Wait! What? You read that right. Today, I’m going to show 10 ideas for for utilizing antacids tablets other than for heartburn. This product has a chemical composition that lends itself to fixing all sorts of problems about the house. After much research and many days of “experimenting”, I have compiled a list of “fixes” that are created by antacid tablets.
This product, which is made of calcium carbonate (CaCO3), is so versatile and prevalent in many of our everyday surroundings such as:
Agriculture β Soil Stabilization
Aluminum
Automotive
Building & Construction
Ceramics
Electrical & Electronics
Energy, Oil & Gas
Environmental
Foundry & Castings
Glass
Iron and Steel
Metallurgical
Paint & Coatings
Paper & Chemical
Pharmaceutical
Road Stabilization
Rubber & Plastics
Sugar
Water Treatment
Do you know calcium carbonate is found in disposable baby diapers? What about in concrete? This stuff is everywhere! Literally. Four percent of the earth’s crust is made from this beneficial substance. So, it makes sense that it can be used in a domestic setting with a slight bit of tweaking and elbow grease.
“Natural calcium carbonate rocks are found throughout the world, the most typical forms are marble, limestone and chalk.”-http://www.gccpresources.com/what-is-calcium-carbonate/
For many of the following uses I will refer to antacid powder. In order to turn tablets into powder, I placed a few tablets in a ziplock bag, sealed it, and used a rolling pin to crush the tablets into a powder. It is very easy to do and doesn’t take much effort.
1. Remove Tarnish on Silver
With a slight bit of effort, you can give some long forgotten piece of silver hearty cleaning and bring back a glorious shine.
Take for instance, this sugar bowl that sat in my garage for the last decade without any protection. It has become very tarnished and looks a mess!
For this fix, I combined:
3 tablespoons antacid powder
2 tablespoons water
I then created a paste and rubbed it all over the silver piece with a soft dishcloth. The tarnish instantly rubs off and the silver becomes bright and shiny again. I used water to rinse off any remaining paste and buffed the silver with a dry cloth. It was amazingly easy and super effective! Check out the before and after photos to see the wonderful transformation.
BeforeAfter
2. Wash Dishes in the Dishwasher
Have you ever finished loading the dishwasher and realized you have no more dish tabs? That happens to me all the time. It is so frustrating because I just want to finish job and start the machine but instead, it means another trip to the grocery store.
No worries! Just add:
1 tablespoon antacid powder
2-3 drops liquid dish soap
1 tablespoon table salt
Add these three ingredients to the dishwasher soap repository and run your dishwasher as normal. Your dishes will be cleaned as normal and you will have a little extra time to get to the store to buy some new dish tabs.
3. Make Your Own Molded Chalk
Need teacher gifts or stocking stuffers for kids? What about chalk in their favorite shapes? Calcium carbonate is what chalk is made out of and therefore, another use for antacids.
To make my molded chalk, I made an antacid paste with water and added food coloring and flour. I then placed the mixture in a silicone mold and let it dry overnight. I removed it from the mold and voila! Death Vader shaped chalk! So cool!
For the paste:
3 tablespoons antacid powder
1 1/2 teaspoons all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons water
2-3 drops food coloring
4. Grow Giant Tomato Plants
Did you know that eggshells are made completely of calcium carbonate? That’s right! How many times have you read to add eggshells to the hole before you bury your tomato plants? Tomatoes love calcium and eggshells are a cheap easily obtainable source.
For the same reason, antacids are an amazing addition to your tomatoes’ soil. You don’t even have to make a powder first, just toss in 2-3 antacid tablets in the hole that you prepare for your plant. Bury the plant as usual, and you are on your way to a marvelous bumper crop.
5. Make Your Own Chalk Paint
Well, it makes sense. If you can use antacids to make molded chalk, you can use it to make chalk paint. It’s so popular right now and such a good “fixer” for something old that needs a bit of updating.
