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

• How Fresh Eggs Are Different From Store-Bought Ones
• What You Need to Know About Farm Fresh 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