Money Saving Tips-Salt As A Cleaner?

Salt

      In the past week or so I have read a couple of news stories that made me start thinking about how we use salt. We have heard for a while now that we should cut back on our sodium intake. Now, we are being told by how much. We should limit our sodium intake to less than 2,300 milligrams a day, however, most of us should only be eating a little more than a 1/2 teaspoon of sodium per day (or about 1500 milligrams). This is something I have personally been working on for quite a few years. If you use herbs and spices in your cooking it's pretty easy to give up the added salt.  

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     The real culprit in all of this is the salt which is being added to our food while it's processed. Luckily, there are more and more products on the grocery store shelves with low sodium or better yet, no sodium added. Using these low and no salt added products is the only way to get to the new lower recommendations of salt in your diet. Make sure you let your grocery store know that you would like more choices in low and no salt products. You can also check out my recipes to see how I have been able to cut my sodium intake way back.
     The other salt story I read was about using salt as a cleaner. So I went to the Morton Salt website to see what they said about using salt as a cleaner. They actually have a section titled Household Tips. They gave some great ways to clean with salt. Here are a few:

• To remove coffee stains from the inside of a glass coffee pot, add 4 teaspoons Morton ® Salt, 1 cup crushed ice and 1 tablespoon water. Gently swirl until clean, then rinse. Coffee pot should be at room temperature before cleaning. Do not use if pot is cracked or chipped.
  
• Restore the bloom to a glass flower vase. Just mix 1/3 cup Morton ® Salt and 2 tablespoons vinegar to form a paste. Apply to inside of vase. Let stand 20 minutes, scrub, and discard paste. Rinse vase and dry. For a large vase, double or triple the quantity of paste.
  
• Don't let bicycle rust slow you down. To clean the rust from bike handlebars and tire rims, make a paste using 6 tablespoons of Morton ® Salt and 2 tablespoons lemon juice. Apply paste to rusted area with a dry cloth and rub. Rinse thoroughly and dry.
• A fine wine is hard to appreciate when it stains your nicest shirt. Simply use Morton ® Salt to help remove wine stains from cotton fabric. Immediately pour enough salt directly on the stain to soak up the liquid. Immerse the fabric for 1/2 hour in cold water. Launder as usual.
• Clear the air with this homemade air freshener. 
  Just cut an orange in half, remove pulp, and fill the peel with Morton ® Salt. It will provide a pleasant, aromatic scent anywhere in your home.
• To alleviate the discomfort of a mild sore throat, gargle several times daily with a mixture of 1/4 teaspoon Morton ® Salt and 1/2 cup warm water*. It's like taking a liquid lozenge.
  *Gargling with warm salt water is recommended by the American Academy of Otolaryngology to alleviate mild sore throat pain. See a physician if your sore throat persists longer than five days or if the sore throat is accompanied by difficulty in breathing or swallowing, joint pain, earache, a rash or fever.
• To prepare a salt water bath, pour 6 quarts (1-1/2 gallons) warm water in a large basin. Mix in 1/4 cup Morton ® Salt and 1/4 cup baking soda. Soak feet for up to 15 minutes. Warning: Diabetics or individuals with poor circulation should consult their physician before using.
• To patch small nail holes and fine cracks in plaster or wallboard, mix 2 tablespoons Morton ® Salt, 2 tablespoons cornstarch and about 4 to 5 teaspoons water to make a thick, pliable paste. Fill hole and let dry. Sand if necessary, then paint.

      For more suggestions on using salt around the house, go to the Morton website:    http://www.mortonsalt.com/household/index.html   
     Maybe we just need to rethink the way we use salt. Instead of using it to flavor our food, we should just be cleaning with it.