salt got hard

[arizonagrace]

this may be a stupid question but . . . i bought a bucket of salt and it must have gotten wet because now its hard. i would like to break the salt without ruining the bucket. i've tried to break it but it is very difficult. does anyone have any suggestions or solutions to this problem?

 

[JeepersReefers]

Add water to the bucket, it will soften up the salt... May not be useable after that.

Or just turn the bucket upside down and beat on the bottom (works on cement in 5g buckets)

 

[CATALYST]

Drill?

 

[arizonagrace]

I had thought about adding water to the salt and just leaving it as a mush, but didn't know if it would go bad. I had hoped I could do that and just add mush to my other bucket like i would the salt.

I don't have a drill. I did try hammer and butter knife, but it is very hard in the center. I started taking the knife (new) and hitting the edges. It takes forever to get 1/4 cup of salt

 

[yungreefer2410]

yeah drill would be best, see if you could borrow your neighbors, just clean it up afterwards

 

[DaveK]

Salt loves to absorb water, especially if it is stored in a damp area.

If this is a modest amount of salt discard it. It's going to cause more trouble trying to break it out than it's worth.

If it's a large amount, the methods mentioned by others work, but do tend to make a mess. Also, test the results of water made from this salt. It the readings are way off for pH, calcium, magnesium, or alkalinity, discard the mixed water and the salt. Then mix a new batch using new salt.

 

[csmsss]

Take a rubber mallet and firmly tap the sides and bottom of the bucket. Don't be afraid to give the bucket fairly solid strikes with the mallet - they're tougher than you might think.

That'll break up the salt into chunks - you can then break up the large chunks into smaller chunks however you wish.

 

[Woodstock]

I have read that hardened salt has changed properties. I always throw away any hardened pieces and will not use them.
I will try to find more info....

 

[arizonagrace]

I went to the hardware store and got a mallet. I used it and it worked great. Broke up the salt into big chunks. Fortunately, underneath the chunks was regular salt that hadn't hardened. I am going to test the water very carefully if I do use it.

Thanks very much. The $2 mallet saved me $55 on a new bucket of salt

 

[Woodstock]

Okay.. I read up on it. It will be safe to use but test the newly made salt water for alkalinity, calcium and magnesium; then adjust as necessary.

 

[csmsss]

I went to the hardware store and got a mallet. I used it and it worked great. Broke up the salt into big chunks. Fortunately, underneath the chunks was regular salt that hadn't hardened. I am going to test the water very carefully if I do use it.

Thanks very much. The $2 mallet saved me $55 on a new bucket of salt

You're very welcome. Everyone should have a rubber mallet around anyway!

 

[arizonagrace]

You are right about everyone having a rubber mallet. I was banging on the bucket and my cat was watching me. The feline holy terror started acting up trying to jump on tanks and i picked up the mallet from my lap to move it and grab her and she took one look and went flying out of the room.