For this project, I went to Home Depot and purchased a 50 cent jar of “oops” paint. It was a sample container that only had about a cup of paint in it. It looked like someone changed their mind about the color and decided not to purchase it. Their loss was my gain. It was perfect for my small project: I just wanted to repaint a wooden picture frame that had a shabby chic finish. I even liked the color; it was a very vintage blue that would look really great as a chalk paint. Here’s how I made the paint:
To make your own chalk paint, combine and mix thoroughly:
1/3 cup antacid powder crushed very finely (you don’t want lumps in your paint)
1/3 cup cool water
1 cup latex paint
To use: paint as usual.
I loved the final outcome. It took two coats but I was able to achieve the lovely chalk paint look without the expensive price tag.
SuppliesBeforeAfter One Coat of DIY Chalk PaintAfter second coat of chalk paint: much better!
6. Create Your Own Toothpaste
Want to know exactly what’s in your toothpaste? Make it yourself and take comfort in the recipe. You can even choose your own flavors! Neato! It’s easy to do and comes together in a flash!
Here’s what you need:
3 tablespoons antacid powder*
4 tablespoons coconut oil
20 drops peppermint essential oil (food grade), (or flavor of your choice)
Use this in combination with a fluoride mouthwash and your smile will be picture perfect!
*some antacids are flavored therefore, you may not need flavoring or you may want to purchase unflavored antacids so that you can create your own wonderful tasting toothpaste
7. Make Acid Free Paper
Why would you want acid free paper? Easy! Acid in paper causes it to turn yellow as it ages. It makes the paper unsuitable for scrapbooking and photos or anything else that you want to stand up to the test of time.
By reusing some old paper, we are recycling and creating something new out of something old. Best of all, the new paper won’t change colors over time.
Here’s what you need:
Blender
Old paper like newspapers
Liquid starch*
Antacid powder
Cheesecloth
White felt
Water
Cookie sheets
Wax paper
*You can make your own liquid starch by using water and cornstarch. Mix 2 1/2 cups tap water with 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch in a small saucepan. Break up any lumps. Making a slurry first will help to reduce lumps. Boil for 1 minute. Let cool and use as intended.
Directions:
1. Add 3 cups of torn up paper to your blender. Shredded paper is a great choice for this project. Add enough water to cover the paper. Blend on the lowest setting and work up to the actual “blend” setting.
2. Add 1 teaspoon of liquid starch and 1 teaspoon of antacid powder to the pulp mixture. Blend again until incorporated.
3. Lay cheesecloth in a colander over the sink. Pour pulp mixture into cheesecloth and allow to drain for 10 minutes.
4. Gather the cheesecloth into a bundle and squeeze out as much water as you can.
5. Prepare a cookie sheet by laying out a sheet of felt. Put pulp on felt and spread out into a square or a rectangle. Lay a piece of wax paper on top and then another cookie sheet.
6. Press down hard on the cookie sheet and then remove the cookie sheet and the wax paper.
7. Allow the pulp to dry completely and peel off felt. Woo hoo! You now have acid free paper!
Tear pieces of paper and place in the blender.Press pulp between wax and felt sheets.Allow pulp to air dry.
8. Calcium Fortified Artesian Bread
Don’t like or can’t tolerate milk? No worries! You can get your calcium from your bread. With this easy recipe, you can create calcium fortified bread with your favorite seasonings. Ever noticed that antacids are sold as calcium supplements? Let’s put that feature to good use. Here’s how:
Ingredients:
1 cup warm water (110 degrees Fahrenheit)
1 teaspoon yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon dried seasonings of your choice (I used Italian seasoning but you could use basil, oregano, garlic, onion, etc.)
2 teaspoons antacid powder
2 tablespoons olive oil
Directions:
1. In a Dutch oven, sprinkle about 1 tablespoon of all purpose flour on the bottom. Set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, add water, yeast and sugar. Allow mixture to stand for 5 minutes so that the yeast can bloom. You should see bubbles on the surface.
3. In a medium bowl, combine salt, flour, seasoning, and the antacid powder. Stir thoroughly.
4. Add flour mixture to water mixture and run mixer on low until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
5. Coat dough in olive oil and place in prepared Dutch oven. Cover and keep in a warm place for 6-8 hours or even overnight. Dough should double in size.
Dough before proofing.Dough after proofing.
6. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Place cover on Dutch oven a place on middle rack of oven. Bake for 30 minutes.
