What Exactly Are You Putting on Your Skin?

3/20/2009

Salt Scrubs Are One of the 14,000 Uses for Salt

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I think anyone who has ever used a salt scrub would attest to their continuing popularity at home and in spas around the globe. There are many types of salt are available, from common table salt or often preferred sea salt, to the more exotic dead sea salts, solar sea salts, European Sea salt, pink Himalayan salts, etc. While there are many varieties of salt to choose from, what they share in common, is they are all therapeutic.

Did mankind always use salt? This was the first question I wanted to answer while writing this entry. Is the use of salt by people and civilizations a common thread from ancient times? Did their use of salt evolve through time, similar to Cleopatra's famed milk baths to obtain soft skin? Indeed it did.


Consider this: without salt, no animal, including humans, would be able to survive. There were industries that were allied to the availability of salt. This gave strength to the populations who had a steady and reliable supply of salt. These societies had an advantage by enabling them to make enormous leaps into a new world of culture, health and well-being.

Some of these early industries included silver mining, (a salt solution was used to harvest the silver from ore), the making of glass (salt mixed with lime and sand), and of course the tanning of hides and the dehydration of meat for preservation, which allowed for a centralized distribution channel to the society, thus providing strength and growth.


From ancient times to modern times there are now believed to be
14,000 uses for salt. With responsible use, salt provides an
environmentally friendly alternative to harsh chemicals and, common salt is inexpensive. These countless uses for salt may be utilized in many areas around the home: the kitchen, the bathroom, the laundry, the garden, in addition to personal hygiene, to name a few.

I'm including some of the 14,000 lesser known uses for salt providing some alternatives to purchased (chemical) products that offer to do the same thing.


Unusual Uses For Salt
-- Add a pinch to milk and it will retain its freshness longer, without affecting its taste.
-- Add to green salads to prevent wilting.
-- Add a few dashes to your water when boiling eggs. It will help prevent the shells from cracking,    and if they do it keeps the egg contained in the shell.
-- Remove the dirt from leafy vegetables by washing the leaves in a bath of salt water. 
-- Eliminate the smell of onions and garlic from your hands by rubbing your hands with a paste made from salt and lemon juice. 
-- Enhance the taste of coffee by adding a pinch of salt to coffee grinds before brewing. Also said to reduce bitterness. A pinch may also be added to tea and cocoa. 
-- Add a half cup (1/4 cup for HE washers) salt to your wash water to prevent color fading. 
-- Extend the life of fresh cut flowers by adding salt to the vase water. 
-- Soak new toothbrushes in slat water before using, they'll last longer. 
-- Brush your teeth with salt by sprinkling on your toothbrush for an effective tooth polish. May also be mixed half and half with baking soda. 
-- Mouthwash is easy to make by adding salt to water. Effectively kills bacteria and odors. 
-- Gargle with a mild salt solution for toothaches or sore throats.  
-- Neutralize odors from drains and pipes and help dissolve grease and built up gunk by adding 1/2 cup salt per quart of boiling water, then pour down the drain. 
-- Mildew can be tackled with a mixture of salt and lemon juice and applied to tiles in tubs and showers.
-- Remove sticky residue from an iron by running a hot iron (no steam) over plain paper sprinkled with salt. A salt solution may also be made and applied to a cool iron with a cloth. Steam iron jets before ironing clothing. 
-- Clean greasy cookware and help to remove baked on food by sprinkling salt on pans before scrubbing. 
-- Kill bacteria (very important when poultry is involved) and remove odors from wooden cutting      boards by rubbing salt into your board, let it stand, then rinse. It will be fresh and bacteria free. 
-- Pet accidents can be remedied by using salt to soak up and neutralize the area.-- Freshen sponges by soaking them in salt water.  
-- Fleas and dust mites can be killed by sprinkling salt onto your carpet or in the cracks of hardwood floors, let sit for an hour, then vacuum. Will also kill the flea's eggs. 
-- Weeds can be eliminated in the garden or between sidewalk bricks by sprinkling salt on them, or using a salt water solution.  
-- Repel ants by sprinkling on shelves. Ants won't cross over salt.  
-- Add solar sea salts, dead sea, European sea, etc. salt to your bath water for the ultimate relaxing and soothing nutrient bath. Your whole body will love you for it, as it feeds you skin and unknots your muscles.

Now these are uses for ordinary salt. Yummy salt scrubs are anything but ordinary. If you've never indulged in using one, it is something to consider. Salt scrubs are a marvelous way to exfoliate naturally, removing dry, flaky skin and moisturizing at the same time.

There is a final thing I should mention about salt, and that's the proverbial superstition of throwing a pinch over your left shoulder if you should spill any. This is done to ward off evil spirits or bad luck. This belief echoes the, break a mirror and you'll have bad luck, superstition.

Well, how about throwing a pinch of salt over your shoulder from time to time, when you're using salt in all these eco-friendly ways, just for good luck. While you're at it, why not decide to treat yourself to a once a week salt or salt and sugar scrub spa treatment right at home? We deserve to be good to our skin as well as our environment. We offer many choices of bath salts at: http://www.essensu.com/.


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