Plop, plop, fizz, fizz. While Alka-Seltzer certainly is a relief, it does much more than meet the eye (or stomach)! These handy dandy effervescent tablets can be used for simple science experiments, cleaning, or freshening up the fridge. Find out all the wonderfully wacky Alka Seltzer uses below!

12 Wacky Ways to Use Alka-Seltzer: A collage of Alka-Seltzer tablets used to unclog a sink, to make explosive paint bombs, to deodorize a fridge and to remove tarnish from metal jewelry

Alka-Seltzer Medicine Tablet

In case you’re wondering what Alka-Seltzer is, it is an effervescent antacid and pain reliever. This medication is used to treat symptoms caused by too much stomach acid such as heartburn, upset stomach, or acid indigestion. Alka-Seltzer is a combination of sodium bicarbonate, aspirin, and anhydrous citric acid.  It is the most common brand and many people are familiar with it. You should not use this medicine if you have had a history of stomach problems, severe stomach pain, following signs of stomach bleeding, stomach ulcers, serious illness, or allergic reactions to aspirin and or caffeine.

If you have any of the following health problems, high calcium levels (hypercalcemia), stomach or intestinal blockage, or kidney disease, seek medical advice before using this medication. It is not also recommended to take this medicine during the last 3 months of pregnancy or when breast-feeding. it may have serious effects on the unborn child.

Common side effects of Alka-Seltzer include constipation, gas, and burping. Other unlikely but serious side effects occur like loss of appetite, nausea, and episodes of vomit, body aches, arthritis, change of behavior, increased thirst or urination or diuretic, headache. If any of these effects last or get worse or in case of overdose, tell your pharmacist promptly or seek medical help. Severe allergic reaction to Alka-Seltzer is rare. However, seek immediate medical attention if you notice any new symptoms of severe allergic reactions like rash/hives/chicken pox, itching, or swelling of the face, tongue, and throat, severe dizziness, seizures, trouble breathing, or asthma, flu-like symptoms, high blood pressure, tarry stools.

Drug interactions for some inactive ingredients like dosage of other nsaids, anticoagulant heart disease tablets, ibuprofen, naproxen, a steroid drug. Watch out for possible warnings of complications and diseases like liver cirrhosis, an early sign of Reye or Reye’s syndrome, diabetes, and gout.

Other antacids that have similar ingredients are Medi-Seltzer and Neutralin. You can use these for these wacky hacks if you don’t have Alka-Seltzer on hand.

Easy Alka-Seltzer Uses in the Home

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1. Unclog A Sink Drain With This Relief Tablet

If your sink isn’t draining water as fast as you’d like, here’s a quick trick that will help. The citric acid and sodium bicarbonate found in the tablets causes a fizz when you drop the tablet in water. It is even more powerful when you use mild acid. Unclog a sink drain with ease! Drop four Alka-seltzer tablets in the drain, and chase them with a cup of vinegar. Wait for 10 minutes or so and pour boiling water to flush the pipes. Say bye to those nasty clogs and hello to a clean and fresh-smelling sink!

A photo of alka-seltzer tablets and a bottle of white vinegar beside a sink

2. Have A Blast With The Kids With These Fizzy Tablets

Make exploding paint bombs so your kids can create some cool artwork for your walls. You’ll want to take this project outdoors, though. These paint bombs create a mess you don’t want anywhere indoors.

You Will Need:

  • Film canisters
  • Alka-Seltzer Tablets
  • Water-based paint
  • Watercolor paper

How To Make These Explosive Beauties

  1. Pour some paint into a film canister and add half a tablet. Put the lid on the canister and shake it well.
  2. Place the paint bomb on your paper with the lid facing down
  3. Wait for the bomb to explode!
  4. Once the bomb explodes, remove the lid and wait for the paint to dry

A photo of paint splashed onto a watercolor paper using paint bombs made from alka-seltzer tablets

3. Keep Your Birdbaths Clean With This Simple Trick

Clean algae out of a birdbath with Alka Seltzer and copper. The sodium bicarbonate in the antacid helps remove the algae where the brush can’t reach while the copper is a natural algaecide and therefore helps to keep algae away from the birdbath. This home cleaning solution is considered much safer than using chlorox and other bleaching detergents because little or no harmful products to birds are found in the antacid. Hydrogen peroxide works in a pinch, too!

Here are more Hydrogen Peroxide Hacks!

A photo of a bird bath stained with algae. Alka-seltzer tablets, copper pipes and a brush are used to clean it

4. Remove Stubborn Toilet Rings With This Quick Hack

Dirty toilets are a turn-off. Whether in a restaurant or someone’s house, no one wants to use a gross-looking toilet. And you certainly don’t want to be the one with the icky toilet bowl. Get that annoying dirty ring out of your toilet by dropping two Alka Seltzer tablets in and letting them dissolve. (See more toilet-cleaning hacks!)

A photo of a clean toilet bowl after alka-seltzer has been used to remove a dirty toilet ring

5. Unbelievably Effective Vase Cleaner

Have some gunk in your favorite vase? Add some water and a couple of Alka Seltzer tablets to fizz away the funk. The baking soda helps loosen the residue. Have all your favorite vases clean again in no time!

