Salt can do so much more than just add flavor to your favorite dishes. Today I thought I’d share 9 of the best practical uses for salt both in the kitchen and well beyond it. I think you’ll be as impressed as I was!
9 Practical Household Uses for Salt
1. Clean Cast Iron Pans
Well-seasoned cast iron pans can usually be wiped clean with ease, but on those occasions when you need a little more scrubbing power, grab some coarse salt. Pour a handful of it into the pan while it’s still warm, add enough vegetable oil to the salt to form a gritty paste, then use a clean, dry dish rag to scrub the salt and oil paste around the inside of the pan.
The salt will provide the extra scouring power you need to remove those stuck-on food bits, while the oil soaks up the grime and helps to build up the seasoning on your pan. When you’re done scrubbing, dump the salt mixture out and wipe up any residual salt and oil with a paper towel or another clean rag.
Read More: How to Clean Cast Iron Cookware the Right Way
2. Restore Crispness to Veggies
When crisp veggies like cucumbers, radishes, celery, or carrots turn soft while in your fridge, you can use a bit of salt to crisp them up again. Slice the veggies and place them in a colander along with a dozen or so ice cubes and a pinch of salt.
Use your hands to toss the veggies, salt, and ice together and set the colander inside a bowl. Place the bowl in your fridge for an hour or so, then pat your newly crisp veggies dry and use them up as soon as you can.
3. Clean Up Spilled Egg
Dropped a raw egg on the kitchen floor? Sprinkle salt over the top of the mess and leave it there for about 20 minutes. Then you’ll be able to wipe it right up.
4. Put out a Grease Fire
Pour salt on top of a grease fire to smother it and put it out. (And remember, never pour water on a grease fire!)
5. Clean Artificial Flowers
Put dusty artificial flowers in a bag of salt and shake the bag. Take a look at the color of the salt afterward—yuck!
6. Erase Stains from Mugs
You can use salt to help you scrub out coffee and tea stains from mugs. Rub them with salt to remove the staining before washing them thoroughly with soap and water.
7. Absorb Food Stains
If you spill some of your food or drink on the table cloth or your shirt, rub some salt onto the area to help draw out the stain, then put the item in the wash. (This is especially helpful when you’re eating out or at home, because there’s usually salt close by.)
8. Deter Ants
Forget the harsh chemical pesticides; to keep ants at bay, one of the safest home remedies is to create a line of salt where you’ve spotted ants moving around. Salt dehydrates and kills most insects so they’ll do whatever they can to avoid it.
9. Make Eggs Easier to Peel
Did you know that eggs boiled in lightly salted water will peel more easily? Add a big pinch of salt to your water and cook the eggs as usual.
Do you have know of any other tips or tricks that use salt?
More Ideas You'll Love
Also add a good amount of sea salt to the water in a birth tub if you’re having a water birth :)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I am new to this website and ILOVE IT
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Thank you for these great tips! xoxo
Please log in or create a free account to comment.To make toast with out a toaster sprinkle salt on the bottom of a frying pan. Heat on medium/medium high and put a piece of bread on top. When brown flip (you’ll smell it). I have never noticed a salty taste but I tap/wipe the sides of the toast over the pan to get rid of any salt that stuck to it. I make toast like this when camping, since clean up is easy (you just dump the salt out) and the pan is already heated up for what ever else your cooking.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.My grandmother warmed salt, put it in a cloth and put it on the painful joints!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I sprinkle a little salt in my iced tea if it’s too bitter.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Thanks for all the tips listed above.
fyi – the salt/boiling water thing isn’t quite accurate… here is an explanation – http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/chem99/chem99501.htm
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I use salt to scrub off dried egg off my frying pans. It works wonderfully. Thanks for providing this list.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Just curious if you have any tips on cleaning the window on the fireplace door? :-) thanks!!love this site :-)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.YES! I use a solution of mostly white vinegar (plus water, plus a tiny bit of soap). You will be amazed!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.If you dip a damp cloyh into the cooled ash from the fire, it will remove all the blackened soot from the stove windows!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.So many wonderful, easy, practical tips (including those in the Comments) !!!
