Ordinary table salt is present in almost every kitchen. But few know that it can be useful not only during cooking. With correct use a small amount of salt is capable of making washing more effective and helping to keep things in good condition.

What salt is added for during washing

Most often salt is used when washing coloured things. It helps the fabrics preserve brightness longer, especially if the clothes are new and can slightly bleed.

In addition, salt can:

• help reduce residues of detergent in the fabric;
• make towels and bed linen more pleasant to the touch with hard water;
• slightly reduce unpleasant odours on clothes before the main wash.

How to use correctly

For one wash 1 teaspoon of ordinary table salt is enough.

It can be poured right into the drum together with the laundry or added to the compartment for washing powder. Increasing the amount is not worth it — a larger volume of salt will not improve the result.

When this method is especially useful

It suits best for:

• coloured T-shirts and shirts;
• denim clothing;
• towels;
• bed linen.

It is especially useful to use this technique in the first several washes of new clothes, when the dye can still wash out.

What is important to remember

Salt does not replace high-quality washing powder and does not remove complex stains. Also it is not worth pouring it into the machine in large portions — there will be no benefit from this.

If salt is used moderately and combined with a suitable washing mode and a good detergent, things will longer preserve a neat appearance and saturated colour.

Sometimes the simplest home tricks turn out to be really useful. The main thing is to observe measure and use them wisely.

This material was prepared by the editorial team using artificial intelligence tools. All information has been verified and edited before publication.