Some simple tips for cleaning with household salt
Cleaning with salt is one a host of easy ways to be a little "greener" at home. It's very, very cheap, does no harm to the environment and it's easily available.
It could also mean fewer trips to the shops, as you can dispense with some of those expensive commercial cleaners when you choose to clean using simple salt. Just buy a big bag or three and away you go!
Salt has a multitude of uses as a natural cleaner.
Here's a brief guide.
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Salt is easy to use, safe and really cheap!
The salt we are talking about here is table salt, common salt, or sodium chloride.(Why the picture of lemons? - Please see below for tips on cleaning with salt and lemon juice!)
Any table salt from the supermarket or grocery store works fine.
This is how you can use salt in your cleaning programme.
General household cleaning:
Salt dissolves easily in water and can be used by itself or mixed with several other environmentally-friendly cleaners. You can combine it safely with vinegar, lemon juice, or washing up liquid.
Washing up:
Try it if you run out of washing up liquid. Just sprinkle a tablespoonful of salt into the water. Rinse the dishes well afterwards. You may want to wear gloves or use a skin cream after using it as salt is rather drying for your skin.
General cleaning:
Mix salt with vinegar for a good general purpose cleaner. Don't use it on lino, waxed surfaces, or marble. The vinegar may cause damage to the surface.
Vinegar and salt can be used for many general household cleaning jobs, such as cleaning sinks and tiles and glass.
It will also remove stains from teacups and teapots.
Oven and hob spills:
Oven and hob spills can be covered with salt. Let the mixture stand for a few minutes. Add a little water if necessary. Then wipe up. The salt absorbs the liquids and helps lift them from the surface. It is particularly good at absorbing grease and oils.
Cleaning pans:
Salt can be a great cleaner for cast iron pans. Sprinkle salt around and then wipe clean. You can even do this instead of washing it in water (if the pan only lightly soiled.) It helps protect the surface and makes it behave more like a non-stick pan.
Alternatively, use it with hot water. Rinse the pan afterwards and brush with oil.
Burnt-on food:
Add 3 or 4 tablespoons of salt to burnt pans as soon as the damage occurs. This makes them easier to clean.
Cleaning metals:
Salt can be mixed with lemon juice to clean some metals.
Use lemon juice or lime juice and salt to clean brass and pewter. Sprinkle salt into an empty squeezed-out lemon half and rub down the metal. Rinse off the gunk and buff the surface to a shine with a soft cloth.
Other uses:
Salt is also a valuable cleaning product for laundry. Please see my website Greenfootsteps.com for more tips.
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More tips for salt
Laundry and materials cleaning
Here are a few ways that salt can be used for laundry and other household tasks.Delicate items
Salt can also be sprinkled on some (dry) materials to remove dust and dirt. If you have delicate fabric items or artificial flowers in which dust has become embedded in the folds, sprinkle a little salt onto the items. The salt will gather the dust and both can then be safely shaken out.
Excess detergent
If you pour out too much detergent, some salt sprinkled onto the lather will quickly reduce the froth without spoiling the cleaning power of the detergent.
An occasional replacement for detergent
I've also found that you can use salt and soap flakes together as an alternative to detergent. Just grate some laundry soap into the soap dispenser and add about a tablespoon of salt. You can also add sodium bicarbonate if you want to make sure your laundry is fresh-smelling! This seems to work pretty well, though I haven't done double-blind tests on it as a method!
I would not use it all the time, as it might affect rubber and metal parts of your machine adversely. I've used it off and on for months with no detectable problems. Contact your washing machine manufacturer if in doubt about the wisdom of this. Using salt and soap saves on the carbon footprint, too because you don't have to nip out to the shop to buy detergent!
So far, I use salt and soap for washing when my washball runs low, or when I think I need something slightly stronger than the washball.
(Not sure what I'm talking about? Check out my lens on washballs.)
Cleaning wine spills
Salt is great for cleaning red wine from materials. See a demonstration below from Youtube of how to clean red wine from a carpet.
How eco-friendly is salt as a cleaner?
You may be wondering just how much of this wonder cleaner we can tip down our drains into the waste water system!
Salt is extremely safe as a cleaner as it breaks down harmlessly. Salt as a road de-icer can cause some problems, mainly by causing rust in cars and some damage to nearby vegetation. However the only problem with salt as a domestic cleaner is if you use it a lot and then save the "grey water" for use on your garden. The salt concentration may be too high for your plants to handle.
Reader Feedback
If you have any thoughts or reactions, post them here!
I'm still collecting salt cleaning tips for my site, greenfootsteps.com, so any comments or tips are very much appreciated.
pax wrote
I add a few tsns of salt to my dishwashing detergent ( I hand wash) -- makes it last longer and makes it more potent!!
Posted December 27, 2008
IanHarper wrote...
Green Carpet Cleaning
great eco advise. its a shame that this type of information is not passed down any more. well done
Posted May 17, 2008
nikki08 wrote...
Nice lens here, its very informative. I cant wait to try. I also have a good site regarding on carpet cleaning info: Carpet Cleaning Marketing its about carpet cleaning, Stream Carpet Cleaning, Compact Carpet Cleaner, and other cleaning stuff. Please visit us!
Posted March 13, 2008
Mkr 1070 wrote
If you have a glass coffee pot that is stained, mix salt and ice and a little water-swirl until the stains dissappear. We used to do this at a catering company-works pretty well!
Posted August 28, 2007
greengecko wrote...
Thanks for your tips and feedback! Please keep them coming... and of course, if you've time, take a moment to rate my lens! Thanks,
Posted August 24, 2007
eyanej wrote
you can use salt on mosquito bites, right after you are bitten. just wet the site, and rub in some salt, and it takes the itch away. try it! i even use this on my kids!
Posted August 13, 2007
flaminglacer wrote...
Glad to have you as a member of the Health and Wellbeing Group - drop by the Group HQ sometime and see what is there for you.
Posted July 25, 2007
giddygabby wrote...
Sprinkle salt in the sink after you pull the plug and it will kill the suds quickly too, plus wash away grease residue. I have used it on my cast iron pans and for cleaning bad stove-top spills for years. Good info here. Thank you!
Posted July 21, 2007
KevinRiley wrote...
Great lens. I'm very much into natural living, and I like seeing lenses like yours educating people about the ways we can all live more naturally. Keep it up. From an infopreneur who loves the natural life.
Posted July 16, 2007
Margaret_Schaut wrote...
I love useful lenses! I always clean my cast iron with salt and oil. It keeps them in fabulous shape. Its great to clean coffee pots, just ice and salt and swish around, it cleans the dark film off of the glass or the inside of a thermos, and it is an easy way to clean tall necked bottles.
Posted June 11, 2007
Barkely wrote...
Thanks for sharing this great information. I don't have a salt tip, but I do have one for vinegar. Pour pure white vinegar on any dandelion roots left in the ground after you pull the plant out. This will kill the root, and keep the dandelion from growing back.
Posted May 12, 2007
Nathanville wrote...
Very interesting and informative lens with lots of useful tips.
Posted May 11, 2007
Classic wrote...
Very interesting lens. Welcome to my group Nature and Environment! If you have some time, please visit and rate my lenses. I gave you 5*s!
Posted May 08, 2007
greengecko wrote...
If you have any salt cleaning tips please add them to the blurb!
Posted May 08, 2007
Cleaning with salt
Red wine stains on carpet
by greengecko
I'm passionate about the environment and I am writing and publishing a website on green living - www.greenfootsteps.com. The focus of the site...
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