Before throwing out a broom that leaves dust behind, try this simple salt, vinegar and hot water trick

If your broom is leaving a lot of debris behind while sweeping, instead of gathering dust, do not just throw it out. There is a simple household hack that can make it useful for some more time. All you have to do is use most common kitchen items to restore the broom - salt, white vinegar and hot water.

You need to soak the broom's bristles in the mixture, leave them for several hours or overnight, then dry the broom with its bristles pointing upward. The treatment can help loosen grease, grime and other residue trapped between the bristles while allowing the warm water to soften and relax the fibers. Once the broom is clean and completely dry, its bristles may sit more neatly together and work better when sweeping.

Why do broom bristles bend in the first place?

Most modern household brooms use synthetic fibers made from materials such as nylon or other plastics. Repeated sweeping, friction, pressure and storage can gradually deform these fibers. A broom that is repeatedly left standing on its bristles is particularly vulnerable. The weight of the broom keeps pressing the same fibers against the floor, causing them to spread outward or curl.


Once that happens, the broom has a harder time making consistent contact with the floor. Instead of directing dust and hair toward one point, the uneven bristles can scatter some of it. Cleaning the bristles is also important because dirt is not the only thing that accumulates there. Grease and sticky residues from floors can cling to the fibers and make them less effective at picking up fine debris.

The salt, vinegar and hot-water method

You will need a bucket or deep sink, hot water, white vinegar, ordinary table salt and the broom you want to clean. Start by filling the bucket with enough hot water to cover the broom's bristles. Avoid submerging the plastic block where the bristles are attached to the handle.

Add roughly one cup of white vinegar and half a cup of table salt. Stir the mixture until the salt has largely dissolved. Place the broom into the solution with the bristles facing downward.

A short soak can help loosen accumulated residue, but leaving the bristles in the solution for several hours gives the mixture more time to work on grime lodged between the fibers. If you leave the broom overnight, make sure it is positioned somewhere safe and that the handle and non-water-resistant components are not unnecessarily submerged.

The most important step comes the next morning

After overnight soacking, take the broom out and shake off the excess liquid but do not leave the broom standing on its bristles while it dries. Instead, hang it up or position it upside down so the bristles point toward the ceiling. If wet bristles are left pressed against the floor while they dry, they can simply settle back into the same bent shape you were trying to correct. Allow the broom to dry completely before using it again.

What does the salt actually do?

Salt is commonly used in household cleaning mixtures and can help with loosening or lifting certain residues when combined with water and other cleaning agents. White vinegar contains acetic acid, which can help break down some mineral deposits and grime. But there is limited reason to describe table salt as a proven "fiber hardener" that chemically resets plastic broom bristles.

The more straightforward explanation is that the warm soak cleans and relaxes the synthetic fibers, while proper drying and positioning allow them to settle into a more useful shape.

The result will also depend on the broom. If the plastic fibers have become permanently deformed, cracked or severely worn, an overnight soak will not make them new again.

A cheap experiment before buying a new broom

The appeal of this trick is its simplicity. There is no special cleaning product to buy, and the process takes only a few minutes to prepare. It may work particularly well when a broom is dirty, sticky and mildly misshapen rather than genuinely worn out. And even if the bristles do not return completely to their original shape, cleaning away accumulated residue can still make the broom easier to use. The bigger lesson may actually be simpler than the salt-and-vinegar mixture itself: how you store a broom matters. Keeping the bristles off the floor between uses can prevent them from being permanently pushed out of shape. In other words, the best way to revive a bent broom may be to stop bending it in the first place.