MONEY SAVER: Homemade Nasal Spray

I'm continuing the "cold and flu season" theme for my homemade recipes this week.  I like this recipe because it is a real MONEY SAVER for this Mom!  When a cold hits our household we can tear through two boxes of facial tissue a day!!  That's a big cost.  Just two doses of this homemade nasal spray and my nose is happy all day! This recipe comes courtesy of my Mother.  She works in a pharmacy and sees every day how much folks spend on nasal spray when it's little more than salt water.  The only trick really in knowing what proportions you need of water and salt.  Also the water and salt are a little more work than pouring it out of the tap and adding a few shakes from the salt shaker:

The Water
The water needs to be sterilized.  The easiest option (and also the free option) is to boil your tap water at a rolling boil for more than one minute.  The down side to this option is boiling the water also concentrates any minerals or additives (such as fluoride) in the water.  These concentrates can irritate the nasal lining.  Another option is to use distilled water.  It costs only a few dollars for a large jug.  You can distill your own water at home (click here to read how) but that is much too involved for me.   Also you only need a small amount of sterilized water to create a large amount of nasal spray.

The Salt
The salt need to be iodine free.  Again this is to prevent irritation of the nasal lining.  Table salt, or fine grain salt, always contains iodine.  Sea salt often does not have iodine.  To be sure, read the packaging carefully.  Kosher salt is always without iodine.  It is the easiest (though not the cheapest) option.

I found both at my local Loblaw store

The How-To
1 sterilized container with lid (glass is easiest.  Mason jars are a great option)
2 c distilled water
1 tsp iodine-free salt
 1 nasal spray dispenser (a previously used one, a neti pot or an oral syringe) 

Pour the water into your container and add the salt.  Stir until dissolved.  It took about 30 seconds for my salt to dissolve.  Then using your dispenser (mine is an oral syringe salvaged from my kid's used bottle of ibuprofen) squirt 1 ml into one nostril and allow the salt water to flow out the other.  Click here to see and read exactly how it's done.  It is kinda scary to do at first but it feels great!  Use the nasal spray once per day, to a maximum of 3 times per day, until your cold has cleared.  Place the lid on your container and store somewhere cool and dry.  Mix a new batch if any water appears to have evaporated from your solution or if the salt shows signs of crystallizing.

How did this solution work for you?

Please leave a comment below and let me know!

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