Could this kitchen staple, used to make muffins light and fluffy, also be your next multi-tasking wonder? These 25 clever uses for baking soda are likely ones you use with other (more expensive) products. Save your wallet, and use baking soda instead!
25 Clever Uses for Baking Soda
Here are 25 clever uses for baking soda you probably didn’t know!
1. Make Toothpaste
Toothpaste can be easily made with a mixture of baking soda and coconut oil (and essential oils like peppermint). Some people swear by baking soda use on their teeth every day, but this might be a little too abrasive. Using it from time to time to help polish and whiten teeth is usually a better option.
2. Dry Shampoo
Forget expensive over-the-counter dry shampoo products – just use baking soda! Flip your head upside down over a tub or container and pour 1 – 2 tbsp. of baking soda in your hand. Distribute the baking soda evenly throughout your hair, start close to your scalp but not on your scalp. Brush or comb your hair until the normal colour starts to set through.
3. Acne Treatment
Making a baking soda mask can be used to treat acne once a week. It helps by loosening tight skin around blackheads and eases inflammation around pimples.
4. Hair Brush and Comb Cleaner
If your hair brush gets dirty with oil and product buildup, you can clean it by placing it in a bowl of warm water mixed with 3 tablespoons of baking soda.
5. Homemade Deodorant
Rub a little bit of baking soda in your arm pits for an easy, fool-proof deodorant that is much safer than over-the-counter deodorants like Old Spice and Secret. Be sure to use baking soda that is aluminum-free!
6. Facial Scrub
Baking soda is a great natural exfoliant for the skin if you use it 1-2 times per week. Mix 1/4 cup baking soda with 1-2 tbsp. water and rub in a circular motion on your face before rinsing off.
7. Relieve Insect Bites
Get rid of nasty insect bites by making a paste of equal parts baking soda and water and applying this to your bite. This should also work well for itchy rashes and poison ivy.
8. Easy Floor Cleaner
Cleaning the floor just got easier! Combine just 1/2 cup baking soda in a bucket of warm water, and use this to help clean any floors made out of tile.
9. Grease-Be-Gone!
Adding baking soda to your dish wash water will help remove grease from stubborn pots and pans, making them easier to clean.
10. Soothing Bath Soak
A baking soda bath can help neutralize acidity of the skin and help eliminate toxins. Add 1 cup of baking soda to your next bath, put on some soothing music, light some candles, and let the baking soda do the rest of the work.
11. Deodorize Everything
Baking soda is an amazing deodorizer (not just for your armpits!). It has the power to freshen up and neutralize odours in fridges, trashcans, litter boxes, sneakers, recycling, as well as on surfaces like kitchen countertops, cutting boards and lunch boxes.
12. Extinguish Class-B Fires
Baking soda can smother small flames created from flaming liquids like gasoline, oil and grease. Put out small fires on rugs, clothing, wood and upholstery.
13. Fruit and Vegetable Scrub
Remove un-necessary pesticides, herbicides and waxes from fruit and vegetables, wash them in a tub of cool water with 1-3 tablespoons of baking soda.
14. Crayon, Pencil, Ink and Furniture-scuff Eraser
Sprinkle some baking soda on a damp cloth or sponge, rub the affected area clean and rinse!
15. Laundry Detergent Enhancer
Adding baking soda to your laundry detergent will help make your clothes whiter and softer. Add 1/2 cup of baking soda to your laundry and watch the magic happen!
16. Pan Scrubber
Bring grimy pots and pans back to life with baking soda and hydrogen peroxide. You can just let equal parts baking soda and hydrogen peroxide sit in your pans, cookie sheets, or other cooking utensils that could use a little TLC, and then wipe off after 1 hour. The grime will come off easy and hassle-free.
17. Unclog Drains
Forget the Drano, and make room for baking soda and vinegar drain treatment! Pour a hot pot of boiling water down your drain and then put around 1/2 cup of baking soda down the drain. Let this sit for a few minutes and then pour a mixture of 1 cup vinegar and 1 cup very hot water down the drain. Cover the drain with a plug (if you have one), and let sit for 10 minutes. Flush again with a pot of boiling water.
18. Absorb Toilet Odours
No one likes a smelly toilet, and sometimes getting rid of the odour is near impossible. Until now. 1 cup of baking soda added to a toilet, and left for an hour, will help clean the toilet and absorb the odour.
19. Help Flowers Last Longer!
Cut flowers will last longer if you add 1 teaspoon of baking soda to the water in the vase.
20. Ant Repellent
Mix an equal amount of baking soda and salt, and then sprinkle this mixture wherever there are ants coming into your home. They’ll be gone in no time!
21. Improve Sports Performance
“Soda doping,” or taking baking soda capsules is one method long distance runners use to help enhance their performance. It buffers the lactic acid released from muscles after a strenuous workout, and makes recovery faster. This is thought to work similarly as “carb-loading” would.
22. Heartburn Relief
Baking soda works as a great antacid. Stir 1/2 teaspoon baking soda in 1/2 cup water and drink it any time you experience heartburn.
23. Windshield Rain Repeller
Wipe your windshield with baking soda to help repel rain, and improve visibility during rainstorms.
24. Make Beans More Digestible
When you are soaking dried beans, add a teaspoon of baking soda to the solution to remove gasses and improve digestion.
25. Cravings Buster
If you are craving something sweet-dessert like, rinse your mouth with 1 teaspoon of baking soda dissolved in a glass of warm water. Spit out once done rinsing, and your craving should disappear instantly.
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