Tuesday, January 27, 2009

10 uses Tuesday: Salt


My husband and I go in for wellness testing at today.  Hopefully I will be posting those very positive results Thursday.  But I thought today as we go in to have our blood pressure and cholesterol screened, it might be a really good day to look at other uses for salt than making french fries even more delicious.

I got these tips from my local zoo newsletter and I was amazed at how many I hadn't even heard of before:

1. Polish: Mix salt and vinegar into a thick paste, use a soft cloth to buff onto brass and silver, rinse with water.

2. Pick-up: If you drop an egg, or oil, or other slimy mess, sprinkle with salt to make clean-up easier.

3. Defrost windows:  We need this in Michigan right now!  Wipe down the inside of car and home windows with a sponge dipped in saline solution and dry.  It will keep frost from forming.

4. Germ-killer: Soak your bacteria laden (believe me, they are) kitchen sponges in saline solution to disinfect.

5. Weed-killer: Mix 1 part salt to 3 parts boiling water and pour directly on weeds to kill.

6. Cutting board clean: If your cutting board smells, it's probably because of bacteria.  Rub salt into the cutting board (and lemon if you like) and let it sit for about 10 minutes.  Rinse with water and allow to dry thoroughly before using again.  Your board will be germ free and smell like new.

7. Put our fires:  Keep salt nearby in case of small grease fires. Throw some on to put them out.

8. Iron cleaner: Sprinkle salt onto paper and run the iron over it.  Then shoot steam out of the jets to clean them out and wipe the face of the iron clean.  This will remove all the junk buildup from the iron and ultimately your clothes.

9. Drain cleaner: Pour equal parts salt and water down drains to degrease and remove smells.

10. Prevent creosote build-up:  I am SO trying this one.  If you use a fireplace (or woodstove like us) toss a handful of salt onto your fire occasionally to break-up build-up in the flu and prevent flu fires.


And what do I have to add to the list...only my mom's tried and true method for sore throats and stuffy noses.  At the first sign of a sore throat, gargle warm salt water to disinfect and ease pain.  For stuffy noses, you can actually sniff salt water to clear things out or use a Neti pot if you want to do it the fancy way.

Alright, it's your turn...what are your favorite salt solutions?

7 comments:

jubilee said...

Great ideas. I hadn't heard of some of these before. I've gotten an education today!

You were above me in roll call this morning, so I thought I'd pop over to say hi. Hi!

Sara said...

Thanks for sharing these ideas. I had not heard of many of them. The only one I can add is wash your hands with salt and water to remove onion smell.

Willo said...

Thanks Sara, I hadn't even thought of that!

veggiecamper said...

I leave a bowl of salt in my VW Camper in Winter. It helps soak up damp. Also works in caravans, cars etc..

Hi by the way!

Tiffany said...

Those are great ideas. You have a wonderful blog here!

Willo said...

Hi Veggiecamper, that is a great idea! I am totally making my husband try it as his car smells SO bad...well...always, but especially in the winter! Tiffany, thanks for stopping by! It means so much to me that you like it!

Rhonda Jean said...

Hi Willo, this is a really interesting post. Salt is one of those good ordinary things.

My husband has high blood pressure and isn't so adversely affected by salt if we use the natural stuff. We currently use pink salt from Kathmandu - a gift. I usually go for the plain old Australian sea salt - the stuff my granny used.