I’ve been meaning to do this post for awhile now….but I kept discovering MORE and MORE ingenious/useful/simple/brilliant/creative ways to use Baking Soda…that I just kept adding to my LONG list!! Now the list is pretty much out of control….so I’m going to have to put on my editor’s hat and try and narrow it down to my VERY favorite of my FAVORITE uses for baking soda!
FYI….I haven’t personally tried ALL of these (for example: the stuff involving cats I haven’t tried, because I don’t have cats!)….but I HAVE tried a LOT of them! And I do currently have not ONE, but TWO of these HUGE bags of the stuff in my pantry closet! lol. That is a LOT of Baking Soda!! But I use it A LOT! A lot, A LOT!
If you haven’t discovered the AMAZINGNESS (I know, it’s not really a word…but it works so well here!) of sodium bicarbonate….prepare to be DAZZLED! If you HAVE discovered how great this simple chemical compound is….hopefully you’ll discover a few NEW uses you haven’t tried yet!
Ready??? Let’s do it!
In no particular order….here is a list of USES FOR BAKING SODA that I have compiled over many moons from various websites and comments on websites. It would be impossible to “credit” all of them because they’ve been shared and shared and shared, over and over and over…..so here is one gigantic credit to the UNIVERSE! Thank you everyone in the universe who has contributed to these ideas!
Jillee’s Great Big List of Uses For Baking Soda (Besides Baking!):
- Freshen carpets. Sprinkle on carpets and let sit for 15 minutes before vacuuming. Try adding cinnamon! Especially helpful with pets in the house!
- Clean and remove marks (even crayon!) from walls and painted furniture by applying to a damp sponge and rubbing lightly. Wipe off with a clean, dry cloth.
- Make sachets and stick in stinky gym shoes!
- Many people use baking soda as a “shampoo” and LOVE it. My favorite way to use it on my hair is as a monthly (quarterly?) hair cleanse to reduce product buildup. Just add about a tablespoon to a normal-sized dollop of your shampoo and and apply to wet hair in the shower. It will be very foamy. Rinse, condition, and style as usual.
- Keep kitchen and bathroom trash cans fresh-smelling by adding a sprinkle of Baking Soda regularly as you add to the container.
- Here’s one I’ve never tried….but it sounds like a GREAT idea! Use 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda per gallon of water to make sun tea. Tea never comes out bitter and always clear.
- For a great tile grout cleaner, mix baking soda and hydrogen peroxide into a paste, and scrub the grout with the paste and a toothbrush.
- Before putting on self-tanner, remove dead skin cells with a paste of baking soda and water. It will leave your skin soft and smooth, perfect for applying that “glow”. (Make a paste of 3 parts ARM & HAMMER® Baking Soda to 1 part water. Rub in a gentle circular motion to exfoliate the skin. Rinse clean.)
- Get rid of diaper rash or a sore, red bum by adding 1/4 cup baking soda to the bath water. It helps soothe the skin and clear up the redness. It also softens the water so you don’t need to use as much soap!
- And speaking of little ones….if a little one has an accident in bed…baking soda helps soak up the moisture and deodorizes the mattress. Sprinkle on liberally and then vacuum after 2 hours. A light spritzing of half water/half vinegar finishes the job.
- And speaking of mattresses….every couple of months sprinkle a mixture of baking soda and a tablespoon of your favorite fabric softener over your mattress, let it sit for an hour, and then vacuum it up. Gets rid of dust mites and freshens up the mattress. Keep that same mixture in a small mason jar with holes poked in the top in your linen or clothes closet to keep it smelling fresh!
- Here’s a two-fer! (Love two-fers!) After cleaning your coffee pot with white vinegar (add one cup of vinegar and enough water to fill the pot and let it run through a coffee-making cycle), put baking soda in your sink drain and then pour vinegar in and quickly put the stoppers in. It will bubble and foam and eat away at grease and food deposits. It works a like a charm and no waste!
- When cooking green veggies, add a dash or two to the water and then bring to a boil as usual. It helps them stay green.
- This one’s for my Mommy. She recently asked me how to remove burned-on food from corning ware. Let the dish soak in sudsy water with a bit of baking soda. Scrub with a non-abrasive rag and rinse.
- To remove burned on food from a pan, simmer water and baking soda in it. Most of the food will become soft and then can be removed easily.
