmeal and milk. Rub the paste on your hands to remove the dirt. If you often have to wash your hands with water, use milk instead. In addition to cleansing the skin, milk moisturises it and does not allow it to dry. Who says only Cleopatra could enjoy the great effect of milk on the skin?

• Clean your house plants – next time you run domestic cleaning, remember that your house plants need sanitising as well. Use skim milk to clean their leaves from dust and dirt. Apply some milk with a spray bottle, leave it to work a bit and then wipe it with a soft cloth.

• Cleaning the furniture – mix some milk with a little lemon juice to clean your wooden furniture. The soft cream-like base of milk perfectly combines with the acidity of the citrus juice. As a result, you will have an effective eco-friendly cleaner. Milk removes dirt and smoothes small cracks, and lemon juice will help you remove stains and disinfect the surfaces. If you want to add a nice flavor to the mixture, then put a few drops of aromatic essential oil.

• Treat insect bites – milk is a natural moisturising ingredient, so you can use it to soothe the skin after insect bites. The enzymes in it reduce the swelling of the skin and therefore reduce the uncomfortable itching. Treat your skin with a mixture of milk, water and salt and leave it to work for a while.

• Remove ink stains – if you have to deal with ink stains on your clothing, curtains or upholstery, then soak them in a little milk for a few hours. Rinse them well and wash them in lukewarm, not hot water. When it comes to upholstery cleaning, obviously you can’t wash the fabric. So, get a rag soaked in milk. Apply it on the surface and leave it to work for a few hours. Then wipe thoroughly several times with a cloth dipped in lukewarm water. Milk dissolves and removes ink with ease.

• Thaw the fish out and improve the taste of food – milk has various applications in the kitchen as well. For instance, frozen fish sometimes has an unpleasant taste after thawing out, but if you dip it in some milk, then it will return the hydration of the fish. Its taste will get better. Milk is often used to improve the taste of coffee, dough food, corn, etc. Almost any kind of food can become much more delicious if it is boiled in a mixture of water and milk.

• Relieve sunburn spots – the long exposure to sunlight can cause very painful sunburn. Get some powdered milk and mix it with water and a few pinches of salt. You can quickly soothe the burnt skin with this milk-based sunburn mixture.

• Make a homemade soap – milk can be the main ingredient in it. Such soap will be both hard on microbes and soft on your skin. Use your blender to mix milk, oatmeal, glycerin, scent oils and lard. Boil the solution for several hours, and then distribute it in soap molds. Wait for it to dry and then you will have a quality natural product you can use for your everyday personal hygiene.

• Remove makeup – foundations, blushes and other facial cosmetic products are sometimes difficult to remove. So, instead of water, try using a mixture of warm water and powdered milk. Apply the mixture on your face and after a few minutes, you will be able to easily clean the makeup.

Milk is not only a nice drink and an essential ingredient in pastries. Even if you don’t like its taste, you should have at least one carton of milk in your fridge - after all, it can be very useful when it comes to various household duties!