I’m Just Curious: Amazing uses

by Debbie Walker

I bought a book (yup another crazy book!) of 501 Amazing Uses for Salt, Vinegar, Baking Soda, Olive Oil & Lemons and wanted to share some of it with you.

SALT: Almost every food is improved with the addition of salt. Salt is also used to preserve food. Salt has also been used successfully as a cleaner; its slight abrasiveness without scratching makes it perfect for some cleaning. It also has a use as an antiseptic.

One of the uses I had not seen before is to prevent frost from developing on inside of windows. Wipe windows inside and out with one part salt to eight parts water applied with lint-free cloth.

Keep line-dried clothing from freezing. Add a small amount of salt to the final rinse cycle.

Lay out an ant barrier. Spread a 1/8-inch thick line of salt along window ledges and doorways where ants commonly enter.

VINEGAR: It has numerous uses as a preservative, a condiment, a healing agent and a cleanser.

A teaspoon of white vinegar might fix a recipe that you added too much salt to.

Reduce gassy effect from beans by adding one tablespoon white vinegar to water while cooking.

Degrease the stovetop. Equal parts vinegar and water in a spray bottle and spray stovetop and wipe clean.

Remove stickers with full strength white vinegar to the sticker with a paint brush or cotton ball, let stand 60 minutes. Scrape off.

There are many more uses for these products, but I don’t have room to put them all here. I got my book through Amazon.

OLIVE OIL: Where in the world is Asia Minor, I don’t remember that from our geography class! But it’s one place where olives are grown. It can be used in foods, personal care, natural remedies, home maintenance and cleaning.

Store olive oil in a cool, dark place to last longer. Make sure to keep it in a container that won’t let light in. Both light and heat will cause it to deteriorate.

There are all kinds of food uses but one use I liked was to add a teaspoon to a pot of water to prevent it from boiling over! (I also know that a wooden spoon across top of pan somehow stops the water from boiling over.

BAKING SODA: Of course “baking” soda is used a great deal for cooking although it has many other uses. Useful in labs, medicine cabinets, an effective antacid, soothes irritated skin and insect bites. Around the house it can be a cleaning agent, deodorizer, stain lifter and a polishing agent. It can be used for brushing teeth, baths and even an aftershave (?).

The book didn’t list many hints other than in their description. But most of what I am aware of is using baking soda in a paste form.

LEMONS: uses in the kitchen for cooking and for cleaning. They have an antiseptic and preservative, deodorizer, bleach and disinfectant and the list goes on and on!!

Hate to do this but I have run out of space. Next week I will add to this. I hope that is OK with you.

I’m just curious if you like this stuff like I do! Contact me at dwdaffy@yahoo.com sub: Lemons next. Thank you for reading!