My Favorite Uses for Baking Soda

My grandma used baking soda for everything. Honestly, at the time, I didn’t get it. Now, I think baking soda is amazing! You can cook with it. It’s an unbelievable degreaser. Makes a mean, but gentle, scrub. It deodorizes just about anything. It's totally safe and it’s cheap! Here is a small list of my favorites.

• Refrigerator/freezer deodorizer – Keep your refrigerator and freezer smelling fresh with a good old box of baking soda.

• Carpet Freshener – Sprinkle on carpets, let sit 15 minutes, then vacuum. You can mix essential oils with the baking soda to add a beautiful scent. I added lemon and orange to mine for a citrus smell.
• Oven cleaner – Sprinkle your oven with baking soda, then mist with water. Let this mixture sit overnight, occasionally misting with more water to keep it moist. In the morning, wipe and scoop up the baking soda and the grime with it.

• Dishes and pans – To make scrubbing easy, sprinkle with baking soda, let sit, then scrub clean. While baking soda is a very gentle scrub, test first on delicate surfaces.
  

• Facial scrub - For years I have used a little baking soda mixed with a mild liquid cleanser as a facial scrub.
  

• Drain Cleaner – Add ¼ cup baking soda, then vinegar, then hot water.
  
  
• Toothpaste – I remember grandma brushing her teeth with a paste of baking soda and water. At the time I thought it was weird. I was about 8. What did I know!
  
  
• Clean fruits and vegetables –let fruits and veggies soak in water with some baking soda.
  

• Boost Laundry detergent – Add to laundry powder in the washer to boost the power of your detergent.
  

• Insect bites or bee stings – Make a paste with water and place on bites to soothe.
  

• Deodorant – Mix equal parts baking soda and cornstarch and apply.
  

• Tub and Tile scrub – Mix 1 2/3 c baking soda, ½ cup liquid soap, then ½ cup water and 2 TBSP vinegar into a 16oz bottle. If baking soda residue is left, try rinsing with vinegar.
  

• Scrubbing the inside of a stainless steel mug – This is my latest discovery. The inside of my stainless steel travel mug was looking pretty stained. I scrubbed it with baking soda and water and voila – clean mug! Next is my coffee pot! Updated 3/25/11 - Forget the scrubbing! Fill a microwave safe container with enough water to fill your mug, mix in a good amount of baking soda, heat, pour into mug and let it sit for a few minutes. Scrub gently - CLEAN!

• Cleaning a coffee bean grinder – Fill the bean grinder with baking soda, let sit, occasionally swirling the bean grinder to move the baking soda around. It dislodges particles stuck under the blades and freshens it at the same time.

• Clean the grease-dust-gunk from above your cabinets – Sprinkle the tops of your cabinets with baking soda, mist with water, wipe clean.
  

The uses are limitless. I didn’t even touch the fun stuff like making volcanoes or clay. I buy baking soda in a huge package and have it stashed everywhere – under the kitchen sink, in the laundry room, and bathrooms. An old parmesan cheese shaker works great!


Have you discovered the awesomeness of baking soda yet?


Updated 3/25/2010 - I tried using baking soda to clean the inside of my stainless steel coffee pot. Didn't work as well as with my mug, but it was a lot harder to scrub the inside of the pot. While researching for this post, I heard that people use baking soda to clean their coffee makers. Why not! So I dissolved about a 1/4 cup of baking soda in water, filled the machine and let it run. OMG! the black that was covering the inside of my coffee pot came flying right out! It is sparkling clean now. Look! I left that little bit of black so you could see what the entire inside USED to look like. Then scrubbed that out too! I'm not sure if the initial scrubbing I did loosened anything or maybe it was just the combo of hot water and baking soda, but try this!


This post is part of Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways,  Seasonal Celebration Sunday, Simple Lives Thursday and Simply Natural Saturdays.