Here’s one more ;-) It’s not an original, but a culinary legacy handed down over centuries, possibly millennia?!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.We sprinkle/ rub some salt on bitter gourd [after scraping off the ‘skin’] & leave for a cuple of hours. Then squeeze out the liquid. This eliminates most of the bitter taste as well as the toxins in it. Then, cut/stuff the bitter gourd & cook as usual.
Wow, so much information! I’ll definitely be trying the salt while frying, I always get splashed! I wrote a post last summer about cleaning a cast iron pan with kosher salt (or coarse salt) so it keeps its seasoning (here: http://colormedomestic.blogspot.com/2012/07/cleaning-iron-cast-pan.html). And I also want to add, even though using salt on walkways helps with icing over, it’s very very bad for the environment, so I wouldn’t suggest that. Using sand is much better, and you can keep reusing it.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.However, when the sand doesn’t cut it like the salt will (used judiciously) and you take that nasty fall, you will probably wish you’d used a little salt on the ice. Been there, done that……..learned my lesson. ;-)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Bravo!!! Love the sight!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.If you use the salt scrub for BRASS make sure it is not the newer brass that has a thin plastic or varnish COATING on it—the brass will scratch that and it will peel off. For older unsealed brass this will work.
To remove BLOOD from anything–especialy fabric—either soak in a strong solution of salt and COLD water or make a paste of the salt directly on the fabric with COLD water (hot water will make the protein in blood set and cling forever) and then rinse well in COLD water –make sure the stain is OUT before you heat dry. You can repeat as needed–if this is on white fabric you can also use Peroxide to get any lingering shadow out. This also works on EGG YOLK STAINS and MILK spills–any protein stain should come clean with this actually! .
To brighten up a dingy carpet or natural fiber (sisal) rugs—either spray with a salt water solution or sprinkle with salt; let sit, and either rinse or brush or shake the remaining salt out. (For a flat weave rug old used tea leaves can also be used—sprinkle, let dry, brush off with stiff broom)
The reason salt will allow you to “set” dye is it acts as a MORDANT and changes the chemical bonds between the dye and the fabric.
To “Dry Clean” artificial flowers…place them in a bag or container and add salt and some corn starch. Gently shake or roll back and forth–this will get in all the little nooks n crannies and remove dust and grease etc. You will be amazed at the difference in the color of the salt when you remove them! You can also use this on a much larger scale for DELICATE FABRICS such as sheer lace or sheer curtain fabric. Use a garbage bag or old pillow case and add a bunch of salt and shake rattle and roll. Shake out well to get the salt out. This will remove the grungy dust that clings to these things but won’t “clean” as in laundering them–but it will brighten them a lot and avoid damaging them in the washer or even hand washing. You can also use this on any fabric you have hanging on the wall like decorative embroideries–even if they are flat. Cover with salt, let sit. Use a soft paint brush to swish the salt around and dump it off. If you have lingering salt use a vacuum on exhaust or a hair dryer on COOL to BLOW OFF the remaining salt–this avoids damage to the fabric from suction. Can be used for fabric lampshades–use pillow case and a bunch of—well you get it!
For those of us who live in the Far North–I have read that you can wipe your wiper blades before a snow is expected or heavy frost/ice storm is coming with a strong solution of salt water to prevent the dreaded sticking to the windshield in the morning. I have never done this but seems like it would be worth it.
IF you break an egg on the counter or floor –you know how hard it is to clean up!!!—sprinkle heavily with salt and let sit for a minute and the whole thing will be much easier to scoop into a dust pan or use a spatula. Clean with a de-greasing cleaner.
For a boil that you want to “draw” out–use a “poultice” of salt worked to a paste with Fels Naptha Soap. Apply to boil and cover. Should bring to a drainage in a few hours. Old remedy that really works!
IF you spill something in your oven–sprinkle salt on it to make it easier to scrape out and scrub clean with out smelly oven cleaner.
