Although you may not realize it, simple table salt has a great number of uses other than simply seasoning your food.
The following list will give you sixty great uses of salt, many of which you probably didn't realize:
- Soak stained hankies in salt water before washing.
- Sprinkle salt on your shelves to keep ants away.
- Soak fish in salt water before descaling; the scales will come off easier.
- Put a few grains of rice in your salt shaker for easier pouring.
- Add salt to green salads to prevent wilting.
- Test the freshness of eggs in a cup of salt water; fresh eggs sink; bad ones float.
- Add a little salt to your boiling water when cooking eggs; a cracked egg will stay in its shell this way.
- A tiny pinch of salt with egg whites makes them beat up fluffier.
- Soak wrinkled apples in a mildly salted water solution to perk them up.
- Rub salt on your pancake griddle and your flapjacks won't stick.
- Soak toothbrushes in salt water before you first use them; they will last longer.
- Use salt to clean your discolored coffee pot.
- Mix salt with turpentine to whiten your bathtub and toilet bowl.
- Soak your nuts in salt brine overnight and they will crack out of their shells whole. Just tap the end of the shell with a hammer to break it open easily.
- Boil clothespins in salt water before using them and they will last longer.
- Clean brass, copper and pewter with paste made of salt and vinegar, thickened with flour
- Add a little salt to the water your cut flowers will stand-in for longer life.
- Pour a mound of salt on an ink spot on your carpet; let the salt soak up the stain.
- Clean your iron by rubbing some salt on the damp cloth on the ironing surface.
- Adding a little salt to the water when cooking foods in a double boiler will make the food cook faster.
- Use a mixture of salt and lemon juice to clean piano keys.
- To fill plaster holes in your walls, use equal parts of salt and starch, with just enough water to make a stiff putty.
- Rinse a sore eye with a little salt water.
- Mildly salted water makes an effective mouthwash. Use it hot for a sore throat gargle.
- Dry salt sprinkled on your toothbrush makes a good tooth polisher.
- Use salt for killing weeds in your lawn.
- Eliminate excess suds with a sprinkle of salt.
- A dash of salt in warm milk makes a more relaxing beverage.
- Before using new glasses, soak them in warm salty water for a while.
- A dash of salt enhances the taste of tea.
- Salt improves the taste of cooking apples.
- Soak your clothesline in salt water to prevent your clothes from freezing to the line; likewise, use salt in your final rinse to prevent the clothes from freezing.
- Rub any wicker furniture you may have with salt water to prevent yellowing.
- Freshen sponges by soaking them in salt water.
- Add raw potatoes to stews and soups that are too salty.
- Soak enamel pans in salt water overnight and boil salt water in them the next day to remove burned-on stains.
- Clean your greens in salt water for easier removal of dirt.
- Gelatin sets more quickly when a dash of salt is added.
- Fruits put in mildly salted water after peeling will not discolor.
- Fabric colors hold fast in a salty water wash.
- Milk stays fresh longer when a little salt is added.
- Use equal parts of salt and soda for brushing your teeth.
- Sprinkle salt in your oven before scrubbing clean.
- Soaked discolored glass in a salt and vinegar solution to remove stains.
- Clean greasy pans with a paper towel and salt.
- Salty water boils faster when cooking eggs.
- Add a pinch of salt to whipping cream to make it whip more quickly.
- Sprinkle salt in milk-scorched pans to remove odor.
- A dash of salt improves the taste of the coffee.
- Boil mismatched hose in salty water and they will come outmatched.
- Salt and soda will sweeten the odor of your refrigerator.
- Cover wine-stained fabric with salt; rinse in cool water later.
- Remove offensive odors from stove with salt and cinnamon.
- A pinch of salt improves the flavor of cocoa.
- To remove grease stains in clothing, mix one-part salt to four parts of alcohol.
- Salt and lemon juice remove mildew.
- Sprinkle salt between sidewalk bricks where you don't want grass growing.
- Polish your old kerosene lamp with salt for a brighter look.
- Remove odors from sink drainpipes with a strong, hot solution of salt water.
- If a pie bubbles over in your oven, put a handful of salt on top of the spilled juice. The mess won't smell and will bake into a dry, light crust which will wipe off easily when the oven has cooled.