15 Surprising Uses for Eggshells
The next time you make breakfast or bake a cake, I’d encourage you to hold onto your eggshells instead of throwing them out. An eggshell has many other unique uses besides containing an egg yolk for cooking. Here are 15 surprising uses for eggshells in your home and garden.
In case you missed this post, How to Freeze Eggs: Everything You Need to Know
1. Eat Your Eggshells
If you’re anything like me, you probably don’t enjoy it that much when you crunch down on a small, unexpected eggshell while you’re eating a hearty breakfast. Yuck! But eating the entire egg does have several health benefits that you may want to know about. Besides providing enough calcium for the day, eggshells improve bone density and help remineralize your teeth.
It’s even speculated that they can be taken by people who often suffer from inflammation and joint pain. The best way to eat eggshells is to crunch or grind them into a fine powder using a pestle and add them to smoothies, juices, soups, or stews. Just remember to wash them first.
2. Create an Eggshell Facemask
It may surprise you, but you can undoubtedly nourish your facial skin by using an eggshell. You will need to crush the shell into a fine powder, again, using a pestle. Next, whisk an egg white for a while, then add it to the eggshell. Spread the mixture over your face and wait for it to dry. Once it does, wash it off with cool water and experience younger-looking skin.
3. Eggshell Powdered Toothpaste
There are hundreds of different ingredients that you can use to make natural homemade toothpaste, but eggshells will also do the trick to keep your teeth looking good. This homemade powdered toothpaste will save you money and is a great way to use eggshells.
4. Whiten Your Laundry
For those who want to try something other than bleach to whiten your clothing, check this out. Adding egg shells and a few lemon slices into an old sock tied at the end will give you a cheap and effective (and natural) way to keep your socks and undies white. Using eggshells as a laundry whitener makes sense since you have the eggshells already.
5. Combine with Apple Cider Vinegar
The next time you deal with acid reflux or minor skin irritation, try this one for quick relief. Add a few dried egg shells with apple cider vinegar (with the mother). It can be taken orally or applied directly to the irritated skin.
6. Add Eggshells to Your Bone Broth or Stock Pot
Want to make dinner even more healthy for your family? By throwing several eggshells into your pot of bone broth or stockpot, you’ll add several minerals besides calcium, including traces of zinc, iron, magnesium, fluoride, phosphorus, and selenium. Some people view this as a calcium supplement. Unless you added them as a powder, ensure to screen them before serving. You can make an eggshell powder using a Magic Bullet or by placing the shells in a bag and using a rolling pin to make them even smaller.
7. Gets Rid of Bitter Tasting Coffee
For all my coffee-drinking readers out there, pay close attention. Instead of throwing out that disgustingly bitter pot of coffee that sat far too long on the burner, try adding eggshells to lessen the acidity. One eggshell ground into a fine powder is enough to handle 4 cups of bitter coffee.
8. Scrub Your Stubbornly-dirty Pots and Pans
Eggshells are an excellent abrasive to help you clean pots and get all the gunk and stickiness out of your dishes when you’re cleaning them by hand. Add crushed eggshells and smaller pieces to your soap and hot water to get the job done.
9. Feed Your Chickens
If you want to continue to enjoy eating healthier eggs from your chickens, don’t feel uncomfortable about throwing their eggs back at them alongside their feed in a regular feeder. When hens are busy laying eggs, they need extra calcium in their diet, which eggshells certainly have.
Go ahead and crush the dried-out shells and scatter them on a baking sheet. Set your oven to (275°) = (135°C) and bake them for roughly 10 minutes. Then, continue to crush once more and feed the shells to your hens in small amounts.
10. Sprinkle in With Your Bird Feed
Eggshells can also benefit the wild birds in your backyard, especially during the spring when they’re laying eggs. Follow the above-mentioned steps and add them to their usual bird feed in your yard bird feeder.
