10 Unique Ways You Probably Didn’t Know You Could Put Your Butter To Good Use

When you think of butter, you probably don't think of anything else other than making your favorite pastries or savory dishes. With the compilation of butter hacks below, you won't be able to look at the common staple the same again!

1. Keep Your Pots From Boiling Over

We can all relate to the frustration that comes with discovering that your pasta or rice has boiled over onto the gas stove or counter top creating a huge mess. You don't know it yet but a simple amount of butter can help you avoid this. All you have to do to keep the boiling water from spilling over next time is add half a tablespoon of butter or rub the butter around the top of the pot.

2. Fix A Squeaky Door

This sounds pretty understandable considering that butter itself is a good lubricant. It may be astonishing but butter actually makes a very effective substitute for WD-40 when you’re looking to take the squeak out of a noisy door. To use, simply rub the butter on the door hinge to lubricate the metal and eliminate the frustrating squeak.

3. Upgrade Your Coffee

This is a particularly extraordinary use for butter. It may sound strange but some coffee lovers add butter to their daily cup instead of the typical milk or cream. This is especially common among people who are on a keto diet, which promotes the consumption of high-fat, low-carb dishes. Not every nutritionist approves of this coffee and butter combo but most say the fats in the butter can actually help keep you satisfied for longer.

4. Cut Sticky Foods Easy

Another way to exploit the potent lubrication property of butter is using it to promote easy slicing of sticky foods like dates, figs, or marshmallows. Simply rub some butter on the blades of the knife before cutting the foods to prevent the excessive stickiness.

5. Keep Your Cheese From Getting Moldy

This trick will help your semi-hard cheese remain fresh for even longer than usual. It prevents mold growth or hardening along the cut edge of the cheese which may grow fast to ruin the remaining parts of the cheese. So, every time you use the cheese, coat the cut edge with butter, rewrap it and then return it to your refrigerator.

6. Remove Sap From Skin

Sap is very tough to get off of skin because of its extreme stickiness but a moderate amount of butter can get rid of that quickly. Just rub the butter on your hand and the gunky black sap will wash right off with soap and water.

7. Ease The Swallowing Of Medicine

If you have a hard time swallowing pills, especially large ones, coat them lightly with butter before swallowing. This will help the pill slide down your throat easily and quickly.

Bonus points since some drugs assimilate even faster in fat!

8. Make Ghee

Ghee is basically butter that has been clarified, so that only the pure butterfat remains. Ghee also doesn't have to be kept in the refrigerator since the milk solids have been removed. Find a good ghee recipe and you'll have the best butter substitute for slow-cooking recipes and high-heat dishes, since it has a higher smoke point than regular butter or cooking oils.

9. Get Gum Out Of Hair

Before taking out scissors to cut out a chunk of your hair that's stuck with gum, try rubbing some butter into the gum! Wait a little while to let the butter absorb into the hair, and then  try to slide the gum out.

10. Remove Stubborn Rings

Last but not least is another butter hack that makes use of its lubrication properties. Got the wrong ring size? Or perhaps your old rings just won't fit any more? Try coating the ring with butter before sliding it on or off your finger.

There you have ten unusual but undoubtedly genius ways to use butter around your home. Our favorite will have to be being able to keep pots from boiling over. Indeed, there's nothing more frustrating than sighting the huge mess from pasta water spilled all over a gas stove!

Do you have a go-to butter hack you use frequently?