- Use baking soda to clean the inside of porcelain cups. Just wet the inside, pour some in the bottom, and scrub! Gets coffee and tea stains right out!
- Here’s a good one to know! To to relieve symptoms of a UTI (and prevent future recurrences), fix yourself a baking soda cocktail. At the first sign of symptoms, mix half a teaspoon of baking soda in an eight-ounce glass of water and drink it. The baking soda raises the pH of irritating, acidic urine.
- To combat litter box odors….sprinkle baking soda generously across the bottom of the box before you add new litter. As the cat uses the box and kicks up the litter, the baking soda will help mix in and destroy some of the odor. Baking soda is non-toxic and won’t harm or bother your cat.
- Brighten your manicure by scrubbing nails and cuticles with a paste of 3 parts Baking Soda to 1 part water. Rub in a gentle, circular motion over hands and fingers to exfoliate and smooth. Rinse clean with warm water and apply polish as usual.
- To absorb carpet spills…blot up the area, spray with water, and shake on baking soda. It will help lift the stain, and once it dries, you simply vacuum it up.
- Deodorize plastic food containers in between uses with Baking Soda sprinkled on a clean damp sponge. For even tougher odors, soak items in a solution of 4 tablespoons Baking Soda and 1 quart warm water.
- Clean tough, greasy stains from your outdoor grill by scrubbing with a wire brush and a Baking Soda paste (3 parts Baking Soda to 1 part warm water), then rinse.
- To clean smelly jets in jacuzzi tubs…fill bath to a few inches above the jets, pour in 1-2 cups of baking soda and let it run for about 10 minutes. Drain the cruddy water, refill tub with warm water and run jets for another 10 minutes.
OK………..I’ve been at this for a couple of hours now and feel like I haven’t even scratched the surface of the MANY USES OF BAKING SODA! But I think it’s a pretty good start. I feel a PART TWO coming on……soon. But for now…..these should keep you busy for awhile. :-)
Happy experimenting!
I’m doing the happy dance. I stopped using my corning ware because I could never get it clean no matter how long I soaked or scrubbed it. You saved me again!
I also put baking soda in my washer water to soften it so that the detergent cleans better. And to save even more money, buy your sodium bicarb at the local farm store. Here, I can get 50 lbs for about $13.00. It’s not food grade so you wouldn’t want to bake with it, but it saves me a lot of money!
Thank you so much for the tip! I use so much baking soda…I was just wondering if I could get it cheaper in bulk.
Great tip! I’ll have to check out the feed store!!!
Wow didn’t know there were so many uses!
Hi Jill,
I love Baking Soda! So many uses. I use Arm & Hammer for things around the house, but use Bob’s Red Mill Baking Soda for things like washing hair, deoderant, brushing teeth, and baking. BRM Baking soda is made thru a water process, where Arm & Hammer is made using ammonia and other chemicals that I don’t want to use on my skin or ingest.
Thanks for all your great posts. I always look forward to each new day to see what You write about! Getting ready to try the soda for manicure!
I never thought to use it as an exfoliator on my face. I’m going to give that a try. When my boys were little, I used it on their mattresses all the time when they had “accidents” and it worked fabulously. Absorbed the smell and moisture right up. Also, I almost always soak my casserole dishes in water and baking soda overnight. They clean up so easily in the morning. It is great for the Pampered Chef baking stones that you can’t use soap on.
I have one to add to your list. The other day, my car leaked some oil on my driveway. I covered the oil with baking soda and hosed it away in about an hour. It was a “new” leak… not sure if it will do the same for old oil stains. I need to give that a try.
I managed to burn food onto the inside of the lid of an expensive pan while catering a group. I tried everything to get it off and the lid was blackened for over a year. One day I sprinkled baking powder on it with some vinegar and used my blue scrubby sponge on it. Voila! It came completely clean. You would never believe I had burned food on it. Looks like new.
in line with the tanning note – baking soda is the best acne wash i’ve ever used. nothing else has ever worked for me (ever), but a daily face wash with baking soda (let it sit for a minute, too) has been a huge improvement.
That sounds genius!
Lady Brett, do you make a paste as your acne wash? what would the baking soda to water ratio be that you use? It sounds great and I really want to try it. Thanks!!
