15 Awesome Things You Can Do With Baking Soda

Baking soda is one of those miracle ingredients that seems to be way under rated. I use it for cleaning and beauty aids more than I use it for baking. As a matter of fact, I am pretty sure that out of the hundreds of boxes of baking soda I have purchased in the past couple of years only one or two has been used for baking. Since baking soda is so rad, I thought I would share what I use it for.

Beauty Aids

1. Dry Shampoo: Baking soda works awesome as dry shampoo, but make sure you wash it out afterwards. When you wash your hair with regular shampoo some of the chemical ingredients that are added are suppose to "strip" away the oils from your hair. Sounds excellent, especially to women that are tired of having oily hair. The problem is that shampoo also takes away the good oils, leaving your hair feeling stringy and dry. That's what conditioner is for, right? Well, if you use baking soda, which leaves the good and natural oils in your hair, there should be no need for conditioner.

2. Deodorant Powder: For those women that are looking to get away from the aluminum that is in regular deodorant (which just so happens to be heavily linked to breast cancer) patting your pits with baking soda works great to keep you smelling fresh.



3. Natural Face Exfoliating Scrub: Combine baking powder and a little bit of water in the palm of your hand to make a nice paste for lightly washing your face. I use this in the morning before putting on any makeup, so I'm not sure how it works for taking makeup off. However, when used in the morning this helps to wake my skin up and make me feel invigorated. In the winter months, when my skin dries out, I usually add a drop or two of jojoba oil and vitamin E to the paste to help keep my skin moist and firm.

4. Tooth Paste: Honestly, all that you need to keep your teeth clean and cavity free is baking soda and water. But I prefer my mouth to taste minty. Somehow the minty taste makes my mouth feel fresh and clean. So I normally add a drop of peppermint extract or some crushed up dried peppermint leaves to the paste to help make it all better. I've heard that adding some crushed up strawberry to baking soda will help to brighten up your pearly whites, but I've never actually tried it.

5. Stinky/dry Foot Powder: In the summer months my feet sweat. Totally disgusting if you ask me, but baking soda becomes my hero. I use it as a lovely deodorizer inside my shoes and when wearing flip flops I dust a little bit on the bottom of my feet to help keep them dry.

6. Bug Bite/Sting and Pimple Paste: When my daughter was real little she got stung right on the mouth by a nasty little hornet. I was concerned because I had no idea whether she was allergic or not and a friend of mine told me to take baking soda and water and form a little paste and smudge it over the sting. Almost instantly my daughter stopped crying and the pain was gone. The baking soda had actually drawn the pain out of the sting. It wasn't too soon after that (you know because of my baking soda obsession) that I tried the paste on a nasty little pimple that I just could not get to go away. The next day I woke up and *poof* it was gone! Now I use it all the time!!!

Cleaners



7. Prewash Laundry Soak: I have compared this little prewash laundry soak to store bought ones that are full of chemicals, and honestly, this stuff is amazing!! Add 1 cup of baking soda and 1 cup of hydrogen peroxide to 2 cups of warm water. Stir vigorously until the ingredients are combined. To use the prewash laundry soak I use a plastic tub that is meant for dishes. I fold the piece of clothing, stain side up, and poor the soak over the top. I seriously love this recipe!!

8. Tub Scrub: Martha Stewart is my hero. Seriously. I might just worship her more than I worship baking soda. It's a close second anyway. I got this tub scrub recipe from her website years ago, and still use it. It's that good!! Combine one teaspoon of liquid soap (I use certified organic Dr. Bronners) and several drops of an antibacterial essential oil (such as tea tree, lavendar, eucalyptus, etc.) and one cup of baking soda. You want to add just enough water to make a paste and then apply with a scrub brush and scrub your little heart out. My bathtub shines!!

9. Drain Cleaner: There is nothing worse than a funky smelling drain. Over time food particles from washing dishes or cleaning veggies, whatever, will get lodged in there and rot. Sounds yummy, right? The best way to take care of this problem is to poor some baking soda down there followed by vinegar. Then quickly cover the drain with a washrag or towel. I don't have an exact measurement for this one, because I literally just poor from the box and bottle. However, it works wonders!!!

10. Cleaner Clothes: I always always always add at least one scoop of baking soda to my laundry. Not only does it make sure your clothes get cleaner, it helps to prevent your washing machine from smelling funky after being used so much. To make sure the baking soda thoroughly dissolves start the wash on warm water until it is gone. You can change the setting back to cold if you so desire.

11. Carpet Deodorizer: This is one of my most favorite cleaning recipes. It is sooooo easy. Fill a mason jar 3/4 full with baking soda. Add a few drops of whatever essential oil you prefer. Shake and Voila!! Just sprinkle it on the carpet like regular carpet deodorizer, let it sit for a few to sink in and then vacuum off.

12. Stained Cookie Sheets: I hate cookie sheets that look like they still have food on them. To cut through the grime and the burnt on stain add one cup of baking soda to 1/2 cup of peroxide and scrub. 

13. Stuck on Grime: Can't remove that nasty burnt or stuck on grime on your counter? Sprinkle a little bit of baking soda on the ick and spray the top with vinegar. Be warned, baking soda and vinegar are the same ingredients used for those exploding volcanoes our science teachers made in school. So don't be surprised if it sizzles.





14. Detarnish Silverware: I borrowed this awesome recipe from Susanbranch.com. Line your sink with aluminum foil. Combine 1/2 cup of table salt and 1/2 cup of baking soda. Fill with hot water and then add silverware. Let it sit for about 30 minutes and the tarnish will transfer to the aluminum foil. Picture is also borrowed from Susanbranch.com.

15. Refrigerator Deodorizer and Scrub: The last thing that you want is to put some chemical in your refrigerator. I always have a container of baking soda sitting open in my refrigerator and use baking soda + water to make a paste for cleaning the inside incase of a sticky spill.  








 

 
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