Is Your Salt Lamp Leaking Water? Here’s What to Do

You’ve purchased a brand-new Himalayan salt lamp and you’re excited to use it… but it’s starting to leak water.

Uh-oh! Did you get a defective product? Well, you’re in luck: a wet lamp is completely normal.

Salt is hygroscopic, which is a fancy way of saying that it absorbs moisture from the air. When you leave your lamp out, that moisture will start to condense and, ta-da, it becomes water.

This is common with all salt lamps and you should expect it to happen on a regular basis. Yet this doesn’t mean that you should leave it alone and let it leak all day. Not only will it cause water damage on the surface that your lamp is on, but it can also damage the lamp itself.

The short answer to a leaking salt lamp is to avoid putting it in humid rooms, always keep the salt lamp on, use a higher watt bulb in the lamp to increase the heat, and consider using a dehumidifier. These quick fixes will help excessive leaking, but there’s more to the story.

Keep reading for more details on how to stop a salt lamp leaking, and other things you need to know as a salt lamp owner.

How To Stop A Salt Lamp From Leaking

Do these steps one at a time and proceed to the next one if you find that your lamp is still wet.

A combination of these tips will stop the leaks in no time.

1. Avoid putting it in humid rooms. The more moisture that your lamp absorbs, the more that it’ll leak. You want to keep it out of bathrooms, kitchens, and laundry rooms. You also want to avoid placing it by an open window or door.
   
2. Always keep it on. By leaving your lamp on, the light bulb will radiate heat that will evaporate the water. It’s recommended that you leave it on for at least 16 hours a day, but if you can leave it on 24/7, that’s even better. If you notice that your lamp is on all day but it’s still wet, then read the next step to fix that problem.
   
3. Install a higher watt light bulb. If you live in a home that’s very humid, you will have to change your light bulb. By getting a bulb with a higher wattage, it will emit more heat and evaporate the excess water.ot
   
4. Use a moisture absorber in the same room. If you still can’t control your lamp from flooding, you should get a moisture absorber. Keep it near your lamp and you shouldn’t have any more problems.

The Dangers of A Leaking Salt Lamp

Excessive leaking is dangerous, so it’s important to get rid of the problem right away. These are some of the few dangers that a leaking lamp can cause.

• One side can be heavier than the other. This may not sound very dangerous, but when you think about how heavy your lamp is, it’ll start to make more sense. Your lamp can weigh up to 80 pounds and that weight is evenly distributed on all sides. If you let it leak over a long period of time, though, one side might erode faster than the other. When this happens, it’ll become much easier for your lamp to tip over and that can cause a broken toe if it lands on your foot. Ouch.
  
• It can cause corrosion. You’ll want to avoid placing your lamp on metal surfaces or else you can risk corrosion. This can be a dangerous and costly problem. If you must keep it on a metal surface, place a mat or tray underneath it.
  
• It can be an electrical hazard. You may only focus on the beauty of your block of Himalayan salt, but keep in mind that it’s still an electronic lamp. There’s a cord coming out from the back and if water leaks into a nearby outlet, you can have trouble on your hands. Even if you keep your outlet covered and away from your lamp, though, it can still cause trouble. If salt melts on the cord, it can cause damage and create a fire hazard.

How To Take Care Of Your Salt Lamp

Now that you’ve learned why you should stop your lamp from leaking, you are 90% done with its upkeep. You don’t have to do much more than that, but if you want to go the extra mile and get that sweet 100%, these tips will help get the most out of your salt lamp.

• Clean it with a damp cloth. You don’t have to use anything fancy to wipe down your lamp. A simple rag with water will do the trick as your lamp actively fights against germs by itself. Behold! The wonders of salt.
  
• Scrape off the salt crystals. Behold! The disadvantages of salt. The moisture that attaches itself to your lamp becomes mixed with salt and creates saltwater. When that water evaporates from your lamp, it leaves behind salt crystals. It’s annoying but luckily, you can chip them away with a hard plastic tool. Avoid using metal tools as it may damage your lamp and chip off the parts that aren’t tiny crystals.
  
• Store it with plastic wrap. If you’re leaving for vacation or want to put away your lamp, you’ll have to wrap it tightly with plastic wrap. This will prevent your lamp from absorbing any moisture when it’s not in use. If you don’t have any plastic wrap, a sealable plastic bag will also work, but make sure that it’s airtight!
  
• Don’t wash it! This might be obvious, but you don’t want to put your lamp under running water or submerge it in the sink. It can handle small doses of water that form from condensation, but it won’t survive a shower. The salt will melt away and you’ll have an electrical hazard on your hands.
  
• Don’t place it next to your music speakers. As much as you may want to groove with your lamp, you want to keep it as far away from your speakers. The sound vibrations can shake the bulb and hit the insides of the lamp, especially if you’re the type to crank up the volume to the max. This can cause the bulb to displace itself or cause it a short fuse, which is something you want to avoid.

The Benefits of Himalayan Salt Lamps

All right, you’ve done all these tips and went through all this extra effort to ensure that you’ve taken care of your lamp. Is it worth it, though? Well, that depends completely on you, but here are some amazing benefits of a salt lamp.

• It can improve the air quality in your room. As your lamp absorbs the moisture from the air, it also absorbs all its impurities, such as dust and smoke. When that moisture condensates, the water evaporates and goes back into the air, but without its pollutants. Those will stay on the lamp and the salt’s anti-bacterial properties will take care of them.
  
• It can help with your allergies. For the same reason why a salt lamp can improve air quality, it can also filter out pollen, mold, mildew, and other allergens.
  
• It can reduce your anxiety. Have you ever looked at the sunrise or sunset and feel completely at peace? A salt lamp can do that too. The lamp’s shades of pink and orange are soothing and calming colours, so when you stare at it, your mood may improve and ease away your unwanted feelings.
  
• It can neutralize electromagnetic radiation. It’s claimed that salt lamps create negative ions, which can cancel out your electronic’s positive ions. An overabundance of positive ions in the air can cause electromagnetic radiation, which can bring stress and fatigue. A salt lamp can help fight that off, but keep in mind that it only generates a small amount of negative ions. If you need more and want to get away from your devices’ positive ions, it’s better to go outside and take a walk.
  
• It can help you sleep better. Unlike the harsh blue light that screens emit, a salt lamp gives off a relaxing and dim light. Just like how it can reduce your anxiety, its colours invoke a sense of tranquillity and resemble a campfire or candlelight. If you’ve once fallen asleep by a fireplace or fire pit, you’ll know that they’re great at lulling you to sleep. A salt lamp can invoke that same feeling.

Conclusion

Now that you know that a leaking salt lamp is completely normal, you don’t have to panic anymore. Phew! But, and this is a big but, keep in mind that you’ll want to minimize how much it leaks. If it’s causing a flood on your living room floor, you definitely want to take care of that before it gets dangerous. But if you keep these tips in mind, you won’t even have to worry about that in the first place.

Thanks for reading and making it this far! Check out our other related articles below or sign up for our email list to get them straight into your inbox.

Hope to see you next time!

-Hyo Heather Park 

About The Author

Heather has always been the type to tinker with whatever she could get her hands on. As a child, it started with toys, but as an adult, it grew into appliances.

She believes that you shouldn’t have to crawl through a million websites to find an answer to your problem. By writing short but highly informative articles, she provides readers with the immediate solutions that they need. She also likes to keep it casual so readers don’t get bored or feel like they’re reading a textbook.