7. Remove cover and bake for 15-20 minutes more. Bread should be golden brown.
Hot out of the Oven: Delicious!
9. DIY Plaster of Paris for Filling Holes in the Wall
This fix is super neat. Since calcium carbonate is the ingredient of antacids and plaster of Paris has lime in it, I thought it would be interesting to see if I could make my own version.
This is not an exact duplicate but it certainly serves my purpose and fixed the hole in the wall. It took longer (about an hour in total) to dry than traditional plaster of Paris. But, it was easily sanded and and paintable.
For a hole filler, use 2 parts antacid powder and 1 part Elmer’s School Glue. For mine, I mixed:
2 teaspoons antacid powder
1 teaspoon Elmer’s School Glue.
The hole was about a 1/2 inch in length so I didn’t need a bunch. If the hole was bigger, I might have used less glue and more powder to create a more viscous paste. (Big holes need a specialty tape or screen for repairs.)
If I was trying to make molds of my child’s handprint (everybody remember that craft?), I would also increase the viscosity of the paste by using a 3:1 ratio (antacid powder/glue).
Before: Hole in the WallFilling the Hole
After Sanding but before RepaintingI love the end result, I was able to replicate the existing wall texture with the filling. It was easily painted (not shown) and looked fantastic!
10. Remove Grease from your Shirt
Have you ever had a favorite shirt and been sadly disappointed to find it with a huge grease stain? Usually, that means the end of your beloved garment.
Fret no more! Just sprinkle some antacid powder on the fabric and wait about two hours while the super absorbing abilities of antacids go to work.
Launder as usual and bam! That favorite shirt has been returned to its former glory.
Prepare to smile as you remove your newly rejuvenated shirt from the laundry. Guess what? It also works on suede! Wow! Just wow!
Take a look at my results:
BeforeShirt Sitting with Antacid PowderAfter
There you have it, friends. Who would have thought that a simple household item could be so beneficial in so many ways. I wanted to bring something to the table that the majority of readers could benefit from. I think alternate uses for antacid tablets offers something for everyone.
There are countless other uses for antacid tablets but there’s really too much for one post. I hoped I hit on the ones that would benefit the most readers. These were also the ones that I could use most at my house.
If you enjoyed my post, great! I’m glad that you took the time to read my ideas. Thank you very much for your interest.
Hi! My name is Jennifer and I love to bake! Trained as a biologist, my real passion is in creating recipes of all sorts to excite my family and yours.
View all posts by bakingintheburbs
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13 thoughts on “10 Alternative Uses for Antacids”
Wow, this is amazing! You are brilliant my friend!
Thatβs very kind of you, John. I just love to find out how things work and why. And, I love to share information.
Thank you for always reading my posts, whatever they may hold. Lol!
Thank you so much, Betsy. They were a little different than my usual posts. I used them for a couple of contests but I thought the information should be shared on my blog as well. Itβs been very interesting for me to put them together and I really appreciate that you like them.
Wow, this is amazing! You are brilliant my friend!
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Thatβs very kind of you, John. I just love to find out how things work and why. And, I love to share information.
Thank you for always reading my posts, whatever they may hold. Lol!
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Your so welcome Jennifer! ππ»π
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Very scientific! Great post!
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I made this list for a contest. If you liked this type of post, check out more ideas at:
https://www.instructables.com/contest/fixit/
Thank you very much!!!π
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I’m going to repair the holes in my bathroom wall where we replaced fixtures! Thanks Jennifer!!! π
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If you get the mint flavored antacids, then you will have mint scented filler. Perfect for a bathroom! Lol thanks for reading my post, Donna.π
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great points to note !
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Do you ever see those life hacks on Pinterest? I love those things. This was kind of like my own version. Lol thanks for reading my post.π
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I love all of the great tips and ideas!
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Iβm happy that you liked my post. Thank you for reading and commenting.
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I’ve been loving your latest posts… they have been such interesting reads π I’m learning a lot!
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Thank you so much, Betsy. They were a little different than my usual posts. I used them for a couple of contests but I thought the information should be shared on my blog as well. Itβs been very interesting for me to put them together and I really appreciate that you like them.
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