11. Start Seedlings Indoors
You can start your seedlings by planting them in eggshell pots a few weeks earlier. Fill about half of each eggshell with dirt, plant your seeds, and place them back in the original egg carton. Once ready to be transplanted, place the plant and the egg into the ground. The eggshell will eventually break, providing calcium and other nutrients for your new plants.
12. Fertilize Your Garden
It may come as a surprise, but your garden could also benefit from what you had for breakfast this morning. Go ahead and save your eggshells and allow them to dry out in a sealed container over time. Mash them into tiny pieces, then sprinkle them into your garden’s soil once springtime rolls around. They’ll benefit your garden, including less soil acidity while adding more calcium carbonate.
You can also add eggshells to your compost bin as an added ingredient to benefit the health of your plants when the compost is used in the garden setting.
13. Deter Pests in Your Garden
Broken-up eggshells are an excellent fertilizer and mulch for your garden plants, and they can also work as a pest repellant. All you need to do is break your eggshells into tiny pieces and scatter them around your plants. This brilliant tactic will keep snails, slugs, and even deer from munching on what you’ve worked so hard to grow. Here are other natural ways that you can deter pests in your garden.
14. Nourish Tomato Plants
You can place eggshells beneath your tomato plants to provide them with an extra calcium boost. Nourish other vegetable plants in your garden this way, including peppers, squash, broccoli, and cabbage. Now, this is one of the most surprising uses for eggshells.
15. Add to Your Compost Pile
A compost pile thrives when a host of different biodegradable matter is added, and eggshells are included as mentioned above. You can add calcium boosts to your garden instead of tossing them out.
Other Posts on Eggs
Final Word
These 15 surprising uses for eggshells could benefit you around your home and garden. So, the next time you make eggs for breakfast, hold on to the eggshells instead of throwing them out with the trash. Which of these surprising uses for eggshells did you find most unexpected and valuable? May God Bless this world, Linda
Copyright Images: Eggshells AdobeStock_318344917 by Chamillew
WOW! Who would’ve thought you could do so many things with egg shells. We don’t eat or use that many eggs anymore, but I will wash and start keeping them. Another awesome post, by my favorite poster.
Hi Deborah, you are so nice, girlfriend! Hugs! Linda
I just tell it like I see it, Linda.
Love you girl, Linda
Love you too, Linda!
Deborah
I know this will sound kinda weird, but I read/heard that eggshells are great for garbage disposals. They keep your blades sharp. Of course, w/o power who’s gonna need it. Take care
Hi Pam, now that you save that I remember hearing that! Great minds remind each other! Thank you, Linda
O my No! The eggshells get broken down to small, sharp, jagged pieces. Those pieces then catch food fragments. Great way to jame a disposal or create plumbing issues from clogged pipes. Was told that some time ago by a plumber. Haven’t put eggshells down a sink since.
That sounds like a big step, but I understand. I would like to start a garden outside in the small backyard I’ve got, and start some herb containers inside. It’s gotten very warm here in DC and haven’t gotten to it yet. Things are going slow, but thats okay; so am I. It’ll happen. Goid luck with finding somewhere you really like.
I am speechless, i have learned a lot from your articles, but eating eggshells is at the top of the “unusual”
list. I will have to try that. You are amazing Linda, keep up the great work, i for one, and I’m sure there are many, many people that appreciate every thing you do.
I have a nick name for you, i call you “wonder woman” Smile Please…..
Hi Hearl, oh my gosh, wonder woman!! You made my day! Life is so fun when we can learn from each other. I’m so thankful for my internet friends!! Thank you, Linda
Eggshells are good for dogs too. Just crunch them up mix them in their dog food
Hy Lyra, oh, I love hearing this! One more way to use up those eggshells! Linda
I was just told about giving my egg shells to my chickens. I have found that crushing the shells and then baking them on a cookie sheet for 30 min. at 325 deg. works better. I crush them, more in my food processor(just a little smaller than the oyster shells I give them for strong shells). They do very well and the chickens have no trouble with them . With all the eggs we get I was happy to be able to use the extra shells especially since oyster shell have gotten expensive due to the red tide that keeps them from being used for chickens. It seems to work great!!
