Surprising Salt Hacks to Simplify Your Everyday Life
Save Money on Dishwasher Detergent
Store-bought dishwasher detergent can be extremely expensive because it contains relatively inexpensive ingredients, many of which are also highly toxic. However, you can create a much more affordable and natural version at home. Simply put equal amounts of baking soda, citric acid, salt, and washing soda in a bowl and stir. After that, throw it into the dishwasher instead of your usual detergent and operate the machine as usual.
If you would rather not use powder and would rather use firm tablets, simply add a cup of water to the mixture above, stir, and let it bubble for a few minutes. Next, transfer the mixture into ice cube trays, compact them firmly, and allow them to dry into DIY tablets.
Alleviate Irritating Bites and Stings
You can use salt, a cheap, efficient antibacterial and anti-inflammatory, as a highly soothing remedy for insect bites. The next time, for instance, you feel the itch of a mosquito bite, stop biting your nails and head to the kitchen to prepare a simple paste of salt and water. To provide immediate relief, gently apply the paste to the bite. Compared to scratching, it is significantly more hygienic.
In addition to treating insect bites, a hot saltwater bath can help heal poison ivy-related rashes. However, before taking this step, you should only try washing the affected area with cold water and soap.
Bye, Bye Shoe Odor
Your gym shoes may gather perspiration from your feet even when you are wearing socks, and over time, this buildup of moisture can smell very bad. Instead of washing your shoes, which can damage the materials and change their color, consider sprinkling them with salt, letting them soak in the salt overnight, and then removing the salt in the morning. If you use this method after every workout, the salt will absorb the moisture from your perspiration and help greatly reduce the odor.
The best results from this approach come from salting the shoes as soon as you take them off after your workout yields the best results. Applying the salt before getting in the shower is the best option, although it does need dedication.
Unclog That Drain
When you have a clogged drain, it may be tempting to purchase harsh chemical-filled but potentially dangerous cleaning solutions. Avoid it. You can most likely use the ingredients you already have in your kitchen to create a safer and less expensive solution. In a bowl, mix together ½ cup baking soda and ½ cup salt, then pour the mixture down the drain. Next, pour a quarter cup of vinegar down the drain and let it sit for half an hour. Finally, run ten seconds or so of hot tap water. It’s unlikely that whatever is obstructing your drain will survive the mixture.
Using a natural drain-clearing method is not only safer for you and your family, but it also takes less damage to your pipes. Chemical cleansers have the potential to damage pipes, especially those composed of plastic.
Clean Your Iron’s Soleplate
If you use a stained soleplate (the hot metal bottom of your iron) and don’t clean it, your clothes may become discolored. However, there’s a simple fix: cover your ironing board with a towel and sprinkle it with a teaspoon of sea salt. After setting the iron to its highest setting (without steam), iron the towel’s salted area. Anything that has adhered to the iron’s bottom should be removed with salt.
An additional choice is to combine salt and white vinegar and warm the mixture over a stove. Once it has cooled, soak a cloth in the liquid and use it to scrub the soleplate clean.
Make Homemade Toothpaste
Have you ever realized that you’re out of toothpaste at the end of the day? If you’re too exhausted to go buy more, you may substitute sea salt, baking soda, and water for a basic paste. Using this homemade solution instead of store-bought toothpaste is not a sensible idea because it lacks some of the beneficial fluorides. However, it’s a beneficial one-night quick treatment that will leave your teeth feeling clean and fresh.
If you have very sensitive gums, use caution when using this cure; regardless of how exhausted you are, it might be best to run down to the corner store and buy some real toothpaste.
Clean Greasy Pans
While cleaning dishes is never fun, a pan coated in heavy grease can be especially difficult to clean. It seems unlikely that scrubbing the pan with conventional hot water and soap will solve the problem, but liberally dusting it with salt will. Give the salt ten minutes or so to absorb the grease. After applying salt to the pan and its surroundings with a dry towel, wash the pan with warm water according to your usual procedure.
You can also use salt to remove burned food from pans. Just sprinkle salt all over the pan’s surface, let it sit a minute, and then pour in water. After 5 to 10 minutes of boiling on the stove, clean it with a sponge.
Extend Dairy’s Eat-By Date
You may extend the time you can enjoy a range of dairy products by lightly salting them to help keep them from rotting too soon. For instance, your milk will remain fresh for around one week after its stated expiration date if you add a pinch of salt to the carton and give it a gentle shake. In a similar vein, saturating a paper towel with saltwater before wrapping cheese helps aid in moisture absorption and delay the onset of molding.
