Anyone who’s ever eaten a Bannisters’ Farm Ready Baked Potato will know that baking is by far the best thing you can do with a spud but apparently, there are other uses too. And none of them involve eating!

While we recover from the shock of it all – here are five domestic uses for the potato that you may or may not know…

• Bring a shine to your silverware – next time you’re boiling some spuds, take care to reserve the boiled water. Allow to cool before soaking your silverware for about an hour and it’ll be shiny enough to see your face in.

• Soothe tired puffy eyes – wash, peel and dry a potato, finely grate and make into a poultice by wrapping the pulp in a clean cloth. Place on your eyelids for 15 minutes. The starch in potatoes acts as an anti-inflammatory, which will ease irritated eyes.

• Ease minor burns – simply touch a minor burn with a slice of cut potato, and it will soothe it and ease the sting.

• Remove salt from soup – if you find you’ve over-salted your soup, here’s a handy tip to remedy the situation. For a 2-3 litre soup or stock add four medium-sized fresh potatoes, peeled and quartered, to the top of the pan. Simmer the liquid for 15-30 minutes until the salty flavour is reduced. You may need to add more liquid to make up for the amount absorbed by the potato.

• Remove berry stains – remove unsightly berry stains from your hands by rubbing a piece of raw, cut potato on the affected area.

Well who’d have thought it? We’d love to know if you’ve tried any of these and whether they actually work. And if you know of any other uses for potatoes, please share them with us.

Sources: http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/family/home-remedies-for-puffy-eyes1.htm

http://gomestic.com/homemaking/10-extraordinarily-different-uses-for-potatoes/

http://gomestic.com/homemaking/12-amazing-uses-of-potato/

http://www.livestrong.com/article/280411-how-to-remove-too-much-salt-from-soup/