To “toughen up” hands that will be doing manual work soak in heavy solution of salt and warm -to- hot water. Old guitar players trick. Also can soak natural drum skins in salt water to tighten them up.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.The trick for getting a dropped egg off the floor saved us this morning! I actually remembered it! Thank you!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.GREAT TIPS!! I also wanted to buy artificial flowers but didn’t know how to clean it w/o getting it wet & so I never did buy it.. NOW, I CAN thanks to you!! I also like the TIP on how to get the blood out, I will definitely be giving this a try on my cloth pads. Mahalo again for your added on tips, especially the egg tip as kids do like to help with cooking. ;)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.P.S. “Woolite Dark” has salt added to it – that’s what keeps the colors from fading! It’s no different than regular Woolite except for the added salt.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Salt also works in absorbing pet “accidents” on the carpet or sofa. Liberally cover the area with salt and leave it for a day or two, then brush it off! Works amazingly well.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Hi Peggy,
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I’m interested in your accident salt solution. My dogs will undoubtedly want to lick up the salt if I leave it uncovered. Will it still work if I put something heavy over it to keep them out of the salt? Do you have any other tips on getting accident stains out of carpet? I have a rug dr that gets the stains pretty well, but the smell is still there so accidents keep happening. I’m about to crush up a bunch of dog biscuits and sprinkle them around the living room so maybe they will stop!
Layer paper towels over the wet spot and press down with shoe to absorb as much as possible. Pour vinegar lightly over the wet spot, let set a minute and take up again with paper towels. Vinegar neutralizes the urine and leaves no smell.
OOOO.. I didn’t know that one. I’ll definitely be giving this one a try, thanks for the TIP too!!!
Love your site! Amazing info and such a fun way your present things! Thank you, thank you!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.If you spill a drink on carpet, cover with salt. Let the salt absorb the liquid, sweep salt into a dust pan and vacuum carpet. The carpet won’t be stained.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Wow, Who knew all these tricks? Thanks for putting them all in one place, Jillee! I do know (unfortunately from personal experience) that salt WILL scratch corian countertops. I spray down my cutting boards with a bleach and water mix, sprinkle with salt, then scrub and rinse in the sink. If you don’t get all the salt off, it will scratch if you slide it on the counter.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Can I tell you that I am in love with your site?! I just recently found it and am loving your tips. I have had lip prints and what looks like milk marks on the tops of my glasses for some time. I just got used to it, but the other day my son’s girlfriend came over and I was mortified when I tried to find her a glass that looked clean (wasn’t successful). I saw your tip on rubbing the salt on the stains today and it worked beautifully! Now I don’t have to buy new glasses. Thank you!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.a long time ago, I was working in the concession stand at the movies. I was making popcorn and accidentally pulled the coconut oil container out too fast and spilled ONE GALLON of oil all over the floor, 5 minutes before the intermission. A sailor walked by and told me to put salt all over it, then I was able to sweep it up. My boss never found out, thank goodness. LOL!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I used to be all excited about salt making water boil at a hotter temperature. Then I learned more chemistry, and it turns out that the temperature change isn’t really significant enough to noticeably affect cooking times. Boo. The salt does, however, help the food taste salty and therefore more delicious.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.For the goldfish tip, any fresh water fish will benefit from adding marine salt to their tank. It helps balance out the Eco system, helps them heal after getting ick or other illnesses, and just makes for a happier fish. You can find marine salt at any pet store and just follow the directions on the box
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Jillee, my mom is an adamant user & advocate of putting salt immediately on
-BURNS from cooking due to hot grease, steam, etc…
-BRUISES
I was always skeptical and have never done it for myself, but I’ve seen her do it many a times and she **swears** that it works amazingly well.
Tip: she wets the area slightly, then liberally covers it with just plain old salt.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.forgot to add,
It looks like it works fantastically….and don’t know why I’ve never tried it!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.It works on burns by helping dry the plasma that gathers under the blister and on bruises pretty much the same way, the blood vessels are burst under the skin, it will aide in drawing away excess moisture from those burst vessels.
Wow! What a list. You need comments at the top with this long list :)
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