I don’t have many cleaning products. I have a few heavier duty items that I save for special jobs, like my Dr. Bronner’s Sal Suds. But the majority of my cleaning products I have on hand for other uses, such as vinegar, lemons, baking soda, dish soap, and salt.
Salt is one of the most useful things that you have in your house. Not just for food, salt can help you with tricky household jobs.
- Remove red wine from carpet: Pour some cold water onto the spot to dilute the color. Clean with a sponge and cool water. Sprinkle with salt and wait about 10 to 15 minutes. Then vacuum it up! Works on other fabrics too.
- Deodorize your shoes: Sprinkle some salt in your sneakers to help keep the stink away.
- Remove watermarks from wood furniture: Someone forget to use a coaster? Make a paste with salt and water and gentle rub away the water mark with a cloth.
- Clean your iron: Remove sticky residue and hard water buildup by sprinkling salt on some paper and running a dry and hot iron over it.
- Chill beverages: Need to chill some warm wine or champagne? Fill a bucket with ice, salt, and cold water. Let the bottle sit in the bucket and 10 minutes later it will be cold.
- Clean a cutting board: Sprinkle a cutting board with salt and rub with a half of a lemon.
- Keep your windows frost free: Wash them with salty water in the winter.
- Patch up holes in walls: Make a paste with 1 tablespoon salt plus 1 tablespoon cornstarch plus 2 teaspoons water. Use the paste to fill in holes.
- Flea repellent: Wash dogs in salty water to keep fleas away.
- Fresh flowers for longer: Add a dash of salt to the water in a vase for cut flowers that last longer.
- Remove stuck on food from pots and pans: Boil a little salty water to remove cooked on food from pots and pans.
- Clean your drain: Pour 1/2 cup salt down the drain plus boiling hot water to keep the drains clear.
- Ant repellent: Sprinkle salt in areas with ants for a safer and nicer way to get rid of ants.
- Garlic fingers be gone: Fingers smell like garlic after chopping some cloves? Rub them down with lemon and salt and rinse away the smell. Works for fish smell too.
- No more rust: Make a paste with salt and lemon juice and rub away rust with a dry cloth.
- Clean coffee stained mugs: Rub a little salt on the inside of a mug to restore it to super clean glory.
- Bee sting soother: If stung by a bee, remove stinger first. Then wet the spot and add a little salt to relieve pain.
- Melt snow and ice outside: Sprinkle salt on sidewalks and pathways to keep them snow and ice free.
- Flame Tamer: Keep wild flames at bay in a bbq by sprinkling salt on the coals. The coals will stay hot and you get to keep your eyebrows.
- Sore throat soother: Gargle with salt water to relieve the pain of a sore throat.
- Sweat stains no more: Get rid of those gross underarm stains on your shirts by rubbing on a paste made with salt and water and then laundering normally.
- Shiny stainless steel: Stainless steel (pots, pans, faucets, handles, anything) can be cleaned with salt mixed with lemon juice. Make a paste and buff away.
- Sponge refresher: Soak a sad sponge in salty cold water for about 10 minutes to restore it.
- Stain remover: For fruit and wine stains on clothing, clean with cool water and sprinkle on salt. Let sit before laundering normally.
- Broom cleaner: For yucky straw brooms, soak in a bucket of salty hot water for around 20 minutes. Remove and let dry.
- Mosquito itch stopper: Dab itchy mosquito bites with salt for relief.
- Produce cleaner: Let fruits and vegetables soak in salt water to remove pesky dirt.
- Fresher looking fruit: To prevent chopped fruit from browning, soak in lightly salted water.
- Grease remover: Salt is fantastic at removing grease from cookware and surfaces. Just rub on and rinse away.
- Save the stove and oven: As soon as food boils over on the stove or in the oven, sprinkle the area with salt for easier clean up later.
