In your cabinet, there is a household chemical solution that has many more uses than you know.
From the title, you know I am talking about hydrogen peroxide. We’re going to talk about some amazing hydrogen peroxide uses that I am willing to bet you did not know about!
When having hydrogen peroxide in the house, make sure you are following safety guidelines:
- Keep the cap on at all times when not using.
- Keep out of reach of children.
- Store in a cool, dark place.
- Keep out of eyes and wash immediately if contamination occurs.
- Make sure you using the correct grade for your household.
These hydrogen peroxide hacks are not proven medically. Contact a medical professional for any medical questions and issues.
What Is Hydrogen Peroxide Used For?
Most commonly, you’ll find hydrogen peroxide used as a gentle antiseptic for cleaning cuts and scrapes without the burn of some other options, such as rubbing alcohol. It is a surprisingly good germ-killer!
Surprisingly enough, however, that’s not all you can use it for. In addition, it has whitening properties, household cleaning uses, and much more!
Given its incredible cleaning power, however, I do want to strongly caution you on something: never mix hydrogen peroxide with other strong household cleaners, such as bleach, ammonia, vinegar, etc.
These chemicals mixed together and especially in a closed container may possibly create dangerous gasses/fumes that could be harmful!
(Hydrogen peroxide can work in replace of these other chemicals in most cases, so combining them would do you no additional good anyway!)
Incredible Hydrogen Peroxide Uses For A Cleaner Home
It really just might be the miracle cleaner you’ve been looking for. See which of these amazing hydrogen peroxide uses in everyday life you can add into your routines!
Hydrogen Peroxide For Hair, Skin, Nails, Etc
1. Insect Bite Treatment Hack
Found on Survival Life
Ew! This picture is gross. However, insect bites occur all the time. Some are worse than others. One way to cut back on the infections and itching is the use of hydrogen peroxide. Soak it on some cotton balls and rub it all over the bites. This will help with the healing process and the itching so you are not making it worse.
2. Lighten Hair
There are plenty of reasons why you might want to lighten hair, especially if it saves you a costly trip to the salon!
If you’ve got dark hair but went blonde, soak your roots with hydrogen peroxide, let sit half an hour, and wash your hair.
If you have dark hair and don’t want to go blonde but just want it a little less dark, you can use hydrogen peroxide to lighten hair by diluting with water. Simply spray the mix in, let it dry, and carry on with your day! With repeated use, you will gradually see your hair lightening!
3. Ear Wax Removal Hack
Found on Instructables
Prior warning; putting hydrogen peroxide into your ear can cause an infection or dizziness to some people who have had previous problems with their ears in the past.
Take all proper precautions when dealing with your ears. If you have some build up wax in your ear, place a few drops in your ear before you shower.
Along with the heat and steam of the shower, it should break down some of the wax and help clean them out.
4. Easily Remove Calluses
Easily turn your summer feet soft by soaking them in warm water mixed with peroxide, to soften hard and scaly calluses on your feet!
5. Take A Detox Bath
Found on DIY n Crafts
Take a 30-minute soak in diluted hydrogen peroxide once in a while to make sure that your body is actually clean. The benefits for your skin (pores, clarity, etc) are huge. not to mention a good long bath is SO relaxing!
6. Whiten Your Fingernails
You can do this one of two ways.
One method is to make a simple paste of hydrogen peroxide and baking soda, brush it onto your nails to soak for about 5 minutes, and then wash off.
The other method is to simply soak a cotton ball with hydrogen peroxide and dab your nails. (I’d still wash my hands after, to avoid the risk of getting it in your mouth by mistake)!)
Hydrogen Peroxide For Teeth, Mouth
1. Clean Your Tooth Brush With Hydrogen Peroxide
Found on The Dental Check
You might think just because you use a toothbrush every day to clean your teeth that it automatically is clean its self. Imagine how many germs ended back on the toothbrush after you finished brushing. Or if you keep your toothbrush out on the counter, think of how many bathroom germs collect on it throughout the day.
Use hydrogen peroxide to clean your toothbrush before putting it into your mouth.
2. Make A DIY Tooth Whitening Paste
You may have never really read the packages before because, well, toothpaste is toothpaste. But a lot of the whitening pastes have baking soda in them! You can mix a small amount of baking soda with a splash of hydrogen peroxide to use in place of your toothpaste a 1-2 times per week, and you’ll quickly find yourself with a brighter, whiter smile! (You can thank the peroxide’s bleaching/whitening powers for that!)
3. Treating Mouth Sore Hack
Found on DIY n Crafts
Hydrogen peroxide is okay to enter your mouth. Just do not swallow it. If you find yourself with a cold sore, swish some hydrogen peroxide around your mouth and spit it out. It will heal faster than if you just left it alone.
There are many cold sore products on the market, but a bottle of hydrogen peroxide is still going to be cheaper and last you much longer.
4. Beat Bad Breath With A Mouthwash
All you need to do is give the hydrogen peroxide a quick swish around your mouth to help kill those pesky bad breath germs! Your partner will thank you in the mornings.
Use it sparingly though, weekly or less, to make sure you don’t also kill off the good bacteria that live in your mouth!
Hydrogen Peroxide For Home, Household (Cleaning, Laundry, etc)
1. Genius Spray Bottle Peroxide Hack
Found on Listotic
Hydrogen peroxide is a great cleaning product for many reasons. One reason is you know exactly what it is made of. The second reason it’s such a great cleaner is it’s safe.
The last reason is the fact that hydrogen peroxide is so cheap. Pick up a spray top and you are ready to go!