Try keeping your dairy items in the back of your refrigerator, where there is less exposure to warm air each time the door is opened, to extend their shelf life.
Stop Ant Infestations
When you see a line of ants in your home, it may be tempting to reach for a poisonous spray like Raid, but salt is a much better option. While there are several methods for using salt to repel ants, using salt water is the simplest. On the stove, bring some water to a boil, then add a decent pinch of salt. Stir the mixture until the salt absorbs completely. Once the water has cooled, put the solution in your spray bottle and use it wherever you are concerned a pest infestation may occur in your home.
If the infestation is more contained, you can either sprinkle table salt wherever you’ve seen ants like to gather or line door cracks with salt to keep them out of your space.
Lift Wine Stains From Carpets
Each time you throw a dinner party, a light carpet and red wine together may result in unattractive stains and anxiety. Although you may have heard that using white wine to neutralize a red wine stain works best, salt works just as well. Save that bottle of white wine to drink. Using paper towels, first wipe away as much of the wine as you can. Next, moisten the affected area with a little bit of cold water and dab at the stain. Sprinkle salt over the stain while it’s still wet, then let it sit for the entire night.
When you woke up, your salt solution should have miraculously absorbed the wine and become pink. To get rid of any last bits of grain, simply use a dustpan to gather up the salt and vacuum it.
Maintain Bright Colors
Lovely, vibrantly colored textiles also lose their beauty over time. However, there is a technique to preserve their beauty for a longer period. Make sure the machine’s water is cold and mix half a cup of salt into your regular laundry detergent before doing any laundry, including vividly colored clothing. The salt stabilizes the colors of the clothes and prevents them from fading during washing. Including this step in each laundry cycle will significantly slow down the fading process.
You may even pre-soak each item of clothing separately in a saltwater bath before putting it in the washing with the other things for even better results.
See If Eggs Are Edible
Egg expiration dates can easily be forgotten, especially if the eggs are unstamped and the egg carton they came in has already been recycled. Fortunately, determining their freshness is also a fairly straightforward task. Pour water into a large glass and sprinkle with about two tablespoons of salt. After thoroughly mixing the salt into the glass, add the egg, still in its shell.
Did the egg fall to the glass’s bottom? If so, it suggests that it’s still fresh. If it’s half submerged in the water, it’s probably still edible. But dispose of it and obtain some fresh eggs if it floats to the top entirely.
Make Candles Dripless
Candlelight can instantly alter the atmosphere of a room. However, cleaning up a melted candle wax mess can soon depress you. As a result, you can either drastically shorten the time it takes for candles to begin dripping or completely stop the drip. Soak new candles for around three hours in a bowl of warm, heavily salted water after purchasing them. After taking them out of the water, completely dry them off. When you light them again, you’ll be amazed by the lovely, mess-free candlelight.
How does one go about doing this? By raising the melting point of the outer layer of wax on a candle, salt stops, or at least postpones, the drip.
Sanitize Your Coffee Maker
Coffee residue progressively accumulates in your machine with each usage. If you don’t take care of this, your coffee will taste quite bitter, and your coffee machine will become a haven for bacteria. Use the saltwater mix in a standard brew cycle after adding several tablespoons of salt to the pot of water to thoroughly clean the coffee maker. Repeat the cycle with ordinary, unsalted water to eliminate any residual salt flavor. To make sure your machine is constantly clean and safe to use, repeat this process around once a month.
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Using vinegar to clean your coffee maker is another excellent way to disinfect it. However, vinegar has the drawback of having a persistent aftertaste that can be more difficult to overcome than salt.
Defeat Dandruff
There are several ways that massaging your scalp with salt might help with dandruff: 1. It exfoliates your scalp’s pores by removing dead skin that has gathered there. 2. It removes extra oil from the hair. 3. It dries out your scalp, which can prevent the growth of fungus. Before massaging your head with salts, part your hair into parts so that the scalp is visible. Wet your fingertips, apply a teaspoon of salt to the scalp, and massage the salt in. After that, cleanse your scalp as usual.
If you lack the patience to follow the aforementioned regimen, consider including salt in your everyday shampoo. You should use around half as much salt as shampoo while washing your hair.
Scrub Your Tub Until It’s Sparkling Clean
Cleaning bathtub buildup—that gross coating of grime from soap residue, oils, and dead skin—can be one of the hardest areas of the house to tackle. But to get rid of the muck, utilize nature’s natural acids rather than harsh chemicals that can cause you to cry. After cutting a lemon in half, put the fleshy fruit side into a generous amount of salt to begin your bathroom cleaning regimen. Next, use a lemon to scrape the bathtub so that the acid and salt mixture can dissolve the accumulated dirt.
