Uses For Salt For Cleaning, Stain Removal And More

Did you know there are uses for salt around your home for things besides just cooking? Salt is a natural way to clean your home and remove certain stains too.

Table salt is something almost everyone has in their home, to use in cooking and for eating, so why not use it in other ways too?

The great thing about using salt for these additional purposes is that it is natural and nontoxic, so it is safe for use around your family without fear of harsh chemicals.

All of the salt uses below can be done with regular table salt, but in addition you could use kosher salt, sea salt or another coarse salt.

In fact, when using salt to take advantage of its abrasive qualities it is best to use a coarse salt because the larger chunks, by their very nature, are more abrasive than the more finely ground table salt.

Uses For Salt For Cleaning Your Home

Salt can be used for cleaning based on one of its several qualities, including as an abrasive, for its chemical properties, or because of its high melting point.

Using Salt As An Abrasive Cleaner

As stated above one of the ways salt can be used for cleaning is as a mild, non-toxic abrasive.

Because salt can be ingested it is often used for cleaning cookware and other items where using harsh chemicals might not be advised because of the fear of later ingestion of chemical residues.

Here are some examples for how to use table salt, or more coarse salts, as an abrasive cleaner:

• Clean Stains From Coffee Pot With Salt
• Getting Rid Of Coffee And Tea Stain Rings In Mugs
• Homemade Dishwasher Detergent Recipes
• Cleaning Iron Skillet With Salt
• How To Clean Garbage Disposal With Rock Salt, Ice And Lemon Peels
• Clean Artificial Flowers With Salt
• Homemade Rust Remover

Cleaning With Salt For Its Chemical Properties

Salt is also sometimes used for its chemical properties to help clean items around your home.

For example, you can clean badly burned pots and pans with non-stick coating using salt water.

All you do is filled the burnt pot with cold water and add 2-3 tablespoons of salt and let it sit overnight. In the morning bring the salt water to a boil and this should get rid of the burn marks.

If the pot is severly burned you may need to repeat these steps a couple of times, but it should eventually all come off. Then, just wash the pot as normal before using it again.

Additional examples for how to clean with salt, based on its chemical properties, include:

• How To Clean Cutting Board With Salt (salt naturally retards the growth of bacteria in high concentrations, and also is used as an abrasive in cleaning the board)
• How To Clean Copper Pots With Salt And Vinegar
• How To Remove Rust Stain From Bathtub Naturally

Using The High Melting Point Of Salt To Your Advantage In The Kitchen

Another of the uses for salt is to help contain oven spills (see the picture to the left).

Using salt in this way takes advantage of its high melting point.

It is difficult (but not impossible) to burn salt. Therefore, when something spills in your oven, like a pie bubbling over, for example, immediately cover the spill with salt.

The salt will help keep the spill from burning and smoking, which can cause odors and set off the smoke detector.

Then, once the oven is cool you can clean up the spill more easily because it will not be as baked on.

Salt Uses In Stain Removal

Salt can also be used to help remove certain types of stains, including red wine, blood and perspiration.

Here are some examples from this site of uses for salt in stain removal:

• Removing Blood Stains From Fabric
• Removing Perspiration Stains From Clothing
• Red Wine Stain Removal
• Removing Salsa Stains With Lemon And Salt

In addition, salt can be used to absorb grease from fabric, in a similar way to baking soda.

The ability of salt to absorb grease is also helpful when you need to remove greasy residue from pots and pans. Just sprinkle salt into the bottom of the greasy pan and use a dry sponge to rub the salt around until it absorbs the grease.

Other Uses For Salt Around Your Home And Yard

You can also use salt to kill weeds. Check out this video explaining how to get rid of dandelions naturally, with salt. Of course, you could use salt to kill all kinds of weeds, not just dandelions.

Salt Can Stain Things Too - How To Remove Salt Stains

Of course, like most things, salt cannot be used for every situation and is not the perfect cleaner.

In fact, salt can stain things, such as your shoes or car upholstery and carpeting after you walk around on a salted sidewalk in winter, for example.

Here are some instructional articles from this site which give tips for removing these salt stains:

• How To Remove Salt Stains From Leather Shoes
• How To Remove Salt And Grit From Car Upholstery

How Do You Use Salt For Cleaning Or Stain Removal?

I'm sure there are even more uses for salt around our homes besides what I have mentioned above.

You can submit your own uses of salt around the home here, or read tips already submitted here.

Photo of salt in oven courtesy of The Cardamom's Pod

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CAUTION: This website is provided for informational purposes only, and Stain-Removal-101.com provides it as is, without warranties or guarantees. Some stains just won't come out, and are permanent. Further, some stain removal methods can harm your item, so if the stained item is sentimental or expensive call a professional. See disclaimer of liability for more information.