Here are 25 creative uses for Epsom Salts and a mixed tape of 25 songs to match. Happy epsinging!
1. Epsom Salt Zen Garden: spread Epsom salts in a shallow tray and make a portable Zen Garden. If you can find a box picture frame from the thrift store, remove the backing and use the frame as your fence, placing the frame upside down. I used a piece of floor foam and cut a hole in the middle. One 4kg pail of Epsom salts should make a nice 16 x 20 garden. Place a few rocks and rake your portable garden once in a while. Music to rake your Epsom salts garden with: Tubular Bells by Mike Oldfield.
2. The Secret Garden — The magnesium and sulfur that are in Epsom salt are both beneficial to plants and will help grow greener and thicker foliage, produce higher yields and have more blooms. It increases chlorophyll and makes plants healthier. As well, if you are growing vegetables, what better way to increase you magnesium stores by feeding your plants the magnesium? Harvest your magnesium! It will give you a green thumb even if you have purple hands. Music to garden by: Yoyo Ma playing Bach’s Cello Suite No. 1 with outdoor speakers at full blast on a sunny Sunday morning in the Comox valley? Priceless.
3. Foot Care — Combine 1/2 cup Epsom salt and warm water, add rosewater and glycerin, then soak your feet for 15 minutes to soften skin. Then cut and file your nails. Scrub with a loofah for super soft feet. Music to soak feet by: Tibetan Chants for Turbulent Times by Deva Premal.
3. Big Hair Volumizer — you know that goop that you apply or spray into your hair may contain some of the most toxic products on the planet? They usually contain plastics, petroleum products and hormone disruptors. The answer? Epsom salts! Combine equal parts water, aloe vera gel and Epsom salt. Using your fingers, pinch through your wet hair and leave for 20 minutes. The result? Hair full of volume! Big hair often leads to big results. On the drive in to work, turn up Duran Duran, Hungry Like the Wolf and bring back the 80’s. Go to your boss and ask for a big fat raise. Big hair: big results.
4. Smooth Face—Mix 1/2 tsp of Epsom salt into yogurt, add two drops of oil of grapefruit, massage into skin using small circles to give your pores a deep-cleaning. Rinse your face with cool water, pat dry. Moisturize afterwards if needed. Music to scrub by: Diamonds on The Soles of Her Shoes by Paul Simon
5. Relaxing Bath Afterhours — Run your bath water very hot and add four tea bags of Tulsi (Holy Basil) tea, add two cups of Epsom salt and leave water to steep for 15 minutes. When it has cooled to the proper temperature, add essential oils of lavender, lemon balm and sandalwood. This mix will melt your worries away and help your mind turn off. Imagine what you would do if you had the day off. The next day, take the day off. Music to take the day off with: Rubber Soul, the entire album by the Beatles.
“She told me she worked in the morning and started to laugh. I told her I didn’t and crawled off to sleep in the bath”… from Norwegian Wood
6. Just-Got-Back-From-The-Beach-Hair — You know when you get back from a day at the Beach and your hair has the crackly sea salt spray feel-look. You can get that by combining 1 cup of hot water, 2 tablespoons Epsom salt, 1 teaspoon aloe vera gel and 1/2 tsp conditioner in a spray bottle. Spray this salt mixture into hair and scrunch hair with your hand for crinkly waves. Put on Brick House by the Commodores and slip into on your dancing shoes and then just go... go dancing. You dance, right? People who dance read my blogs.
7. Earth Friendly Fabric Softener — Mix 4 cups of Epsom salt and 20 drops of eucalyptus essential oil to make eco-friendly fabric softener. Use 1/4 cup per load and add at beginning of wash. This is a perfectly healthy alternative to toxic fabric softeners. Your wash will come out fluffy as a baby koala bear. Music to launder your clothes by: Walking in Sunshine by Katrina and the Waves. The first bar is pure genius.
8. Easy Peacy Splinter Removal —Getting splinters is a pain. Getting splinters in the butt is a pain in the butt. My brother once got a splinter on his butt from an old teeter totter and it was one of the funniest things getting the splinter out. He now owns a ballroom dancing school in Portland, so he has survived. Soak your finger (or your bottom, if that is where the splinter is) in a warm Epsom salt bath for ten minutes before attempted splinter extraction. It relaxes the muscles and allows the easy removal of the splinter. This does not work in outer space. Splinter removal music: Whip It by Devo
9. Back and Body scrub — Do you get backne? This is for you. Fill a 250ml mason jar with dry Epsom salts and add the juice of half a lemon. Add four drops of essential oil of sweet orange. Add a teaspoon of grapeseed oil. Mix well with a spoon. After showering, massage handfuls of this body scrub over wet skin to exfoliate the skin. Shower off the dead skin with water or jump into a pool of guppies. Music: Levon by Elton John... man, he can write songs.