After cleaning, let the juice sit in the bathtub for thirty minutes. After that, give the tub a thorough cleaning with a standard washcloth and give it a final rinse with water.
Strip Tarnish From Copper
Copper is a stunning metal that may give your jewelry collection or home décor a rich texture. However, prolonged contact with oxygen naturally causes it to lose its original hue, which might result in the development of a blue or green tarnish. Fortunately, pressing a tablespoon of salt solution dissolved in a cup of white vinegar on the tarnish with a cloth will safely and organically remove it.
Are you all out of vinegar? Look in the refrigerator to see whether there is ketchup. Rubbing it on tarnished copper may also help it retain its inherent acidity and salt content.
Make Lettuce Last
Excessive dampness can ruin the crisp, fresh texture of lettuce. However, you may keep lettuce leaves absolutely dry for your next salad by using a mixture of salt and paper towels. Wash the lettuce as you normally would first, and then leave the leaves out to air dry. Wrap the lettuce in a continuous sequence of two to three salt-sprinkled paper towels, taking care not to tear the towels apart. Store the lettuce in a tight plastic bag for refrigeration.
Here’s when a little salt really helps. However, if you use too much salt, the lettuce may become more dry than you meant, causing it to wilt. Therefore, take care not to oversalt the paper towels; instead, sprinkle them sparingly.
Un-Stick Lipstick
Have you ever noticed how your lipstick sticks to your glasses so stubbornly? The design of lipstick ensures its permanence, which could provide a sense of comfort. But offering a guest a glass stained with lipstick is quite awkward. Use salt to attack the waxes and emollients in the lipstick stain the next time you see one on some glassware. To remove the lipstick from the glass, lightly wet a washcloth, dip it in salt, and scrub it gently.
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You can either handwash the glass with soap after giving it a scrub with salt or put it in the dishwasher. After using steps one and two, the glass ought to look spotless.
Sanitize and Scent Cutting Boards
Even after several washes, strong-smelling foods like fish, onions, or garlic might still leave their traces on your wooden cutting board. Replacement of that disagreeable odor requires extra caution. After thoroughly cleaning your board by hand, as you normally would, generously dust it with salt. Next, cut the lemon in half and strain the juice onto the salted board. Using the cut side of the lemon, rub the salt into the board and allow it to dry.
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Scrape off the salt/lemon juice mixture, wash the board, and allow it to dry. This should now leave behind a lovely, subtle citrus scent instead of the original one.
Conserve Cut Flowers
Flowers can bring happiness and a sense of occasion to your living room, but if they wilt too soon, the joy will quickly evaporate. Thankfully, you can extend the life of your flowers by switching out the fresh and saltwater in your vase every other day. In addition to feeding the flowers minerals like potassium, saltwater also destroys harmful germs and encourages the flower stems to drink more freshwater and keep hydrated.
When you purchase flowers, the florist may try to upsell you plant nutrients, but now that you know about the saltwater scam, you may decline. Most likely, the nutrients consist of citric acid or something similar.
Preserve Fruits
When exposed to oxygen, some chopped and peeled fruits, such as apples, quickly turn brown. They lose their fresh taste and scent, and their appearance changes. If you chop too much of the fruit, save it. To preserve it later during the week, combine a half-teaspoon of salt with a cup of water and allow the fruit to soak in the resulting saltwater solution for approximately ten minutes. When you’re ready to eat a snack, take the fruit out of the juice and refrigerate it.
Don’t be alarmed if you think the saltwater solution will make your fruit taste bad or overly salty. If you simply give the fruit a quick wash with ordinary water before eating it, there shouldn’t be any differences.
De-Grime Your Sponges
What started off as a clean, new sponge can become an ugly, unusable mess after one very oily dinner. However, think about giving a filthy sponge a second chance with some saltwater the next time you’re about to discard it. After submerging the soiled sponge in a small bowl of cold water, whisk in a few tablespoons of salt to dissolve it. Soak the sponge in the bath for an entire night to let the salt eliminate any bacteria that may have accumulated on it. Even though the sponge won’t be brand new in the morning, it will still be a significant improvement.
This tip not only helps you save money, but it also reduces the quantity of sponges you’ll use in your lifetime, which is better for the environment. That benefits both parties.
