Unexpected uses for everyday products

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- You may not be aware of this, but your kitchen cabinet is probably stuffed with all sorts of products that you could use for everyday tasks. Everything from Jell-O to Spam to peanut butter could be used to unclog drains or clean your bathroom tile, and save you money at the same time.

Joey Green has discovered hundreds of other little-known uses for well-known products.

• Slideshow: 'Wacky' uses for everyday products

Joey Green is an author whose books are about the products we use every day that can used for other things, some of them quite "wacky."

Green has recommended shaving with Jif peanut butter, polishing furniture with Spam, and using Cool Whip as a facial.

"If you want to remove scuff marks, from floors, all you need are some Wilson tennis balls," says Green. "Just take a tennis ball and rub the scuff mark. It comes right out."

Instead of getting down on your hands and knees, you can take a tennis ball and put it on the end of a broomstick, and you can use it like a giant pencil eraser to get rid of those scuff marks, says Green.

"If your tile or grout needs cleaning, all you need is some Gillette Foamy shaving cream. Just take the shaving cream and spray it on the walls," says Green. "This is a great thing for your kids to be doing. Just scrub with a sponge. Shaving cream is a condensed soap, so it does an amazing job cleaning the tiles."

Tang is a pretty good breakfast drink, but what else can it be used for?

"If your dishwasher isn't working, and you call the plumber to fix it, it's going to cost you something like $75 to $100 to fix that dishwasher," says Green. "If the plumber is kind, he'll tell you to go out and buy yourself some Tang, the breakfast-food drink mix, and just empty it into the receptacle dish of your dishwasher where you normally put the soap through the dishwasher, and then you just run it through your regular cycle of the dishwasher. The citric acid in the Tang will clean out all the soap scum from the pipes and tubes of your dishwasher. It will work like brand new. You won't have to call a plumber again."

If you've got a clogged-up drain and you don't want to call out an expensive plumber, just get yourself a box of Jell-O and some Heinz vinegar. When you mix the Jell-O, put in one cup of water and one cup of the Heinz vinegar. You then let it set.

When it's ready, you pour it down the drain. That way, the Jell-O will stay inside the pipe, giving the vinegar a chance to eat through the clog.

All this sounds wacky, but it works.

For more on Joey Green's wacky uses for everyday products: Joey Green's Wacky Uses

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