11 Things to Do with Salt, (Other Than Eat It!)

As a home schooling Mom, I love to teach the kids to experiment with every day items. Salt is the bargain of the supermarket. At just pennies per pound, I bought enough to experiment with. Here are some of the 'old wives' tales' and folk wisdom I tried out and had good experiences with.

~ Salt can soothe an insect sting. Make a paste of salt with just enough water to hold it together, and then trowel it over the sting site.

~ Salt can put out a grease fire. You can pour salt on burning grease to smoother the fire.

~ Using salt on the floor on your oven making cleaning up easier. The next time your casserole boils over onto the oven floor, pour salt onto the mess right away. After the oven cools down, you'll be able to brush it clean easily.

~ Salt kills irritating plant-life, including poison ivy and sidewalk-crack grass. Spray the leaves and stems of poison ivy with a strong mixture of salt water to do them in. For sidewalk cracks you can sprinkle salt directly onto it, and then our hot water over it to make it soak in.

~ Adding a pinch of salt to your egg whites will make them whip up higher and faster. (Don't worry; your meringue pies won't taste salty.)

~ Fleas can't handle salt. Wash the doghouse with it, or spritz the cat's bedding with salt water to kill those fleas. (Make sure you let the area's dry before your pets return to them!) If you have fleas in the carpets, sprinkle salt over them, and then vacuum the salt (and dead fleas) up after a few hours.

~ Salt is a safe but abrasive cleaner to use on your coffee pot. Put a handful of salt in your glass coffee carafe with 8-10 ice cubes, and swish it around. It takes away the dark stains form the coffee.

~ If your washing machine is overflowing with suds, you can sprinkle salt on the suds to break down the bubbles quickly. (Don't ask how I know this one works!)

~ You can clean the accumulation of dust and grime off of your artificial flowers with salt. Put the flowers in a bag with handful or so of salt and shake it around. (Don't plan on eating that salt afterwards!!) Check the salt afterwards, and you can see that it's filthy, especially if it's the first time you've done this. All that came off your flowers!

~ Some bugs are deterred by salt. You can protect your garden by making a line of salt around it, (like a very short fence). Just be careful not to get it on your plants. Some plants can be killed by salt.

~ Both apples and potatoes will keep from during brown after they're cut if you put them in salt water. Use cold salt water, so they also stay crisp.

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