11. Exfoliation — For exfoliation, mix 2 cups of Epsom salt with 1/4 cup of coconut oil and a few drops of lavender essential oil. Gently massage into dry patches for smoother skin. For rough parts of the feet, you can pre-soak in warm water with Epsom salts added to it. Music: New York State of Mind by Billy Joel
12. Mosquito bites— Epsom salt can ease the symptoms of mosquito bites. Make a compress by soaking a washcloth in hot chamomile tea mixed with Epsom salt (2 tablespoons per cup of tea), and then gently apply the warm compress to the bite area for 30 seconds. This is great for children and perfectly safe, even around the eyes. Music: Samba Pa Ti by Santana
13. Sore muscles and arthritis — If your muscles or joints ache, an Epsom salt bath is a great way to find relief. Add 2 cups of Epsom salt to your very-warm bath water, agitate the water with your hands to dissolve it then soak for 15 minutes. Music to relax by: Barry Manilow’s All By Myself: classic Manilow before the Botox. Now, when he sings it, it goes like this: “Aww baww maww saww”
14. Tile cleaner — Mix equal parts of dish soap and Epsom salt for a super easy and effective tile cleaner. Rinse with clear water. This is one of the most frugal Epsom salt uses, a great way to save on cleaning supplies and to use a natural alternative to harsh chemical cleaners. Great for cleaning the entire bathroom. Music to clean the bathroom with: Michael Jackson’s Wanna Be Startin’ Something.
15. Bedtime bath for kids — Add one cup of Epsom salt to your kids’ evening bath to help them sleep more peacefully. This also helps the poops, as it is a mild laxative. Music: Always Be a Unicorn by Helen Austin.
16. Headache relief — Make a strong solution of Epsom Salts in hot water and add a few drops of Japanese Peppermint. Soak a face cloth and wring dry. Fold the face cloth into three and lie down with this on your forehead to relieve a headache. While doing this, ask your partner to make a nice cup of chamomile tea. When the tea is made, have him/her redo it because it is too cold. If he/she does not complain, then appreciate him/her. But do this silently. Music: None.
17. Acne — Epsom salt has antibacterial, antifungal and antiviral properties making it a fantastic natural treatment for acne. Dissolve two tablespoonfuls in one litre of hot water, add half a cup of alcohol free witch hazel, and add the juice of half a lemon. Transfer to a spray bottle and spritz this on your skin after washing. Play Barry White’s I’ve Got So Much to Give and lie down, allow it to dry off without wiping it off.
Blackhead removal — Mix a teaspoon of Epsom salt, 3 drops Lugol’s iodine and half a cup of boiling water. Dab this solution to your blackheads with a cotton swab to help naturally extract them. Music to remove blackheads by: Smoke on the Water by Deep Purple
18. Stinky Feet — Add 3 Tablespoons of Epsom salt to 1 quart of warm water and spray your stinky feet. This will makes your skin dry out and also help remove the stink. To remove odor from your shoes, put a tablespoon of Epsom salts in your coffee grinder and sprinkle half a teaspoon of the fine powder in the shoes before you were them. Music to destinkefy with: Feets Don’t Fail Me Now by Herbie Hancock
19. Constipation — Pour 8 oz. of drinking water into a glass, mix with 1 tsp. of Epsom salt and drink the mixture for immediate relief of constipation. Use this only occasionally and reduce dose if it causes diarrhea. Food grade Epsom salts available at the Pharmacy. Music to empty your bowels by: Love Train by the O’Jays. This does not work underwater.
20. Sunburn— Dissolve two tablespoons of Epsom salt in 1 cup of water, store in fridge to cool off and spray on minor sunburns. Music to cool off with: Watermelon Man by Grover Washington.
21. Lemonade Recipe great addition to tartaric acid and citric acid to make classic Old Style Lemonade. Make sure you use the food grade Epsom salts. Music to make lemonade by: You’ve Made Me So Very Happy by Blood Sweat and Tears
Here is the recipe:
Ingredients
4 cups water
5 cups sugar
4 lemons (rind and juice of)
5 teaspoons citric acid
3 teaspoons tartaric acid
3 teaspoons food grade Epsom salts
Method
Peel yellow skin from lemons with a potato peeler & chop them with a cup of sugar using metal chopping blade. (otherwise grate them).
Bring water, sugar, lemon rind to the boil, then remove from heat & add the juice and the carefully measured acids & Epsom salts. (use level measuring spoons). Stir until dissolved then strain into clean bottles.
Store in refrigerator. For long storage, bottle immediately, over tightly, and then dip tops in wax when cool.
22. Common Cold — Did you know that Epsom salt baths can speed healing by detoxifying your body? Try a warm Epsom salt bath the next time you feel those first symptoms of a cold. Add essential oils of eucalyptus, bergamot and peppermint to the bath to help relieve congestion. Music to decongest the head and the soul: Bob Marley’s No Woman No Cry
23. Swelling — Also works for bruises, apply Epsom salts mixed with an infusion of comfrey leaf in warm water. Apply the warm leaf mass on the affected area and wrap with a piece of cheesecloth, remove after 15 minutes. Do not wrap in plastic, as it sometimes causes an irritation of the skin if trapped. Music to unswell by: Don’t Worry Be Happy by Bobby McFerrin
24. Deter slugs — Sprinkle a trail of Epsom salt around the area you want to be free of slugs. Does not work on members of the Senate. Music: Too Bad by Doug and the Slugs. Too Obvious, I know.
25. Natural Insecticide — Mix Epsom salt with water, add ten drops of oil of anise, transfer to a spray bottle and spray on plants to naturally deter insects. Music to kill pests: Dancing with Myself by Billy Idol