Ferment Delicious Cabbage
There’s no need to purchase sauerkraut from the market because it’s the simplest dish to prepare using salt. After thoroughly cleaning a head of green cabbage, slice it and place it in a fresh bowl with 1.5 tablespoons of kosher salt. After giving the cabbage a five- to ten-minute massage with salt, move it to a clean mason jar, making sure to save any liquid that may have leaked out during the massage. Put a towel over the pot and fasten it firmly with a rubber band.
Keep the jar at room temperature in an area of your home away from direct sunlight. Once the cabbage has fermented for about a week, take off the cloth cover and savor the delicious sauerkraut. Store any leftovers in the refrigerator.
Kill Weeds Quickly
Weeds can ruin the unsightly aspect of stone walkways and brick walls by growing up between the gaps. You can create a saltwater solution by mixing one part salt with three parts water. This will kill the weeds. After that, use a sprinkler system or hand-wet the stone fissures to dissolve and dilute the salt. Then, as a precautionary measure, water the nearby plants to ensure that no saltwater comes into contact with non-weeds.
However, if you choose to battle weeds in other areas of your yard, such as your garden, use salt sparingly. Oversalting can lead to extremely poor soil conditions, which may restrict plant growth.
Freshen Up Your Hands
No matter how often you wash your hands with soap and water, some aromas are so potent that they stick to your fingers. Consider scents like onions, spice, or fish—these are especially difficult to get rid of! Thankfully, salt has a built-in deodorizer. To restore your hands’ pleasant scent, simply moisten your hands a little and rub in salt. After a minute or so, rinse your hands with warm water to remove the salt residue.
Try rubbing lemon juice on your hands if, for some reason, salt wasn’t enough to get rid of the odor. It also smells intense, but in a good way!
Naturally Clean Your Microwave
Although microwaves can get incredibly nasty, it might not be a beneficial idea to fill the interior of a microwave with a harmful cleaning solution. When a spill occurs in your microwave during food heating, try sprinkling some salt on the mess and letting it sit for a few minutes. You can then easily clean up the mess with a cloth and some hot water.
For a deeper clean, apply baking soda to a damp cloth and use it to completely clean the inside of the microwave. Maintaining this routine will keep the microwave odor-free and spotless.
Brighten the Whites in Fabrics
Salt can restore yellowed fabrics, eliminating the need to spend money on new linens, bath towels, tea towels, or socks. Instead of putting stained clothes through the washing machine, put four tablespoons of baking soda and a tablespoon of salt into a big pot of water. On the stove, stir the liquid and bring it to a boil. After adding the stained cotton or linen cloth, boil for approximately one hour. After removing with tongs, allow it to cool.
Please note that multicolored materials will not work well for this hack; cotton and linens with a single color—likely white—work best.
Treat Your Feet
No time or money for a foot massage? There are many ways to care for your feet at home. Soaking your feet in hot water with Epsom salts not only relieves pain and stiffness in your foot muscles and joints, but it also helps prevent fungus and stink from growing on your feet. Before using a pumice stone to exfoliate the rough skin on your heels, soaking your feet in saltwater is a fantastic idea, since the saltwater softens the skin and facilitates the removal of dead skin cells.
Just make sure you use around half a cup of Epsom salt and that the water is hot enough—between 90°F and 100°F. After letting your feet soak for around half an hour, moisturize them to feel totally rejuvenated.
Soothe a Sore Throat
When your mother advised you to gargle with salt water after you complained of a sore throat, did you ever roll your eyes? Mom had a scientifically reasonable argument, even though it might sound like a stupid folk remedy. Salt absorbs mucus from throat tissues, temporarily drying out the virus. Your throat will feel better if you dissolve a half teaspoon of salt in a cup of warm water and gargle for five to ten seconds several times a day.
Keep in mind that while this medication will relieve the discomfort brought on by a sore throat, it won’t heal the viral infection itself. That will eventually go away (probably in 5-7 days).
Improve Your Coffee’s Flavor
If your coffee tastes bitterer than expected, add sugar or cream to tone it down. While substituting salt may not seem like the most enticing idea, it has scientific backing: Sodium ions intensify a beverage’s sweeter qualities by preventing our taste buds from fully perceiving its bitter flavors. Are you uncertain about how much to add to your cup? Sprinkle first, then taste to see if more is required.
Coffee consumers in a variety of nations, including Taiwan, Finland, and Turkey, frequently flavor their coffee with salt, which is not exclusive to any one culture or cuisine.
Defend Against Slugs and Snails
Slugs and snails enjoy eating a wide variety of plants, but they especially like young seedlings. If you let them get out of control, they can truly stop your garden from reaching its full potential. Go outside in the garden at night and capture slugs and snails in the act if you notice bite marks on your plants. Put on some gloves, remove them from your plants’ vicinity, and then dust them with salt. The salt will dehydrate the slugs until they perish.
