Surprising Uses For Eggshells

If you used to throw away the eggshells until now, you might want to reconsider. Eggshells contain high amounts of calcium and other vital compounds that can be used for fertilizing the soil in your back garden and more.

So after you prepare your favorite dish with eggs, save the shells for later use to reap its surprising benefits.

Here are 16 of the most common and efficient uses of eggshells:

Powerful And Natural Abrasive Cleaner

If you are looking for a powerful and environmentally friendly cleaner for your pots and pans, look no further than the eggshells. It could be from chicken eggs, duck eggs, or of other poultry. You can easily ground them up into a fine powder, mix them with soapy water (or water and some other dish cleaner, for that matter) and then clean your pots.

The powdered eggshells make an outstanding abrasive cleaner for your dishes, and you can even use it to clean the bird feeders and remove all the gunk that has accumulated.

Calcium Supplement

As mentioned above, eggshells are known to be very rich in calcium, this is why you can easily wash them in warm water, boil them to kill all the bacteria and then put them in a coffee grinder or a blender.

“Most good quality eggshells from commercial layers contain approximately 2.2 grams of calcium in the form of calcium carbonate. About 95% of the dry eggshell is calcium carbonate weighing 5.5 grams.” [source]

The result is a perfect hard-boiled eggshell powder that you can easily store and use on a daily basis – you can add a bit of it to your coffee, sauce, dishes and whatnot. The secret is to make sure that you do not remove the eggshell membrane when grinding the shell – it is also very important to boil it first, just to make sure all the pathogens are removed.

Natural Stain Remover

One of the many different uses of the eggshell is as a natural stain remover.

Removing coffee or juice stains can be a very daunting task, and if you do not want to use any synthetic cleaner (which although is toxic, tends to be more efficient), then you can easily make your own natural stain remover at home, with some ground up eggshells.

Carefully smash the shells, sprinkle them over the stain, add some warm water and allow the eggshells to work their magic by absorbing the stain.

Ornaments

In some parts of the world, the egg whites and egg yolks are carefully removed from the egg through a very tiny hole, and the remaining eggshell is used for creating Easter or Christmas decorations. This is a great, efficient and cost-effective way to make decorations, especially if you are a crafty person.

Use The Egg Membrane To Treat Superficial Wounds

Did you know that the egg membrane can be a great and natural band-aid? If you did not, then make sure never to throw the membrane away! If you cut your finger, simply wrap the membrane around it to protect it from becoming infecting, as well as for speeding up the healing process.

Use The Eggshell For Cosmetic Purposes

You can also turn the eggshells into a powder and add it to your nail polish to make it even stronger and more durable. On the other hand, you can use the crushed eggshells for creating a natural and efficient facial scrub or face mask that will not only remove all the dead skin and cells, but will also reduce the look of wrinkles and relieve skin irritations.

Great Garden Fertilizer

The high calcium content present in the eggshells is perfect not just for making a natural supplement, but also for fertilizing your garden – if you want your veggies and plants to thrive, then simply crush the eggshells and sprinkle into every hole of potting soil prior to planting the seedlings. Then you can store the remaining eggshells, crush them and sprinkle them over the ground occasionally,  preferably twice a month.

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Keep The Garden Pest Away!

Nobody likes slugs and snails pests and those little critters that ruin your plants and vegetables. You can easily crush the egg shells and spread them throughout your garden in order to keep the snail and slug population down, and they will surely not come back anytime soon!

Use The Grounded Eggshells As A Supplement For Your Chickens

Chickens need a lot of calcium for laying tasty eggs with thick shells, so why not give them a “taste of their own medicine”? Simply crush or powder the egg shells and add a bit of them to their regular food.  This will boost their nutrient intake!

Add Them To Compost

Eggshells are rich in calcium along with other nutrients plants like. One medium sized eggshell each holds about 750 to 800 mg of calcium. Crush or grind them up and then add them to your compost pile or composter along with banana peels and coffee grounds.

Whiten Your Clothes With Eggshells

Crush some eggshells, combine them with several lemon slices and put them in a cloth bag along with all your clothes in the washing machine.  Your white clothes will stay white for longer!

Grow Your Seedlings

Did you know that you can also use the eggshells to grow your seedlings? Not  only do the shells serve as a great natural “pot”, but they also gradually release calcium and other nutrients that will help the seedlings thrive. Make sure to make a small hole at the bottom of the shell for the water to drain,  fill the shell with some dirt and place the seeds. Once the seedlings are ready to be transferred to the ground, crush the eggshell and place it in the ground.  It’s a win-win!

Add Them To Your Coffee

If you are not fond of the bitter taste of coffee, then you can easily add some crushed eggshells in the filter, next to the coffee grounds, to make it taste a lot better!

Feed Them To The Birds

You can easily add some carefully crushed eggshells to the seeds and place them in the feeder, for all the birds to eat it – the extra calcium boost will particularly benefit the females, as they usually require more calcium than the male birds.

Keep Your Drain Clean

We all know that drains and sinks tend to get clogged – if that is your case as well, then mix some crushed eggshells with soap and some hot water to clean the drain of all the gunk that may linger there.

Give Your Pet A Calcium Boost

Last, but not least, your dog can also benefit from the natural calcium found in the eggshells, which is particularly good for the bone and teeth. Clean and dry the eggshells, then turn them into a smooth powder and then put it into your dog’s food.

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