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For decades, food items have been touted as substitutes to expensive household cleaning products.

And now a cleaning expert has revealed the science behind why certain foods are so useful for tackling rust, removing stains and tightening cracks in wood.

This ranges from potatoes, banana skins, brazil nuts, vinegar to mayonnaise.

A cleaning expert has revealed which food items can be used as substitutes to expensive cleaning products, and also the science behind why they are so effective. For example, potatoes are effective at removing rust because the oxalic acid reacts with baking soda to dissolve the hydrated iron oxides

For example, Alex Depledge, chief executive of cleaning site Hassle.com told MailOnline that tomato ketchup is good for cleaning brass, copper and silver elements.

'Tarnishing mainly occurs due to sulphur compounds in the air. 

'When the ketchup is applied to the metal, the natural acid in the tomatoes reacts with the oxidising of the tarnished silver, brass or copper.'

'Potatoes and baking soda are effective at tackling rust because the oxalic acid in the potato mixes with the baking soda to help to dissolve the rust,' said Mrs Depledge.

Even the weakest levels of acid can dissolve and loosen the hydrated iron oxides found in rust. 

This also means vinegar is a good rust remover. 

These foods can also replace the rust with a thin film of smooth hard oxide on the surface of the iron, to help it resist further hydrated oxidation. 

Phosphoric acid in cola drinks, and citric acid in lemon juice also work. 

'Banana skins are often used to buff leather, followed by a damp cloth, and this is effective because the potassium in bananas is absorbed and slowly works to plump up the scratches,' Mrs Depledge continued. 

Potassium is often found in shoe polishes too, for the same reason.

'Ideal for removing marks on wood, mayonnaise contains oils and proteins that gently diminish scratches and marks on wood.

'They also react and cause the wood to swell, which tightens cracks in surface.

Banana skins (stock image pictured) are often used to buff leather, followed by a damp cloth, and this is effective because the potassium in bananas is absorbed and slowly works to plump up the scratches. Potassium is often found in shoe polishes too, for the same reason

Ideal for removing marks on wood, mayonnaise (left) contains oils and proteins that gently diminish scratches and marks on wood. They also react and cause the wood to swell, which tightens cracks in surface. Tomato ketchup (right) cleans brass and copper because its natural acid reacts with the oxidising of the metal

'The oils in Brazil nuts are also effective and act like a natural die to darken and hide scratches.'

Elsewhere, Mrs Depledge added: 'To keep a fridge smelling fresh, experts claim putting dry ground coffee into an old margarine tub with holes in the lid will eliminate odours.

'Smelly substances floating around in the air attach themselves to the surface of coffee beans via a process known as 'adsorption'.

'Invisible to the naked eye the many tiny pores in a coffee bean create a large surface area, per unit mass. 

To keep a fridge smelling fresh, the expert claims putting dry ground coffee into an old margarine tub with holes in the lid will eliminate odours. Smelly substances in the air attach themselves to the surface of coffee beans via a process known as 'adsorption'

'This gives, in chemical terms, plenty of area for the smell to adhere itself to and causes it to be cancelled out.'

As a subsititute to limescale remover, Mrs Depledge recommends cutting a grapefruit in half and sprinkling one half with salt.

The salt acts like an exfoliator to remove the surface limescale, while the citric acid in grapefruit acts as the cleaning agent and breaks down the scale at a more molecular level.

And cola drinks are an effective toilet cleaner because they contains carbonic, citric, and phosphoric acids.

Many of these acids are found in household cleaning products already, and when mixed together, the reaction causes the stains to be lifted and removed.