Just take care not to haphazardly sprinkle salt directly onto the soil in your garden or onto the plants themselves, since this can scorch and dry up a plant’s leaves and stems.
Prevent a Moldy Shower Curtain
Not only is a moldy shower curtain unsightly, but it can also be awkward to show off to guests. For people who take showers on a daily basis, it can also pose a substantial health risk because it can cause allergies and severe respiratory issues. Regularly give your shower curtain a bath in saltwater to maintain it hygienic and clean. Shut off the drain in your bathtub, add a cup of salt, fill the tub with hot water, and then use your hands to disperse the salt throughout the water. After letting it soak for a couple of hours, hang the shower curtain to dry.
A less comprehensive solution than giving your shower curtain a saltwater wash is to simply spray it down with saltwater at the end of each day.
Destroy Poison Ivy
There are certain plants that are lovely and welcoming additions to your yard. However, invasive plants such as poison ivy can pose a serious threat. While chemical remedies are widely available at home and garden stores to eliminate poison ivy, an organic, natural alternative is to use seawater. Pour one gallon of water, a few pounds of salt, and some dish soap into a bucket. Next, fill your spray bottle with the liquid and mist the poison ivy leaves on a clear, dry day. Spray every few days until the ivy is gone.
Try to limit your saltwater spray to only the poison ivy itself, because saltwater can be equally harmful to other plants that you really want to keep in your yard or garden.
Extinguish Grease Fires
Grease fires cause one in five home fire deaths, so it is every home cook’s responsibility to prepare for them. Water is not a helpful way to put out a grease fire; it will simply become bigger. Instead, add a significant amount of salt to the fire after turning off the heat source. In addition to keeping the flames from getting the oxygen they require to survive, salt itself won’t catch fire.
Putting a heavy metal lid on a grease fire is another approach to putting it out, since it will stifle the flames by depriving them of oxygen.
Make Containers Like New
Lunchboxes to-go and leftover food kept in the refrigerator both work and play well with plastic containers. However, even though they are technically reusable, after several usages, they often begin to hold onto offensive odors. Most likely, you are already familiar with the subject at hand. One approach to deodorizing them is to wash them in hot water with soap, allow them to dry, and then sprinkle salt inside the containers before putting them away for later use.
To remove any remaining salt, just give the containers a quick wipedown with a paper towel when you plan to use them again. After that, the containers ought to taste and smell brand new.
Boil Water Faster
Because quantity of heat required to raise the temperature of saltwater is comparatively lower than that of ordinary freshwater due to its reduced resistance to temperature changes. This means that, depending on how much salt you add and how much water you’re boiling, you may be able to reduce the amount of time you would normally spend waiting and staring at the pot while cooking.
If you’re cooking pasta, any Italian grandma would tell you that you should be generously salting your boiling water already. Thus, one action may accomplish two goals at once.
Keep Breath Fresh
Mouthwash is one more thing you can manufacture at home with the antibacterial qualities it requires to keep your gums healthy and your breath fresh. Put it on your list of things you no longer need to buy at the grocery store. In a cup of water, combine a half- teaspoon each of baking soda and salt. After brushing, swish the mixture in your mouth for 30 seconds and spit it into the sink.
Instead, spice things up by substituting a sage and salt mixture. Add a handful of sage leaves to boiling salted water. After brushing your teeth, let the liquid soak and cool before using it like any other mouthwash.
Poach Like a Pro
Poached eggs can transform a simple meal at home into one that tastes and looks like it belongs in a four-star restaurant. However, many inexperienced cooks who attempt poaching at home overlook an important cooking step. When the water reaches a boiling point, mix in half a teaspoon of salt. Before adding the eggs, lower the boiling water to a simmer. Before serving, cover the pan, turn off the heat, and wait a few minutes. Salutations!
In addition to adding salt, some cooks also like to experiment with adding vinegar to the water. To determine which suits your taste, try both.
Quickly Chill Beverages
Telling visitors that they will need to wait for the wine, beer, or champagne to chill down may ruin a party more than anything. However, a quick salting technique can reduce the wait time. Pour water, ice, and a generous amount of salt into a deep bowl or cooler. Ensure that the water completely submerges your bottles by thoroughly stirring them. After five to ten minutes, they ought to be fresh and icy.
How does one go about doing this? Regular water will reach a temperature of 32°F after the ice melts. Its seawater melting point will remain much lower, making it an ideal cold bath for your drinks.
