Each time a general or partial cleaning is planned, the stock of cleaners in the closet is reviewed. The reserves of white vinegar and baking soda are sufficient and you are reassured. On the other hand, did you know that the famous duo can be supplemented by a third agent with poorly known cleansing properties? If the idea of cleaning your house with salt seems a bit far-fetched, give it a try and we'll talk about it.
Page content
Why clean your house with salt?
Commercial links
Do you know the tale of the king who drove his youngest daughter out of the home because she told him she loved him like salt? The two eldest daughters compared filial love to gold and silver. When the father estimated the value of salt, a few years later, he understood the wise words of his little girl. You can't do without salt in the kitchen, but to realize its role as a cleaner alongside baking soda, for example, you need to know its properties. To clean your house with salt, you have to rely on qualities such as abrasiveness, absorption and the ability to disinfect.
Commercial linksSalt gives taste to everything, and although you can't deprive meals of it, consumption should be moderate. Small amounts in the diet will decrease the acidification of the body. It is clear that the usefulness of salt in the kitchen is great but reasonable. So, is it the same when you decide to clean your house with salt? Where is it in the list of natural home cleaners?
Still, buying salt is simple. In a grocery store, you can opt for at least a dozen different salts, even more. Epsom salt in the garden to boost your plants or pink Himalayan salt which works miracles with the body. But whether it's sea salt from France or regular table salt, the formula is essentially the same. Consisting of a sodium atom and a chlorine atom, salt has a low charge, which makes it very attractive to water. That's why it's a good preservative for processes like pickling and drying.
This quality of water absorption is also the reason why salt lowers the freezing point of water and is used in winter to clean the house with salt, specifically the driveways of snow.
Closely observed, we find that salt is composed of small crystals. Individual salt grains have sharp edges which, like sandpaper, can be used to scrape off stains, food bits, sticky deposits and other residue. And, since salt is something we eat anyway, it can be used on surfaces that touch food. Combine salt with an acid (like vinegar) and you can scrub rust off just about any surface, even tile.
Another trick is to mix a little salt with olive or vegetable oil to remove liquid damage from wooden furniture without drying it out. Please note: do not rub and never use the salt without a greasy liquid to avoid damaging the surfaces.
Back when butcher shops were the norm, customers might have glimpsed an unused wooden cutting board covered in salt. It was a tradition among butchers, and there was a real scientific reason behind it: salt absorbs liquids that get into the grooves of butcher blocks. The result ? Pathogenic bacteria have neither the chance to proliferate nor where to do so.
The ability to absorb salt can be surprisingly useful on the cutting board. Sprinkle cool liquid spills (like red wine) with salt to prevent them from staining carpets or clothing. Pour a little salt into damp, stinky shoes, let them sit overnight, and find them refreshed in the morning.
Namely that a recent greasy stain is easily cleaned if it is covered with salt just after the stain.
When salt dissolves in an acid like lemon juice or vinegar, sodium and chlorine atoms are released and these charged particles create powerful chemical reactions: both agents can keep sink drains clear and deodorized . A paste of salt and vinegar will make your oven shine and remove rust from all kinds of surfaces.
Put salt in half a squeezed lemon to deep clean your wooden cutting boards or to polish stainless steel accessories. You may retort, where is the baking soda? Without questioning its power, but don't forget the first property of salt: it is more abrasive than sodium.
The invasion of ants in the house is not a rare phenomenon? Every spring, when they come out of the anthills, they rush inside homes in search of food. How to keep them away?
Sprinkle salt along window sills, doors, baseboards, or anywhere ants crawl. It's a way to deter small animals without chemicals.
Surely you have faced the problem with the brownish stains remaining in the porcelain coffee cups. The solution is to mix some salt with dish soap and scrub in it.
