Saturday, October 26, 2013

FIFTEEN SURPRISING USES FOR BAKING SODA

15 Surprising Uses for Baking Soda



Read more: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/15-surprising-uses-for-baking-soda.html#ixzz2hvpw3KNE

From green cleaning to personal care, baking soda is a little scrubby dynamo! Check out these 15 surprising uses for baking soda.

Eco-friendly cleaning supplies and green beauty products are expensive, and they tend to come in disposable plastic packaging. Next time you need to wash your hair, scrub pots and pans, or even get crafty with your kids, grab that cardboard box of baking soda instead!
Related Reading: 17 Surprising Uses for Vinegar
When you’re making your own supplies with baking soda, you get to choose exactly what ingredients go into it. You can also choose to use reclaimed packaging to reduce waste. These are some of the containers I like to use when I’m making baking soda cleaning and beauty products:
  • old baby food jars
  • used, cleaned mason jars or other glass food jars that I’ve washed well
  • reclaimed spray bottles
  • used shampoo and conditioner bottles (just rinse out really well)
For me, storing what I make in reclaimed containers is as important as creating a healthy product to go inside it. What upcycled containers do you like to use when you’re whipping up homemade cleaning and beauty supplies? Let’s swap storage tips in the comments!
You know that baking soda is great for cooking, and you probably already use it in some unconventional ways, like to deodorize your carpets or even brush your teeth. Baking soda’s basic pH and natural grit make it perfect for all kinds of cleaning. Check out these personal care and green cleaning uses for baking soda.

Personal Care Uses for Baking Soda

1. Wash your hair. With just baking soda and one other non-toxic ingredient, you can wash your hair without harsh (and expensive!) shampoo. Get the deets here!
2. DIY Deodorant. Combine 1/4 cup baking soda with 10 drops of your favorite essential oil for the easiest homemade deodorant ever. To use, just get some of the powder onto your fingers, and rub it gently into your pits, then brush off any excess baking soda.
3. Make a face scrub. Baking soda makes a great scrub for normal skin. Click here for 3 DIY face scrub recipes, including a baking soda scrub for normal skin. The tiny grains can be harsh on sensitive skin, so if your skin is delicate you’re better off sticking with a sugar or salt scrub instead.
4. DIY acne remedy. Combine baking soda with just enough water to form a paste, and dab it onto your blemish at bedtime, then wash it off in the morning. Since baking soda is a salt, you don’t want to put it onto a blemish that’s popped, because it will sting like crazy.
Related Reading: 10 DIY Winter Skincare Recipes
5. Dry shampoo for your dog. Is your dog a little stinky, but you don’t have time to do a proper bath right now? Sprinkle baking soda onto your pup’s fur, then use a brush to work the baking soda in and out of the fur. You want to brush until there’s no baking soda left, then wipe her down with a dry towel.
6. Treat your feet. Make a paste of baking soda, water and a little lavender or chamomile essential oil to exfoliate your feet.
7. Treat a UTI. If you feel the symptoms of a UTI coming on, check out how to use baking soda as a natural remedy. I’d still recommend following up with a doctor, because an untreated UTI can turn into a kidney infection, and that is bad news. Just as some UTIs don’t respond to certain antibiotics, some will need a little more than baking soda to get rid of them.


Clean stainless steel. Next time your stainless steel cookware has stubborn, stuck-on food, sprinkle some baking soda onto your sponge before scrubbing. It cuts the grease, and the granules help scrub the mess away.
9. Get the smell out of glass jars. Have you been saving old sauce and pickle jars for crafting? Glass is porous, so it tends to really hang onto odors. Here’s how you can use baking soda to get rid of any soaked-in smell in glass jars!
10. Safely clean baby toys. Whenever I clean my son’s toys, I worry about soap residue, since every toy goes straight into his mouth when I hand it to him. It turns out that you can use a mixture of 1/4 cup baking soda in 1 quart of water to clean baby toys much more safey.
11. Deodorize upholstery. Put down the toxic Febreeze! Next time your sofa is a little bit stinky, sprinkle on some baking soda, wait 15 minutes, then vacuum it away. Your room will smell great without spraying harmful chemicals into the air.
Related Reading: 4 DIY Clean Laundry Tips
12. Make non-toxic water colors. Combine 2 tablespoons baking soda, 2 tablespoons flour, 2 teaspoons sugar, and 2 teaspoons water. Mix it up really well to create your paint base. Divide up the paint base, then use food coloring to get whatever colors you want to use.
13. Clean your shower curtain. Do you feel terrible every time you have to replace your plastic shower curtain? A sponge, a little water, and a sprinkle of baking soda can help get the hard water and mildew stains off to prolong its life.
14. DIY laundry detergent. Baking soda is a key ingredient in making your own inexpensive, DIY laundry detergent. Click here for the recipe.
15. Scrub produce clean. Want to get the pesticides and wax off of that apple? Use a little baking soda and water to scrub, then just rinse the baking soda away.
Related
How is Baking Soda Produced?
6 Ways to Not Use Baking Soda
Surprising Uses for Vinegar

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Becky Striepe

Becky Striepe is a freelance writer and vegan crafter living in Atlanta, Georgia. Her life’s mission is to make green crafting and vegan food accessible to everyone! Like this article? You can follow Becky on Twitter or find her on Facebook!


87 comments

+ add your own
4:41PM PDT on Oct 16, 2013
I hear it cleans human hair too but I haven't had the courage to try
4:30PM PDT on Oct 16, 2013
thank you
3:13PM PDT on Oct 16, 2013
thanks
1:36PM PDT on Oct 16, 2013
TY!
Irina Brenner Irina B. 
  •               
  • send a green star
    1:56AM PDT on Oct 16, 2013
    Arm & Hammer; poor man's cancer treatment. Sodium bicarbonate helps to save countless lives every day. A baking soda/molasses combination causes a drastic pH alkaline spike that oxygenate cancer cells to their demise. Since cancer cells thrive by fermenting sugar, the molasses is the bait that allows baking soda's alkaline influence to enter and oxygenate them.
    5:27PM PDT on Oct 15, 2013
    I have two favorite uses for baking soda. For splinters and thorns, make a paste of baking soda and water, put some on the splinter or thorn and some on the pad of a Band-Aid. Apply the Band-Aid and usually the splinter will be out within 12 - 24 hours. The second use is as a non-toxic goo-remover (label adhesives, masking tape, etc.): Two parts baking soda, one part vegetable oil. You can either scrub it off or do it the easy way, let it sit for a day or so and the gluey mess will just wipe away (or come off in the dishwasher).
    2:22PM PDT on Oct 15, 2013
    good to kno

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