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I use stale bread to clean my spice grinder. Sea salt to clean my self grinding coffee maker. Ketchup to clean copper. Lemon juice and salt to clean wood cutting boards. Sugar and warm water paste to soften the heels of my feet in summer. A thinner scrub can be used on your face. Baking soda, salt and boiling water to clean drains. Pulverized oatmeal and warm water for itchy skin.

When I was a teenager in Denmark we used fresh yeast as a facial masque. We just mixed it with a little water to make a paste and applied it to clean skin, left it for twenty minutes and then washed it off. It really worked astonishingly well. It's been ten years since I last did it, but I've actually been meaning to try it again.

Let's see -- I wash my face with honey (and olive oil), clean the sink with lemons, clean the carpet and the laundry with vinegar, use avocado as a hair masque, and have used mayo to remove a ring that got stuck.

For years I used peanut butter to remove chewing gum from kids' (and the dog's) hair.

In India a lot of women use turmeric to brighten complexions and add glow. Simply make a paste out of turmeric and water and apply to your face, wait until it hardens and then rinse it off with warm water. In Indian wedding celebrations they usually have a pre-wedding haldi (turmeric) ceremony where they bride's family applies the turmeric paste to face, arms, and legs to beautify her for the big day. It usually turns kinda rowdy and the bride-to-be ends up doused in the yellow paste.

A few more via a Mennonite cookbook

play dough using salt, flour, oil & coloring
finger paints using cornstarch & coloring
Old Time Mustard Plaster for chest congestion :)
soap bubbles which includes sugar
Sugar Starch to starch crocheted doilies
after grating cheese, grate a raw potato for easier grater clean-up
after grinding raw meat, run bread thru the grinder
non-stick spray can be used similar to WD-40
oil lids of honey or sticky jars for ease of opening next time
baking soda or flour thrown on a grease fire

Whew....non-food for thought!

I have beat up wood floors and I use vinegar/olive oil to clean and make them shiny (the shine lasts a few weeks and gets rid of the water stains that the previous owner left behind.) Vinegar and hot water works wonders on my bathroom floor tiles too.

White vinegar instead of fabric softener. And no, my clothes don't smell pickled.

I forgot about vinegar. I used to do that and it doesn't spot your clothes the fabric softener sometimes does.
Baking soda soak for stinky boys socks and sports clothes.

I clean out my meat grinder after use by running a slice or two of bread through it. Get's to all those nook and crannies water can't hit.

Veg oil on squaky hinges
Egg yolk facial masque (lots of viamin A)

I run vinegar through my coffee pot about once a month to clean out some of the tougher stains on the glass. No aftertaste in the coffee, although the kitchen is a little stinky for a couple of hours.

@lemons -- my mom used to do that all the time! (sans the dog) Unfortunately, I can still remember at least two trips to the hairdresser to cut out wads of gum. And when you're going from hair down to your waist to a boyish bob ... it makes you rethink gum.

@JEP -- we also made that play-dough, at home and once in kindergarten. I think it's required; my dad was amazed when I did it, but now when my third sister did it, it was old hat, haha.

I should also mention something my mother and I found out by accident -- remember those neon-colored Kool-Aid Bursts? I somehow once convinced my mother to finally buy a couple for my sister and me. Needless to say, one of us spilled one all over the kitchen floor, making a horrible sticky mess. But ... guess what bleaches white kitchen floor grout better than Clorox? *shudders* God only knows what it did to our stomachs.

Lemon juice and salt for cutting boards. Salt to clean the spice grinder. A mixture of white vinegar and water to sanitize my son's nasal wash bottle. Salt and water for his nasal wash bottle. Pulverized oatmeal in bathwater for itchy skin or a baking soda bath for chicken pox. When toilet training the boys many years ago, we used Cheerios in the toilet for them to "take aim and fire on," encouraging accuracy, therefore less clean up for me.

Hah, thanks carolrs, I'm headed over there to share right now.

i only use baking soda for cleaning the stove and bathtub instead of abrasive cleansers like comet, etc. it works just as well and doesn't leave grit. ditto distilled white vinegar. they even do a great job on the litterbox. i never buy chemical cleaning products anymore.

I love the potty training cheerio idea!