We’ve all seen them. The rock-like lamps that emit a soft glow, painting many a college student’s dorm in a pink hue. The crystallized chunk affixed on top of the wooden base is hollowed out to hold a bulb—a cozy aesthetic that warms up any space.
These iconic lamps are Himalayan salt lamps, and are made of exactly that—Himalayan salt. Because of this, they have a side effect that folks unfortunately are unaware of until they eventually experience it.
What they don’t tell you is that owning this type of lamp gives you a sort of responsibility you wouldn’t have with a regular lamp. This is what Adriana Yeong (@baldgirl23) learned the hard way after her own Himalayan salt lamp “melted.”
In a viral clip that earned 4.4 million views, Yeong said these lamps “might look cool” but that you might as well “own a freaking pet.”
She says she wasn’t told that if you don’t keep the lamp on forever, it’s going to absorb the moisture in the air and it will “melt.”
“The light has to be on all the time,” Yeong says. Living with her parents made that difficult, Yeong says, as they would constantly turn off the lamp. This led to the melting phenomenon she describes.
“It melted onto my table, it seeped onto my desk,” she continues. “My desk was wet all the freaking time with salt water.”
However, she never thought to remove the lamp because it “looked really cool.” She also never cleaned up the water.
A taste test
Yeong then says her curiosity got the better of her and one day she decided to lick the lamp to “see if it was really salty.” It was, but her experiment led to her getting electrocuted. “I couldn’t taste for the whole day.” She concludes her video by warning folks to think twice about getting a Himalayan salt lamp if they don’t know how to properly take care of it.
Are Himalayan salt lamps good for you?
There are several reasons one might decide to purchase these cool, pinkish lamps that come in many forms. Some are chunk of rocks in a glass case or an actual large rock like Yeong had. While some may purchase them for the cool factor, others swear by their health benefits.
Some folks claim that the lamps help your mood and help you sleep. But as a Healthline article reported, there is little evidence to support this.
“Himalayan salt lamps are said to change the charge of the surrounding air by producing ions that have health benefits,” the article reads. “However, it is not currently clear whether they can produce any or enough ions to affect your health.”
Why do Himalayan salt lamps sweat?
What Yeong was describing is more commonly known as a Himalayan salt lamp “sweating.” This is when the exterior gets wet, and when it dries, it forms small salt crystals. Speaking from experience, this writer owned a lamp similar to Yeong’s and experienced the phenomenon just as she did–but only after moving to a humid place. So does humidity have to play a role, as one of Yeong’s commenters pointed out?
According to Salt World, these lamps do indeed absorb moisture from the air, as Yeong shared in her TikTok. It makes sense, then, that in a humid place, where the air has more moisture, the lamp will absorb more. A Redditor shared as much in a comment under a post on the r/Minerals subreddit.
How to keep Himalayan salt lamp from sweating?
Salt World recommends keeping the lamp on all day and night.
“Switching on the lamp 24/7 or at least 16 hours a day keeps the natural salt crystal warm and helps to dry it out,” the site recommends. “A warm lamp evaporates any excess moisture and there is no more salt lamp leaking or sweating.”
The article claims electricity should not be an issue as the bulbs use very little energy.
“Follow simple tips like, keep the lamp in a dry area, use the right bulb, reduce the moisture in the place where you place your lamp, wipe down your lamp with a damp cloth whenever required, to prevent your Himalayan salt lamps from melting,” it advises.
@baldgirl23 ♬ original sound – Adriana Yeong
The Mary Sue reached out to Yeong via email.
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