Hi Cheryl, oh my gosh, this is awesome! I love doing anything to make life simple. Great comment, Linda
I save my eggshells for my daughters chickens too. I rinse them and throw them in the bottom of my dehydrator tray. This dries them out while dehydrating vegetables. Once dried I leave them on my solid dehydrator tray, cover with a paper towel, and roll them into a powder with my rolling pin. I then save them in a mason jar until full.
I Carolyn, oh my gosh, this is the best idea! I like the dehydrator tip! And the rolling pin tip! Linda
Great article, can’t wait to try some of the suggestions. What is the best way you have found to reduce egg shells to powder? John
Hi John, I just added it to the post, thanks for asking. You can use a Magic Bullet type blender, or use the idea shared by Carolyn. She puts the shells in a bag and rolls them with a rolling pin. Linda
Sorry it’s been a while, just getting to my emails. That’s good to know, never went in that direction; seems logical though. Haven’t done it in while. Thank you
Hi Pamela, thank you, I hope you can use some of the tips. Linda
Linda, thanks so much for the info in this article. I never realized that you could do so many things with eggshells. I download just about all your emails if I think they’ll help me when I get myself together in my new apt. You have wonderful ideas and advice for all the projects I want to start. You are awesome!!!
Hi Pam, oh, you are so nice, thank you for your kind words. Moving is HARD!! We are trying to decide if we should move or find a bigger place to grow more food. Crazy times and we aren’t getting any younger! LOL! Linda
Eggshells really do help remineralize teeth! A year ago I started using this method combined with drinking raw cow’s milk. I started using this combined method after realizing that I ground my teeth down so much in my sleep. A year later my dentist is amazed at the improvement, plus it has helped reduce inflammation in my joints.
Hi Darla, oh my gosh, I LOVE hearing this!! Thank you for sharing. Linda
I’m pretty much just a composter with them. We’ve got sandy red clay soil that compacts and anything I can do to break it up and add minerals to it the better for me.
Hi Matt, oh that sandy red clay is the worst, we had in Southern Utah. It took me about 5 years to get it up to par. YOu compost, that’s awesome! Linda
Hello Linda, As I was reading the comments I noticed that I had commented April 24, 2021, that I was saving eggshells for my daughter’s chickens. Now we are using them for the garden. There are many YouTube videos (Most confusing) on how to mix eggshell powder and 5% vinegar to make a foliar or drenching spray. !. Save your eggshells and rinse them. 2. dry them in the oven Time and temps differ, but I find about 30 minutes at 200 degrees works or easier just put on a micro safe plate and put them in a microwave for 3 minutes on high. 3. When eggshells cool crush them as small as possible or put in a blender, coffee grinder, etc. and make a powder. 4. add 1-part eggshells to 10 parts vinegar. This will cause a reaction, like a volcano, so make sure you have a large enough container. I use 1/4 cup powdered eggshell to 21/2 cups vinegar. A quart mason jar works Okay. Cover with a coffee filter/cloth and rubber band the top. Gas has to be released. Place in a cool dark place like under a cabinet. 5. Wait 2-4 weeks for all the calcium to be dissolved. 5. When ready dilute 2 Tbsp (1 ounce) solution to I gallon of water. Solution is very strong. Can be sprayed on foliage or used to drench the plant. My daughter’s tomato plants are growing like crazy and so are my sweet potatoes. I broke off sweet potato slips from 1 large, sweet potato and let them soak for two days in some of this solution. Within two days they had a good root system.
Hi Carolyn, oh my gosh, I need to do this, I love it! They are free basically so why not reuse them in different ways. Love this, Linda
Exactly! There are so many things I have tried that do not work as advertised, but this sure does! Hope you find it works as well for you.
Hi Carolyn, thank you I love learning new “recipes” that really work! Thanks again, Linda