What can be watered down?

Austin_Allegro · 25 February 2005 at 11:57AM

I reckon a lot of stuff is more concentrated than it needs be, and that you can get away with watering it down. Stuff I've found to work is:

Spray on starch. I've found mixing this half and half with water works just as well, unless you want really stiff clothes.

Fruit juice. Adding about 25% water seems to work ok, especially soda water if you have a soda syphon. However, this is probably only worth it for the more expensive stuff.

Milk. If you have full fat milk and are running out, you can stretch it by adding up to 50% water - it seems to taste no different from skimmed milk that way.

Any more? Or is this just too stingy for words....

Lillibet_2 · 25 February 2005 at 12:20PM

I water down value fruit jucie, I reckon I can get an extra (largish) glass per carton this way, so don't feel stingly for watering down the good stuff Austin! I dilute cream with a little skim milk but I only have skim milk so no diluting that any further.

I also water down shampoo about 50-50, bubble bath about 25-50 (makes it disperse better in the running water, otherwise I find un-bubbled globs of it at the bottom of the bath), I use cheap diluted bubble bath as liquid soap, I dilute thin bleach 50-50 with water & put in a spray bottle for quick bathroom cleaning, I dilute kitchen cleaner about 50-30 with water, I buy un-concentrated washing up liquid ('cos we all use the same amount regardless of whether it's concentrated or not so it's just a marketing con in my opinion) & still dilute it with 25% water (otherwise same result as bubble bath).

Can't think of anythign else off the top of my head but I'm sure there must be, I'm always reaching for a funnel!

Penny-Wise_4 · 25 February 2005 at 1:05PM

When I get to the end of a bottle of shampoo/conditioner/shower gel/bubble bath and just can’t squeeze any more out I have always put a little water in and shaken the bottle get every last bit out.

A couple of weeks ago I thought if it works that well watered down at the end of the bottle why not water down the whole bottle?

So now I do about 50/50 shampoo, etc to water.

Squidgy · 25 February 2005 at 1:30PM

Often do fabric softner. I don't usually do the whole bottle, but I reckon you could do it 50/50. Or do what someone else does on here and put it in a spray bottle with water and spray it on your clothes afterwards

Austin_Allegro · 25 February 2005 at 3:06PM

Lilibet I will try diluting the value orange juice! I have tried using soda water which is very nice, but at 40p a litre in my soda syphon, it costs more than the juice!

I dilute bleach but I use the Sainsbury's thick bleach at 67p a litre. I haven't worked out the proportions but I think you can make it cost less than the economy thin bleach that way - and it saves waste and space on bottles as well.

MATH · 25 February 2005 at 5:49PM

Dilute shampoo and shower gel as a matter of course and always dilute full fat milk when making sauces and batters (never buy skimmed or semi cos it's foul IMO) Most jar cook-in sauces can stand a bit of extra liquid as well

elona · 25 February 2005 at 6:25PM

If I have any little bits of shampoo or shower gel left in the bottle then I take it to the kitchen- dilute it and use on collar and cuffs to remove stains.

(tip from the american Queen of clean)

Washing up liquid - put half in an empty bottle and fill to top with water and do same for other bottle. Result two bottles for price of one.

Squidgy · 25 February 2005 at 10:57PM

Lillibet wrote:

I water down value fruit jucie, I reckon I can get an extra (largish) glass per carton this way, so don't feel stingly for watering down the good stuff Austin!

I don't water down juice for me and hubby, but I do for my baby girl (I think they say pure juice is to strong for them). I would probably dilute one part juice to five parts water for her.

crana999 · 25 February 2005 at 11:05PM

I dilute juice too about 1/2 and 1/2. I think it tastes much more refreshing, and it's less sugar (even fruit sugar) for the same amount of drink. I don't really like pure juice anymore, it's just too sweet and concentrated.

Curry_Queen · 2 March 2005 at 5:11PM

I read this the other day and what immediately sprang to mind was washing-up liquid! I always use the concentrated stuff but realised I was still giving the bottle a good ole squeeze like usual and probably using far more than I need, so as the bottle was almost empty anyway I decided to add equal amount of water to it and give it a try. Gave the same squeeze as usual and found the water to still be as soapy as before!

Today the bottle ran out so rather than chuck it out as usual I poured half the new bottle into it and topped them both up with water, so I got a bottle for free!

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What can be watered down?

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