Forget about cakes and cookies–baking soda is one of the most useful items you could (and should!) have in your kitchen, and for more reasons than just using it for baking.
Not only does it completely balance your body’s pH levels when you add a pinch of it to warmed lemon water in the morning, it can be put to myriad household and beauty uses, like brightening your teeth or making cleaning solutions that remove stains, grime and more.
Dirt cheap and used by smart women for centuries, one quick scan through this article and we guarantee you'll be making Baking Soda a staple in your household.
1. Clean Hair Brushes
Hair brushes attract dirt like sponges. Every time you brush your hair – dandruff, oil and all that nasty stuff sticks to it. If you don’t wash it regularly all that nasty stuff gets back to your hair every time you use it, so experts will recommend washing the hair brush once a week but if you don’t have the time, try to do it at least once a month. Just soak yours in a teaspoon of shampoo mixed with a teaspoon of baking soda and around a cup of water.
2. Whiten Teeth
Given that more people are learning how poisonous fluoride is, baking soda increasingly common as the main ingredient in toothpaste, and no wonder: not only does it clean your teeth, it removes stains from tooth enamel too! Just make a paste of baking soda on your toothbrush with some water and brush gently for a few minutes—this can be very abrasive, so don’t scrub!
3. Clean Oral Appliances
Oral appliances like mouthpieces, toothbrushes, and retainers need to be cleaned in order to remove smells and food particles that get trapped. The last thing you want is to clean these with chemical cleaners—they go in your mouth! Just pop 2 teaspoons of baking soda into a cup of water and soak your oral appliances in it overnight.
4. Wash Pesticides Off Produce
Organic produce is hard to come by and expensive, but you can remove dirt, contaminants and pesticides from conventional produce with baking soda. Using a mixture of water, baking soda and vinegar gets fresh produce cleaner than water alone can. For leafy greens you can soak them into this mixture and for smooth skinned veggies like apples, pour the mixture into a spray bottle and spray it 7-8 times, leave it for a minute, then rinse and eat.
5. Wash off Baked on Food
One of the toughest items to clean in the kitchen is burned on residue. Save some elbow grease by using vinegar, baking soda, water and a scouring pad. First, fill up the pan or pot with water and add a cup of white vinegar. Boil, then add 2 T of baking soda. Let it sit for 5-10 mins, then empty it and scrub the pot. Still got baked on food? Apply a paste made with equal parts baking soda and water and apply it where needed, then scrub. That should do it!
6. Restore Silver
Tarnished silver jewellery or cutlery can be restored with a mixture of 2c hot water, 2 T baking soda and a pinch of salt. Take the silver items, dip them in the water mixture then wrap them in aluminium foil. This is electrochemistry at work! Note that this will only work for elemental silver, not stainless steel or chrome.
7. Unclog Kitchen Drains
Don’t use poisonous chemicals to unclog drains if you can avoid it—those poisons eventually end up back in your drinking water! Use baking soda instead. First, use a plunger/sewer snake to break the clog. Once it’s been loosened, try a combination of white vinegar, baking soda and boiling water. Pour the boiling water down the drain then follow it up with half a cup of baking soda then let it sit for a few minutes. Follow it up with a mixture of one cup vinegar and one cup boiling water. Let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes then finish up with another pot of boiling water.
8. Clean Smelly Sponges
Ew! Don’t you hate it when your kitchen sponges get all gross? If you want these things to last a little longer and smell a bit sweeter, try soaking it in 4 tablespoons of baking soda + a quart of water. Don’t forget to rinse it well afterwards
9. Clean Microwaves
Just cooked fish soup or curry in the microwave? Get rid of the smell fast! Add two tablespoons of baking soda in a microwave safe bowl then add a cup of water. Put the bowl inside the microwave oven for about 2 to 3 minutes (don’t cover it). The steam from the water/baking soda mixture will both deodorize and loosen up caked on stains inside the microwave.
10. Remove Kitchen Grease Stains
Cooking fried food will leave a lot of grease residue on the oven, countertop and even the kitchen fan extractor. Wiping them off with water and a damp cloth won’t cut it, so try sprinkling some baking soda on a damp sponge then wiping down any greasy surface, follow it up with a wipe from a clean damp cloth.
11. Clean Dishwasher Parts
Dishwashers tend to get plugged and smelly so they need some TLC around once a month. Use baking soda paste and warm soapy water to clean the filter and its parts. You can also put some baking soda in the soap drawer and run it through a hot washing cycle.
12. Get Whiter Clothes
Bleach kills all living things—so it’s not a great thing to put in the laundry as it can not only corrode your clothes, but it poisons our water table! To get whites whiter, add some baking soda to our laundry detergent. This will also bring out the colours in your coloured clothing.
13. Remove General Odors
“Air fresheners” are just a chemical cocktail that masks odour but can lead to health issues like asthma and hormone disruption. Add a few drops of your favourite essential oils to a small bowl of baking soda and leave the bowl in corners of the room that needs freshening. This will suck up the stink of cigarettes, sweat, cooking and more. You can also add a small opened box of baking soda in the fridge to remove smells there too.
