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Mix wood ashes into your compost in small quantities. They will enrich it. But don’t add too much so as not to make it too acidic. Your compost will love this!
4. As fertilizer for your lawn
Lawns love ashes which are rich in nutrients. Wood ashes contain 10 to 25% calcium, 1 to 4% magnesium, 5 to 15% potassium and 1 to 3% phosphorus. A perfect cocktail! Sprinkle it directly on the lawn in small quantities.
5. As a multi-purpose cleaner
Mix ashes with water to form a paste. With a sponge, you can scrub dirty dishes and clean the work surface. You can also rub this paste on the glass of your wood stove or the insert of your fireplace. It also works for the marks left by glasses on wooden furniture. You can also use this paste to polish and shine silver objects. Be careful, this mixture is abrasive. So use it with caution and remember to wear protective gloves. The effects of ash on the skin can be irritating.
6. As a fertilizer for tomatoes
Is wood ash good for tomatoes? The ash is rich in potash, calcium and silica. And the tomato plants love it! Put a little ash at their feet to help them grow. Plants, like black nightshade, also like it.
7. Against ice
Is it sliding in front of your house because of the ice? Put a little ash on these slippery passages. It doesn’t take much for it to be effective and to prevent a fall. Very practical if you have steps in front of the door.
8. To melt snow quickly
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Ash is also very effective in melting ice quickly. For what ? Because ash is naturally alkaline, which melts snow. And if there is a ray of sunlight outside, the dark color of the ash generates even more heat, which melts the ice even faster. Besides, I tested this tip this winter on my driveway and it worked really well.
9. Against the proliferation of algae
The ash prevents algae from growing in the water. You don’t need to use a lot to make it work. A simple tablespoon of ashes for 3800 liters of water is enough! Very useful when you have to take care of a body of water or a pond in the garden.
10. To eliminate odors
To remove bad odors from the shoe closet, put ash in a cloth or an old T-shirt. Place this bundle of ashes near the shoes. To remove bad odors from your dog, sprinkle his coat with ashes then brush him. No more bad odors, especially if you wash it with a special shampoo before.
11. To do laundry the old-fashioned way
You can also make laundry with ashes. It’s a bit long, but it’s possible! The ancients used carya ash. Find out how to do it here.
12. To care for fruit trees
Sprinkle ash around your fruit trees: apricots, peaches, cherries… stone fruits love it! Just like apples which suffer from bitter spots, a problem which concerns certain varieties notably Bramleys.
13. To repel aphids
When you have a nasty infestation of aphids or other crawling insects, thoroughly wet your plants and sprinkle them completely with sifted ash. Leave on overnight and rinse in the morning. All the insects will be dead or gone. It works very well on willow and tomatoes.
14. To chase away fleas and ticks
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You can also use wood ashes to prevent an infestation of fleas and ticks or to chase them away and avoid bites. Sprinkle ash over the area requiring treatment. The critters won’t last forever! I regularly spread it on the pieces of wood that I store behind my house. And I already treated the yard because of the fleas that had infested my poor dogs!
Our reader’s bonus tip
Jocelyne A big thank you to Jocelyne who was kind enough to share with us her tip for recycling wood ashes.
She uses them to remove traces of hair dye left on the skin:
“When I dye my hair and there are traces left on my skin after rinsing, I remove them with ash.
I wet a corner of a cloth, dip it in ash and rub the marks on the skin. I rinse and there are no more traces. It works where nothing else does.”
