The older I get the more I learn that sometimes simpler, tried and true methods really ARE the best way to go! For example, baking soda has been around for forever, but its WAY under utilized in most homes! Today I am sharing 12 ways you can put baking soda to work for you and your home!
- Is your stomach a little bubbly, a little gassy, or have some burning in your heart? Baking soda is a great antacid. Put about a tea spoon in about a cup of warm water and drink it. The taste is not the greatest but you will be feeling better in only moments.
- Got an impossible ring in the bath tub or gunk around the burners on the stove? Use baking soda to scour them right off. Mix baking soda with just enough water to make a paste, apply paste directly to the area you want to clean or to a towel or sponge to use. If it is really bad, caked on, apply directly to the “filth” and allow to sit a few minutes before scrubbing off.
- Baking soda is good for treating burns also, just add enough water to make into a paste and apply to the burn. Put a baggie or plastic wrap over the area, to keep wet until the pain is gone.
- Sprinkle baking soda in the bottom of a stinky trash can or dirty clothes hamper to get rid of the stink.
- Use baking soda to pre-treat stains. Make into a paste and use a toothbrush to gently brush into the stain. Allow to sit a few minutes before throwing into the wash.
- Do you have kids who play sports? Do you have a hard time getting rid of the stench and stains? Try adding a cup of baking soda to your next load (along with your regular detergent) to give that wash a boost.
- Coffee maker a little grimey? Make a mixture of 1 part baking soda to 4 parts water and run a full cycle as if you were making a cup of coffee. Then follow with a full run with clean water.
- Drain clogged? Carefully pour a cup of baking soda down the drain followed by a cup of vinegar to get rid of the clog. This formula is also a great way to deodorize!
- Dry rough skin? Make a paste of baking soda and water for a natural exfoliant.
- For softer skin, add a 1/2 cup of baking soda to your bath, trust me your skin will be softer than ever.
- Use baking soda to get baked-on food off of pots and pans. Just sprinkle a little on the pot or pan and with a wet towel, scrub until all the grime and gunk is all off.
- Use baking soda to freshen carpet. Baking soda is a natural deodorizer. Just sprinkle on the carpet, allow to sit for a few minutes and vacuum up.
Whats your favorite way to put baking soda to work for you and your home?
I love baking soda! Its the best thing hands down for taking old stains out of vintage clothes! I didn’t realize a lot of these other uses! I’m going to have to try them. Its amazing that something that can fight stains and grease can also leave your skin baby soft.
I’m a HUGE proponent of baking soda for cleaning.
A few of these I knew buty most are new to me!! Like drinking it?!!? Amazing!! Thanks for sharing!!
Great list, but you missed my favorite: if you make a paste of baking soda and water (or baking powder and water…which has the same thing plus corn starch, which makes it go on a little smoother), and you apply it to a mosquito or fire ant bite within the first 15 minutes after getting bitten, it will reduce the itcyness not just then but the whole amount of time you have the bite. I can vouch for that…when I haven’t been able to get the baking soda on I’ve noticed a marked difference in itchyness from bites that I did get the baking soda on in time. Also, it reduces swelling if you tend to have reactions to these (like my children and I do). Twice I’ve applied it to one bite and missed another (one RIGHT NEXT to each other on my forehead…so close I felt them together and so only applied it to the first one I felt, since I didn’t use a mirror…the other was on my child. I found one bite and missed another, by the same mosquito, because there was only one in the house that we found and killed and then everyone stopped getting bitten. But the one I missed on both of these swelled, while the one I applied baking soda to didn’t).
I use 4, 8, 11 and 12. It also goes in the bath salts I make.
slehan at juno dot com