35 Common Uses for Baking Soda

According to the EPA, children are more susceptible to toxins in their home than adults. It has been suspected that pesticides, lead (found even in makeup), and solvents increase our children’s risks for:

• childhood cancer
• asthma
• developmental disabilities
• learning disabilities
• Attention difficulties
• delayed puberty
• lower intelligence

If you think about how your little ones crawl, pick up objects from the floor, and then insert fingers into their mouths, you know how much toxins can play a part in their health. What about what we spray into the air in our homes, cleaners we use on our carpets and even our upholstery and bedding?

If you want to avoid toxic chemicals, at least in your home, considering green cleaning is pretty important. Cutting back on chemicals in our homes, or eliminating them all together, reduces these negative effects on our children’s health and their future.  Further, in some cases, it is frugal, like in the case of baking soda.

Baking soda is a very natural powder that is non-toxic and easy to use. It is naturally occurring and actually helps neutralize the acidity in our bodies. I purchase large bags of it at Sams Club, which costs less than $10.

Kitchen

• Natural Scrub using a half lemon to clean sinks, tubs and counters.
• Make your own homemade dishwasher detergent using baking soda.
• Clean paintbrushes in a can filled with baking soda and water.
• Scrub your kitchen cabinets with a baking soda paste and a toothbrush.
• Shine your ceramic stove top by sprinkling baking soda, spraying vinegar and then scrubbing.
• Sprinkle in dirty pots and pans, then fill with water and soak for about 20 minutes to thoroughly clean.
• Leave an opened box of baking soda in the back of the fridge to deodorize and freshen.
• Sprinkle baking soda on your cast iron cookware to clean off the extra drippings.
• Clean your drains of residue with equal parts of baking soda and vinegar.
• Mix baking soda with hydrogen peroxide to clean stubborn stains on pots and pans.

Living Areas

• Sprinkle equal parts of baking soda and Borax on pet accidents on the carpet, mixed with about 20 drops of essential oils. Then use a carpet cleaner.
• Make your own deodorizing spray with 1 tablespoon of baking soda, vinegar, and then 20 drops of essential oil in 2 cups of water.
• Deodorize upholstery using the same mixture you use to clean your carpet.
• Use a mixture of hot water and baking soda to clean out trash cans then sprinkle dry baking soda before you put in a liner.

Bedrooms

• Sprinkle the baking soda and Borax mixture on your child’s bed after bedtime accidents.
• Clean out diaper pails with hot water and baking soda, then sprinkle dry soda mixed with essential oils
• Sprinkle on accidents and spills to absorb liquid and neutralize odors.
• Make a satchel with baking soda and fragrant herbs to place in drawers and closets.

Laundry

• Use at least 1/2 cup in a load of laundry to whiten your dingy laundry.
• Soak stains in a sink of baking soda and warm water then wash normally.
• Freshen your dishwasher or washing machine by scrubbing the inside with a paste of baking soda and then running it through a normal cycle.
• Help remove blood stains by soaking garments in COLD water, and baking soda then wash as usual in cold water.
• Use baking soda and vinegar to clean your iron.

Bathrooms

• Add 1 cup of baking soda and then 1 cup of vinegar to your toilet and allow it to soak for about 20 minutes, then clean as usual.
• Make a tile grout cleaner with 3 parts baking soda and 1 part water.
• Use a baking soda paste to clean marble and ceramic tile stains.

Personal Use

• Add soda to the bathtub with epsom salts and essential oils as a detoxifying bath soak.
• Make your own deodorant using baking soda.
• Clean and polish your shoes with a baking soda paste.
• Mix it with coconut oil, stevia, and essential oils as a toothpaste.

In the Garden

You can also use baking soda to help you in the garden.

• Use as a pest control
• If you need to increase the pH of your soil, adding baking soda helps you adjust it
• Baking soda inhibits the fungal growth on some plants as well.
• Do you need to speed up your compost pile? Add some baking soda to increase the pH and thus, speed up its decomposition
• Kill smaller weeds with a simple sprinkle.

Finally

Keeping a large bag of baking soda goes much farther than a can of Comet. Not only is it safe around the kids and pets, but it does have both an abrasive power, and improves the cleaning power of many household needs.

Are you wondering about the efficacy of vinegar as well? Read this article on the antiviral properties of vinegar which works quite will with baking soda on many cleaning jobs.