Salicylic acid is soluble in organic solvents such as alcohol, ether, and chloroform, while sand is insoluble in these solvents. Therefore, one way to separate sand and salicylic acid is to dissolve the salicylic acid in a suitable organic solvent and then filter the solution to remove the sand. The salicylic acid can then be recovered from the filtrate by evaporation of the solvent.