12 What else can I do with Kool-Aid?
Description
This article is from the Kool-Aid FAQ, by Paul and Bess Dawson-Schmidt dawsons@visi.com with numerous contributions by others.
12 What else can I do with Kool-Aid?
Kool Klothes Dye: Jill Boughey (athene@uclink4.berkeley.edu)
I tye-dyed a large sheet with several flavors of koolaid for a wonderful
pattern of colors which I proudly display on my wall. Two years after
dying, the sheet still faintly smells of that wonderful koolaid-touch.
1) Sheets good for dyeing can be found cheaply at your local thrift
stores, they always have extra bed sheets for only a few bucks, and the
lighter the color the sheet, the more koolaid you will see. I suggest
an un-patterned, white or light pastel sheet.
2) Especially if your sheet is white, it is recommended that you base-dye
the sheet with either yellow (my favorite) or a VERY DILUTED
concentration of another color dye. Let the sheet saturate itself in
the color, and then squeeze the extra water out.
3) Grasp a place on your sheet where you want to be the center of the dye.
(You can have more than one center) pull it into a type of rope,
twisting and knotting that section up until it has a lot of wrinkles.
Bind it tightly into this shape with a rubber band. Do the same to
other areas, until you have the sheet pretty darn twisted up. Start
with your lighter colors of koolaid first, dipping more of your knot
into the dye and letting it sit long enough for the dye to move it's
way into the fabric, but not to completely saturate it. Squeeze the
fabric to get rid of extra water, then dip less of it into a darker
color. Repeat as desired all over the different knotted sections.
4) Let the knots stay in for a few hours, maybe overnight, then unwrap the
still-wet sheet and lay it on the grass. THE DYE WILL RUN until the
sheet dries, so no carpet or tables here! I have never washed my sheet,
so I'm not sure how permanent the dye is in water, but for a
great-smelling, beautiful wall covering, this is the way to go.
5) Two to Three packets of Koolaid recommended for each regular sized
bowls of dye.
6) Have fun! (Use baking powder to remove any color from the hands.
Don't use Tupperware bowls for the dye, they will absorb the color!)
Kool-Aid Play Dough: (Ellen Davis' WWW page)
1 cup flour 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 package unsweetened Kool-Aid 1/4 cup salt
2 tablespoons cream of tartar 1 cup water
Mix flour, salt, cream of tartar and Kool-Aid in a medium pot
Add water and oil. Stir over medium heat 3 to 5 minutes. When
mixture forms a ball in pot, remove. Knead until smooth. Put in
a plastic bag and refrigerate.
Kool Sugar Rush: Jill Boughey (athene@uclink4.berkeley.edu)
For that great-tasting sugar rush, try a packet of koolaid and a cup or
more of sugar (depending on how much tartness you like) in a sealed
plastic baggie for a great sugar rush that turns your tongue red (or
purple, or blue) and gets you really hyped for a party. Really popular
among high school and junior high kids! Probably not mother-approved.
Dyeing Wool: Robert Matthews
What I use KA for, like many of my fellow knitters, is dyeing wool. It
makes a really great dye, with bright colors that hang around, as long
as you don't leave them lying in the sun for a long time. Grape is the
best; it gives a brilliant, fresh-looking purple that ordinary chemical
dyes just can't seem to manage.
Sharon (huston@why.net) has suggested The Knitting Network's site:
http://www.fearless.net/knit/dyeing.html
It is a good place to get information on dyeing all sorts of fibers with
Kool-Aid.
Dyeing Fish: Steve Schaefer (schaef@interpac.net)
Many years ago I fished commercially for salmon in Alaska. King Salmon
have two flesh colors, a deep orange and quite rarely white. The two
flesh colors tasted the same but we received only a fraction of the
price for the white fleshed variety. So a friend found that he could dye
the incision on the belly of the white fleshed fish to a deep orange
color (with orange Kool-Aid of course) thereby increasing the value of
his catch.
