Can You Use Salt to Put Out a Grease Fire?

People often ask; can you use salt to put out a grease fire?

Sometimes, half-truths get passed around so much they become facts- such as consuming carrots granting night-vision, or toads causing warts.

While this might be fine for amusing anecdotes like those, when it comes to health and safety, you don’t need anecdotal advice.

The short answer is yes and no. Don’t worry, though, Firescape, experts in fire safety, are on hand to give you the full lowdown.

The Answer

Technically, salt can be used to put out grease fires. However, there is a myriad of caveats to this, the first being that this only works on small fires. You need a huge amount of salt for it to be effective, more than you could practically carry and dispense quickly enough.

Baking soda may also help to smother a growing fire before it gets out of control. You have to be careful though, as using the wrong powder can be disastrous. If you accidentally use baking powder or flour, you’ll end up making it much worse.

 If the fire is already self-contained, then this might be a viable method of dealing with it. Why take the risk though?

While this could save a bit of money, fire safety isn’t something you should scrimp on, especially if the alternative has no basis in scientific fact.

Whenever there’s a dangerous fire, the first thing you should do is ring the emergency services. However, if it’s small enough to handle yourself, don’t go for the nearest salt-shaker.

A Better Solution

The truth is, salt isn’t exactly the most effective solution when it comes to fires.

The only reason you would seriously attempt this is because of the lack of portable extinguishing solutions available.

Now, there is a better way to deal with the problem; StaySafe 5-in-1 Fire Extinguisher. It is the UK’s smallest aerosol extinguisher, weighing just 200ml, and contains no mechanical parts.

This makes it highly portable, so you never have to worry about carrying a heavy piece of equipment around.

StaySafe 5-in-1 uses LifeSafe's patented formula, which leaves zero toxic residues behind, making it the eco-friendliest option out there.