Wednesday's Cleaning: Using Everyday Items Around the House, Part 3: Salt

Here I am again! I missed last week's cleaning post. Please forgive me. So, the original dates that I put on the schedule (here) are going to be off by one week. This week we are going to talk about SALT! So, uh, a little background and my relationship with salt....we used to be best friends. I mean seriously. I was a saltaholic back in the day, my favorite kind being pretzel salt. It was so bad, that was what people gave me as birthday and Christmas presents. We "broke up" when I gave up salt for Lent back in '98. It was probably one of the hardest things I had to do. No, seriously. It really was. I was that addicted. Since then, though, salt and I get together to make some very important things (such as bread). Now we can rekindle our relationship on a whole new, and much healthier, level: cleaning. I already knew some of the great things salt could do, but in my research, I found a lot of really interesting tips. So, I'm going to put this in two categories: "Salt Stands Alone" and "Salt and Friends." Some of this information is a repeat from the last two weeks (with Vinegar and Citrus).

And, as always, please comment with your suggestions, warnings, tips, and ideas on any of these. I know there are a TON of old recipes that I don't know about (or even some new ones). Let's work together!

Let me introduce my friend: Salt

Salt Stands Alone (BTW, many of these are mixed with water, not necessarily a friend, just water)

1. Dish and Hand washer: Mix a little with water to make an emergency dish or hand cleaner. This works if you need something at the last second. NOTE: if you use it on your hands, you will need use lotion, as this will dry out your hands. 
2. Burnt on food in pans: scrub a little salt on the burnt food. This works great, and I have used this while camping. It's a great natural scrubbing pad. 
3. Oven cleaner: Much like the pans with the burnt on food, sprinkle some salt and then scrub. If you need to mix a little water with the salt, go ahead! 
4. Dusting: Sprinkle a little salt on the things that get dusty around your house, such as fabric flowers. The salt will attract the dust. All you will have to do is shake off or wipe off after a few minutes. So cool! 
5. Bugs (Ants): Sprinkle some on your pantry shelves to discourage ants. Another new one for me! It makes sense. I never have had a problem with ants around my salt! 
6. Bugs (Mosquitoes): Wet a mosquito bite, then sprinkle on some salt. This will cut back on the itching. Yay! Take some camping! 
7. Fishy scales: Soak your fish in salty water for about 10 minutes before you scale it. The scales will come off easier. 
8. Testing Eggs: Dissolve salt in water and then place in the questionable egg. If it sinks it's GOOD; if it floats, BAD! So easy! (never a problem in my house, though, since we go through about a dozen eggs a week!) 
9. Ironing: Sprinkle some salt on a damp cloth and clean off that iron. This will save your clothes from getting that nasty residue on the shirt you wanted to wear that day! 
10. Weeds: Weeds hate salt. Sprinkle it on there. 
11. Spilled Pies: (I LOVE this idea!) If your pie is bubbling over, sprinkle salt on the spilled juice and then finish baking. It will keep it from burning and making your oven a mess. Yes! 

Salt and Friends:

Vinegar:

1. Mix with salt to make a basic household cleaner. Make sure, though, you don't use on porous surfaces, as the acidity in vinegar can damage the product. Also be careful with wax surfaces. The salt will damage that for sure! 
2. Mix with salt to clean the fridge's inside. This will also help as a deodorizer. 
3. Mix with salt to clean off stains such as coffee, tea, and vinegar
4. Mix with salt to clean and shine tiles

Citrus:

1. Mix salt with citrus juice or pour right into the center of a squeezed lemon to scrub metal surfaces. This will clean and shine. Be careful, though to make sure you rinse. Leaving that citrus on there too long. Rinse after shining. 

Starch:

1. LOVE THIS: Mix equal parts salt and starch to make a putty that can be used for plastering holes in walls. Get that deposit back! 

So that's about it (for me at least). There are really a TON of things to do with salt. It's good for cleaning your pores, keeping potatoes from turning brown, etc. Check out these websites below. This is where I got much of my info and they had more ideas that I didn't share. Check them out. Don't forget, though, to leave YOUR ideas. 

1. http://www.preparednesspro.com/blog/the-vitality-of-salt/ (This is also the source of the picture above)
2. http://www.bellybytes.com/articles/salt.shtml
3. http://living.amuchbetterway.com/clean-your-house-with-salt/
4. http://www.greenfootsteps.com/cleaning-with-salt.html (this site is almost word-for-word the same as the previous source. Someone is plagiarizing here! I'm not sure which one is the primary source, so I'm putting both) 

Next week's topic: Dryer Sheets (please email me your ideas! I have a few, but really only a few!)