Bubbling Kool-Aid: The Merry Prankster
Here is something neat-o to try with Kool-Aid. Take any flavor of
Kool-Aid and put it in a clear glass with some dry ice. It looks really
swanky. It bubbles and make a little fog. So try it. Dry ice isn't too
expensive. Especially if you share it with a bunch of people!!!!!!!
Hot Kool-Aid: Keith (kgunders@isd.net)
Have you ever tried HOT Kool-Aid? Try it before you dismiss it. It's
better than you might think. Just put a cup in the microwave for about 2
minutes (depending on microwave). The reds seem to taste best hot, but
others aren't too bad either.
Kool-paint: (tba@vcn.bc.ca)
Put a packet of Kool-Aid in a bowl and then put in just enough water to
dissolve it and you can use it as a kool paint. I have some interesting
designs painted on my walls. Now I can look at Kool-Aid anytime I want!
Woo!
Industrial Uses of Kool-Aid: Jim Dukat (jimduk@sierra.net)
I have another unusual use for Kool-Aid. I work as an engineer on US
flag merchant ships. We use Kool-Aid mixed into the control water system
of the auto-shooting fuel purification centrifuges. It is a cheap,
excellent, mild acid that helps to keep scale from forming in the
solenoid valves and control orifices. The consensus is that Grape works
best.
Along similar lines - I have also seen Kool-Aid used in ultraviolet
water purifiers aboard ships to keep scale off the internal quartz
tubes. It is usually charged into the offline standby unit.
Dishwasher Cleaner: Bobby KY (bobbyky@aol.com)
I heard a few years ago from a gal who manages an apartment complex,
that they occasionally use orange Kool-Aid to clean the apartment
dishwashers. You know how hard water stains and soap gunk can accumulate
in the dishwasher? She suggested that a package or 2 run through the
regular long wash cycle will make the inside of the washer sparkling
clean. The Citric Acid helps break down the stains.
Removing rust and chlorine: (monkey1@kode.net)
As far as uses for KA go, my family has used Lemon KA since I was a kid
in the shower. It removes that funky green tint from chlorine in pools,
and also will get rid of rust discoloration if your well water is less
than perfect. You only need a little bit of the KA, and mix it with some
shampoo in your hand. Shampoo it into your hair, then rinse. I sometimes
let it sit on my hair before rinsing to give it time to work, and I also
re-wash my hair with plain shampoo to get everything out. We keep a
packet of Lemon KA in the shower if we are swimming a lot.
Just one note though: it is the citric acid in the KA that makes it
work, and the same thing that can make your eyes & scalp sting. Just
try not to get too much in your eyes, and it will go away as soon as
you rinse.
Shower Head/Kool-Aid Prank: (D. Rogers' Homepage)
This is a simple prank. All you have to do is mix up a batch of
Kool-Aid, remove the shower head from your shower and poor in the
Kool-Aid into the shower head. NOTE: Make sure you are not the next
one to take a shower.
Removing Kool-Aid Stains: Jenbib & momsonline.com
To remove Kool-Aid stains from the counter top, scrub the stains with
baking soda and/or automatic dishwashing detergent.
Erasing the Kool-Aid Mustache: Taylor3 & momsonline.com
A dab of toothpaste on a wet washcloth will remove the "Kool-Aid
mustache" every time.
Dyeing Wooden Photo Frames: Pinja (pinja@snafu.muncca.fi)
---------------------------
I just wanted to share this with everyone :)
Apart from drinking Kool-Aid (which I, nowadays, enjoy totally
unsweetened!), I have been dyeing wooden photo frames with Kool-Aid!
I just make extra strong Kool-Aid in a bowl and put the frames in it,
and let them "steep" overnight. So far the results have been great!
I have used strawberry and tropical punch both. Strawberry gave the
frames nice red color but tropical punch gave pinkish color. I wonder
what green or blue Kool-Aid would look like.
Oh yes, one more thing - I forgot to put the lid over the bowl and the
result? Our kitchen countertop is full of little paw marks.
Apparently, one of my cats had dipped his paw into Kool-Aid and walked
around sigh.
Thank God for baking soda! :-)
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