How to Use Pepper Around the House

Black pepper actually starts out as a red berry. It's dropped into boiling water where it shrivels and turns black. After that it's ground into the form with which we are most familiar. Don't limit the use of this ancient spice to your food. Pepper, black and red, is handy all around the house.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Plug a leaky radiator until the mechanic can tend to it. Pour 1/2 cup of ground black pepper straight into the radiator to temporarily stop the leak. Make sure the radiator is completely cool before removing the cap, and then do so with great caution.

2. Relieve congestion with red (cayenne) pepper. Sprinkle a little on food and breathe a bit easier.

3. Send ants packing from the kitchen. Sprinkle cayenne pepper along the backs of shelves and countertops where they like to travel. Treat entry points with a little pepper as well.

4. Banish bugs from the garden. Mix equal parts of black pepper and flour and sprinkle it around plants and seedlings.

5. Deter the deer from munching the garden. Fill a sprayer with two gallons of water and 1/2 cup of cayenne pepper. Shake well to mix, then liberally spray plants.

6. Encourage ants to relocate. Pour cayenne pepper down the hole of the ant hill as an eviction notice.

7. Keep colors bright in the laundry. Add a teaspoon of pepper to the wash cycle before adding the clothes to keep colors from fading and running.

Resources

• All about black pepper.

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