15 surprising ways to use table salt
5) Make a natural air freshener. Try this recipe for an organic air freshener without all the nasty chemicals. Scoop the flesh from half a orange, lemon, or grapefruit, and fill with coarse salt. If you like, you can add a few drops of essential oil for fragrance. This is a healthy, compostable way to deodorize your home.
6) Clean a cracked egg. Have you dropped a cracked egg on the floor before? Don’t worry, we’ve all been there. Next time, try pouring some salt over the egg for 10-15 minutes or so before wiping down. The salt will make clean up a breeze.
7) Remove coffee stains. We’re all guilty of letting our favorite mugs become stained with coffee rings, but those rings disappear if you scrub them with coarse salt.
8) Keep your laundry bright. Try adding one or two cups of salt directly into the washing machine when washing brightly colored towels for the first time. The salt will help to preserve the colors and keep them from running.
9) De-grease your kitchen sponge. Sometimes after cleaning a frying pan or a pot, the kitchen sponge can become covered in stubborn grime. You can leave your sponges to soak overnight in two cups of water and a good handful of salt, and in the morning the grime will fall away leaving your sponge clean.
10) Fix those smelly shoes. Try sprinkling a generous amount of salt into your boots overnight and shaking them out again in the morning. The salt acts as a deodorant to freshen up your footwear.
11) Heal dry skin and soothe acne. Salt contains moisturizing and healing properties that help with dry or itchy skin and even some skin conditions like eczema and psoriasis. Try adding a cup of sea salt to a warm bath and giving your skin a good soak. You can also mix up a homemade face mask of one part salt to two parts honey — it’ll calm the inflammation associated with acne breakouts.