2. Scrub Tile Grout White
White grout is very hard to keep clean, especially on floors. Use a paste of baking soda and hydrogen peroxide, let it work its magic for about 5 minutes, then wash off with water!
3. Make Your Baking Sheets Come Back To Life
Found on One Good Thing
I can’t wait to try this one! We moved into our house about five years ago and we still use the same pans since day one. You can imagine that they could use a little help getting cleaned up. Before going out and buying new pans, give this a try with hydrogen peroxide.
4. Remove Underarm Stains
We all sweat, and sometimes we get those pesky pit stains that just will not come clean no matter what you pre-treat them with!
Well, now you can win this fight! Mix hydrogen peroxide, water, and baking soda in a 1:1:1 ratio. Use a stiff brush to scrub the stain, let it sit 30 minutes, then wash as usual!
5. Make Natural Bleach With Hydrogen Peroxide
Found on Don’t Waste The Crumbs
Bleach is a very harsh chemical to use and to have in your house. For those of you looking to get the benefits of bleach without the chemicals look no further than hydrogen peroxide.
Mixing hydrogen peroxide with baking soda, vinegar, lemon juice, and citrus acid you have a combination of a bleach-like substance. Much safer for those of you who have children in the house.
6. Keep Mattress Mites At Bay
It’s just a fact of life that we are surrounded by dust mites. We like to make a point to keep our bedding and sleeping area as fresh and clean as possible, so we give our mattress an occasional light spray with hydrogen peroxide to help disinfect anything that might be unseen there! Just make sure your mattress is dry before remaking the bed, and don’t forget to wash your bedding with a little hydrogen peroxide as well, to make sure it’s super clean!
7. Fruit and Veggie Wash Hack
Found on One Good Thing
When pregnant, I make sure to go above and beyond to make sure my produce is washed and cleaned. I know I have mentioned it in previous articles, but it’s worth stating again. The amount of germs and dirt that produce carries from the farm to the store and then into your kitchen is gross.
Using a mixture of water and hydrogen peroxide will make sure you are getting all of those pesticides off and keep you safe.
8. Clean & Disinfect Reusable Grocery Bags
You put your groceries in them all the time, but have you ever thought to clean your reusable shopping bags? Toss them into the wash with some hydrogen peroxide to disinfect and feel more confident about what your food is touching!
Hydrogen Peroxide For Kids
1. Science Experiment: Elephant’s Toothpaste
Found on Navigating By Joy
I look forward to bringing this science experiment into my classroom. Nothing is better than hands-on science lessons. Kids love them!
With a few simple household ingredients, you can create this really cool elephants toothpaste experiment. The main ingredient? You guessed it hydrogen peroxide.
2. Disinfect Kids’ Toys
Let’s get real — kids can be gross little germ factories sometimes! Nothing puts me on edge about germs more than a teething baby, too!
It’s so easy to use a diluted hydrogen peroxide “bath” to soak non-porous toys to disinfect, or to simply wash the toys with the peroxide right in the wash to help make sure the baby isn’t getting anything more than tooth pain relief!
3. DIY Glow Stick (*Not for the faint of heart*)
I’ll warn you up from that this is straight-up advanced chemistry — we’re talking working with some chemicals, wearing gloves and eye protection, and DEFINITELY NOT letting the kids help.
I’ll say it again: this is NOT something to do with the kids but FOR the kids. Or maybe you can use 100ft of glow stick for a super sweet temporary rope light for a backyard party. Your choice.
Either way, be smart, be careful, use adequate precautions, and if after reading the instructions first you have no clue what you’re doing, then DON’T DO IT.
If you’re brave enough to try this, you can find the tutorial for DIY glow sticks here.
Hydrogen Peroxide For Other Uses
1. Faster Seed Germination Hack
Found on Balcony Garden Web
Hydrogen peroxide in your garden? Yes! hydrogen peroxide aerates the soil and it puts oxygen into the soil according to Balcony Garden Web.
All things that will help speed up the germination process and get your seeds to grow faster. Again, you buy products at the store to do similar things, but how safe are they? What chemicals are in those products?
2. Keep Your Garden Clean & Plants Healthier
Did you know how many bacteria, insects, fungi, and more live in the soil in your garden and flower pots? Use hydrogen peroxide to clean and sanitize your tools between uses so you aren’t harboring stowaways from one garden bed to the next!
3. Boost Plant Growth…Or Kill Weeds
In the right amounts, and with the right concentration (3%), you can use diluted hydrogen peroxide to prevent pests on your plants or help encourage good root growth.
If you use 10% or higher concentrations, however, you’ll be mixing yourself a weed killer.
Read the labels carefully, and use this article to determine the right mixes for your needs.
BONUS: 15 Household Uses For Hydrogen Peroxide
Found on Easy Healthy Options
We always like to include a fun bonus in our posts. One of the hacks that I often use hydrogen peroxide is orally. I use it as a teeth whitener and as a mouthwash rinse. Give it a try!
Hydrogen peroxide is a common household item that has way more uses than you would normally think. Hopefully, this article gave you great hacks to try in your own home. Buy a cheap bottle or two and get hacking!
Great Article
Vinegar+ hydrogen peroxide = a dangerous compound
You warn not to mix it with vinegar, yet one of the hacks is to mix it with vinegar to clean.
Thank you for all the great tips for using peroxide.
Our pleasure!
I appreciate these tips, but where can I find the measurements (ex., 1 cup. 6 teaspoons, 12 tablespoons) and directions (ex., leave in place for 5 hours, let it soak overnight)
Thank you.