Salt has a surprising ability to clean many everyday households items. Salt is an amazing cleaning and deodorizing agent for your home, car and boat. Today's article includes a variety of recipes for how to "make your own" cleaning solutions that can stand up against many of today's expensive commercial products. No need to go to the store, somewhere in your kitchen is a box of good ol' table salt. Let's get started tackling some of your home's toughest cleaning jobs. Meet you in the bathroom!

Bathroom

Bathtubs, sinks and toilets: To restore white enamel that has yellowed, combine salt and turpentine to the consistency of toothpaste. Apply, let sit 15 minutes, then wipe with a damp cloth. This also works for rust stains.

Chrome faucets: Rub with a half a lemon dipped in salt. Distilled vinegar and salt on a warm cloth work well too. Rinse well and buff with a clean dry towel.

Mouthwash: A container of salt is a very helpful item in your medicine cabinet. A cup of warm water and a 1 tsp. of salt and 1 tsp baking soda make for an excellent mouthwash.

Sore throat remedy: A warm glass of water and a tablespoon of salt make for a soothing throat gargle.

Face and body: Use a handful of salt and your favorite cream body soap to make a first-rate exfoliant when massaged in to your face and body.

Kitchen

Refrigerators: To freshen up and sweeten the inside of your refrigerator make a light solution of salt and club soda water. Wipe the walls and trays to cut odors and bring out a shine. Salt won't scratch the emamel finish like most commercial cleansers.

Cutting boards: Just sprinkle a little salt on a wet cutting board and scrub. Salt absorbs smells and eliminates odors.

Cleaning the counters: Fill a spray bottle with a cup of warm water and a cup of white vinegar or lemon juice. Add a teaspoon of salt and shake well to let the salt dissolve. Spray on your counter tops and scrub with a sponge.

Clog free drains: Pour a half cup salt down the sink followed by a pot of boiling water. If you do follow these steps every 3-4 weeks this should help stop most grease from building up and deodorize at the same time.

Onion smell on your hands: Rubbing your hands with salt and vinegar and then rinsing them under cold water should eliminate all the odors!

Coffee pot stains: Here's a famous restaurant secret; to get those stubborn stains out of your coffee pot, pour about a quarter cup of salt in, add some lemon juice or vinegar and some ice cubes and swish around, then rinse. Your coffee pot will be spotless. This solution also works great on your favorite tea or coffee cups.

Flatware: Rubbing with mixture of table salt and tomato juice works wonders for stubborn stuck on egg stains on your nice flatware.

Brass and Copper: A paste of salt and vinegar cleans tarnished brass or copper. Those once beautiful copper bottoms pots will look new again.

Thermos odors: A wonderful cure to the smelly thermos or closed jugs containers is to pour in a quarter cup of salt and let it sit overnight, shake, then rinse with clean water.

Kitchen burner fire: If a small fire occurs while cooking on your stovetop, sprinkle salt over the burner to help suffocate the flame.

Oven spills: Sprinkle salt on the oven spill while the dish is still cooking. Salt helps cut down on the smell and smoke while your dish continues to cook. Be very careful, always use an oven mitt. This works great as an abrasive to clean up the spill afterwards.