A photo of alka-seltzer fizzing in water placed in a narrow vase to clean it

6. Make Metal Jewelry Shine With This Clever Tip

Tarnished jewelry is an absolute bummer. If you’re one who doesn’t wear jewelry much, your metallic trinkets are likely to tarnish without you noticing. Luckily, here’s a trick that will work even when you’re pressed for time. Toss your metal jewelry in the sink with a couple of Alka-Seltzer tablets to remove tarnish. Rinse and dry your ornaments and voila! Good as new.

A photo of metal jewelry soaked in water and an alka-seltzer tablet dropped in it to remove tarnish

7. Deodorize Your Fridge With This Effortless Solution

Bad smells in the fridge have a way of ruining your appetite and making the house STINK. No one wants that, especially during the festive season when food is in plenty.  Add Alka-Seltzer to a glass of water and put it in the fridge to get rid of bad smells. It soaks up the bad smells and leaves your fridge smelling nice and fresh.

An alka-seltzer tablet being dropped in a glass of water placed on a refrigerator rack to deodorize the fridge

8. Make A Cool DIY Lava Lamp With Alka Seltzer Tablets

Make your own lava lamp in an old plastic bottle. Who doesn’t love a bit of harmless science experimenting?

You Will Need:

  • A plastic bottle
  • Vegetable oil
  • Some water
  • Food coloring
  • Alka Seltzer Tablets

 How To Make This Cool Lava Lamp

  1. Fill the flask most of the way with vegetable oil
  2. Fill the rest of the flask with water. The water will sink to the bottom under the oil and look like clear blobs
  3. Add food coloring. Since it is water-based, it will also sink and color the water
  4. Break the tablet into small pieces and drop them into the bottle, one at a time and watch the magic happen!
  5. As the reaction slows down, just add more pieces of the tablet

A photo of a DIY lava lamp made from water, oil, food coloring and alka-seltzer

 

9. Foolproof Way To Remove Stains From Plastic Containers

It’s much easier to clean glass or ceramic containers whenever you have some colored food like food with sauce or pasta but with kids, you just have to use plastic containers. It’s all fun and games with these containers until you can’t get the stains off! Remove stains from plastic containers by letting water and Alka Seltzer sit in the dish overnight then clean the dish, rinse well and leave to dry. You’ll never have to worry about stained plastic containers or lunch boxes anymore!

A photo on how to remove stains from plastic containers displaying a stained plastic container and a cleaning sponge

10. Prepare For Liftoff With These Amazing Film Canister Rockets

Make film canister rockets with the kids. Makes a cool at-home science experiment! You will need water, film canisters with their lids, and antacid tablets broken into 1/4 pieces. You might also want to have goggles for safety measures.

Simply fill the canisters about halfway with water, drop in a piece of Alka-Seltzer, place the lid on the canister, place the canister upside down and RUN! The rockets may take longer or blast off immediately. The best part of this experiment is seeing how high the rockets can go. You’ll have a lot of fun with this quick experiment.

A photo collage illustrating the making of film canister rockets using water and alka-seltzer

11. Here’s A Cool Way To Blow Stuff Up

Blowing up balloons is probably the hardest part of hosting a party, especially if you don’t have a pump on hand. There’s a really cool and informative way to blow up balloons. You might want to do this with the kids for a little science lesson. As you might already know, Alka-Seltzer tablets are highly effervescent, meaning they give off bubbles when dropped in water.

Fill up a glass bottle with water a third of the way and drop in a few Alka-Seltzer tablets. Fix a balloon at the mouth of the bottle and watch it fill up with air! Use this trick to blow up a balloon for a fun and educational experience!

A photo illustrating how to blow up a balloon using water and alka-seltzer

12. Here’s A Clever Fishing Hack You’ve Never Thought Of!

Use Alka-Seltzer to create realistic bubbles when you’re fishing with tackle. You can use it with bait, too, but the bubbles are especially helpful for attracting the attention of other fish when you’re not using live bait. Just break a tablet in half and put one half in a tube bait. The fizz excites the fish.

A photo showing two halves of an alka-seltzer tablet and a tube bait

13. Get Rid Of Stains On White Clothes With Alka-Seltzer

One of the reasons I dread white clothes is because I’m a total clutz. I’m always finding a way to get stubborn stains on my white garments and for a while, I ditched white clothes altogether. If you can relate, this is for you. It sounds too good to be true but I promise it works.

I came across this hack where you whiten your clothes by warming some water and soaking your stained white clothes (after washing them, of course). You then drop two Alka-seltzer tablets and let them soak for about an hour. Hang out your clothes to dry and tada! Stains gone. whiten your clothes

14. Clean Burnt Food Off Your Dishes

Ask anyone who loves cooking and they’ll tell you that their least favorite part of the otherwise therapeutic activity is the clean-up that follows. Aaaargh! Food stains are an absolute nightmare, especially if there was an accident and you burnt the food. The last thing you want to do after such an ordeal is scrub the night away trying to get burnt food off your dishes. 

You don’t have to do that and you don’t have to dread clean-ups. Simply add two Alka-Seltzer tablets to the dish with the stubborn food stains and fill it up with water. Leave it in the sink to fizz away for an hour or so. If you have many dishes, plug the sink, fill it with water, place your dishes in and add 5 or 6 tablets. Let the dishes soak and you’ll be pleased with yourself.

A 4 photo collage of different ways to use alka-seltzer: using the antacid to catch fish, to clean a toilet bowl, to make film canister rockets and to make a DIY lava lamp

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Found These Wacky Ways To Use Alka-Seltzer Surprising? Wait Till You See How Many Things You Can Do With These Common Products!

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