Don’t toss your banana peels — you can still use them for a myriad of things. Here you can read about some surprising banana peel uses, from making plant fertilizer to skincare.
Bananas are often heavily treated with pesticides. That’s why you should make sure to always buy organic bananas, which contain little to no residue from pesticides. This is especially important if you want to use the peel because that’s where most of the pesticides are found.
Banana Peels for Plants: Making Fertilizer
Banana peels make excellent fertilizer for your garden. Over 10 percent of the peel consists of minerals such as potassium, magnesium, and calcium. The peel also contains some nitrogen and sulfur, which are beneficial for many plants. Here’s how to do it:
- Chop the banana peel into little pieces so that it will degrade more quickly later on.
- Next, place the pieces out in the sun to dry or scatter them right away.
- It’s best if you push the peel into the soil and spread it between the plant’s roots. This little banana peel treatment is especially beneficial to perennial plants and flowers, such as roses.
- You should use about 3.5 ounces of banana peel per plant – but don’t worry, it’s almost impossible to overfertilize.
Dusting Your Plants
If you don’t have a garden, you can still make great use of banana peels for your indoor plants. Banana peels bind dust, so they are great for treating your indoor plants in winter.
- Rub the inside of the banana peel (the side where the pulp is) against the plant’s leaves.
- The dust will cling to the sticky inner side of the peel.
- As an added bonus, using banana peel in this way gives your plant a new glow and will keep dust from collecting on the leaves as quickly.
Tip: If you chop the banana peel into small pieces and stick them into your flower pots, you will also prevent aphids and other pests from infesting your plants.
How to Polish Leather Using Banana Peel
- Rub the inner side of the banana peel against the leather.
- Afterwards use a dry cloth to polish the spot you used the banana peel on.
- You’re all done! The leather should look nice and polished.
By the way, you can use banana peels to polish other materials as well – try silver, chrome or stainless steel, for example.
Using Banana Peel to Whiten Your Teeth
Banana peel can be used as a natural kind of bleach that is less aggressive than citric acid, for instance. You’ll see that it is a great way to brighten up your teeth naturally:
- Rub the inside of a banana peel on your teeth for about two minutes daily.
- After about 14 days your teeth will look considerably lighter.
- This method also helps remove dark stains from your teeth.
Banana Peels for Skin Care
If you’re suffering from acne or have skin blemishes, you should definitely try making banana peels part of your skin care routine. Not only do they contain lots of minerals like zinc and iron but also many vitamins and antioxidants. The starch contained in the banana peel will bind the oil that is clogging your pores.
- Wash your face, then dry it off.
- Rub the banana peel on the affected areas or zits for several minutes before you go to bed.
- You can wash off any banana residue the next morning.
For best results, remember to use bananas that are ripe and to treat your acne or skin blemishes for at least 14 days.
Beauty Treatment
There are even more banana peel uses for skin care.
- Anti-wrinkle effect: because banana peel contains antioxidants, it prevents your skin from premature aging. If you rub the inside of the peel on your face around your eyes and on your forehead, this can help tighten your skin.
- Fighting warts: The enzymes of the banana peel can help shrink warts naturally. Place a piece of banana peel on the wart and tape it on with a Band-Aid. After 7 to 10 days the wart will have receded. Make sure to change the banana peel every three days.
- Pain killer: The oil in the banana peel can sooth pain stemming from burns. Simply wrap the banana peel around the affected skin area.
Use Banana Peel to Ripen Avocados
We’ve probably all encountered this problem: you buy an avocado and it’s either overripe or literally rock solid. But not to worry, there’s a way in which you can help the ripening process of hard avocados along: bananas contains the ripening gas ethylene. That means you can ripen your avocados within 24 to 48 hours by simply placing banana peels next to them.
Did you know that you can also just eat banana peels instead of tossing them? Whether raw, frozen or tossed, check out our guide on what to look out for: Can You Eat Banana Peels? Learn more about how to avoid food waste in our gallery: 10 Pro Tips for Reducing Food Waste
This article was translated from German by Sharon Hodge. You can find the original here: Bananenschalen nicht wegwerfen: Dafür kannst du sie noch verwenden
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