I like to mix equal parts honey and baking soda for a nice face scrub. It smells good, the honey is good for your skin and the baking soda gently exfoliates.
i actually just keep a mason jar of dry baking soda in the shower and grab a bit with wet hands, which is enough to make it pasty enough to stick. i don’t use it out of the shower because i find that it is a bit too scratchy to wash off with just a washcloth, but making a paste of it might alleviate that.
What kind of baking soda do you use for this??
I make a soft scrub that’s 1 part water, 3 parts baking soda and a few drop of Dr Bronner’s peppermint castile soap, and I use this daily as a face/body wash. (I apply it to my face a few minutes before I shower and let it sit and then rinse it off during my shower.) This works wonderfully as a soap and a gentle exfoliant and my skin has never looked or felt better!
I use 1T baking soda and 3T water to make a paste. It is like a microdermabrasion for your face. My skin feels so smooth afterwards.
Wow, I learn something here every day! I am going to try the jacuzzi one. They sell stuff to run through the system, but it is way more expensive than our friend, baking soda! Thanks again!
Mary Malone
The best use I’ve ever gotten out of baking soda (besides chocolate cake of course) was during my pregnancy. I had PUPPP on my stretch marks and it was the most miserable experience of my life. The only thing that would sooth it was putting a baking soda paste on my stomach and letting it dry, then rinsing with as cold water as I could stand. It burned SO bad, but the burning was so much more bearable than the itching. And once it stopped burning, the itching was gone (temporarily).
I wish I would have known this!! I also had puppp and have really nasty stretcharks as a result of itching sloop much. I will know next time if it happens again!
Oh! I wish I had known this too! I was slathering on Gold Bond itch cream for the duration. It helped but I would have much rather had a totally natural (and CHEAP!) remedy! I will have to keep it in mind for friends in the future! :)
To brush teeth, a little peroxide added, and it become a whitener too! Also good for your gums, and prevents gum disease. Also when you get bit by mesquitos, or other bugs, and rashes such as poison ivy, or oak, soak in a bath of 1/2 C baking soda and warm water.
For your teeth, what ratio do you put with the Baking soda, peroxide and water? And do you do this every day?
I use baking soda and water daily for tooth paste, I just get the brush wet then dab the tip into the baking soda. Works great.
If burned on foods in pots and pans needs more work, bring a mixture of baking soda and a little water to a boil then remove from heat, cover and let stand overnight. Amazing how easily it cleans up the next morning. And baking soda/vinegar create a wonderful chemical reaction that beautifully cleans up road film from your car’s rims and other greasy messes. Just be careful with amounts. This mixture is also used for all those wonderful science fair exploding volcano projects!
Everyday I look forward to your posts! I have one to add to your list that I recently found on Pinterest and it really works!! When boiling eggs, add 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda to the water and it makes the egg shells peel off like a charm. No more white coming off with the shell!
This works so well! You can actually blow the egg out of the shell (probably not a great idea if entertaining but the kids think its awesome ;)
Oh my! I have to try this!I am a terrible egg-peeler – I have no patience at all and end up peeling away a quarter of the egg. Thanks for sharing.
I think I’ve used all of those tips except the UTI tip. I don’t have that problem, but I know some who do. That’s a good one to keep in the “home remedy” file.
Ummm… I gotta say something. Please don’t use this as a treatment for a urinary tract infection. UTIs are caused by bacteria, and oral ingestion of a basic (high pH) solution is not gonna do it for you. Think about it- the bicarb (baking soda) you are drinking is neutralizing the acid in your stomach- which is necessary for digestion and immunity. Then it is absorbed in the intestines and being distributed over your ENTIRE body, before it is filtered through the liver and kidneys. If you’re sensitive to sodium, it could raise your blood pressure. Without knowing the concentration of the solution you’re drinking, it could also alter the pH of your blood (which can be a very big deal, trust me) or cause kidney damage-especially if you’re a little older. There are much better ways to treat UTIs-Antibiotics for instance. Acidic urine is NOT the problem! If you MUST self treat, at least try pure cranberry juice (unsweetened) first- there are some good studies to show that this can work if done consistently. It is worth noting that there are other conditions besides UTIs that will cause pain, urgency and hesitancy (difficulty peeing) in women, including cystocele (prolapsed bladder), interstitial urethritis and others. And a word about prevention- Empty your bladder after sex, wipe front to back so you don’t drag “bad” bacteria toward the Cave of Wonders and your urethra and, if UTIs are a problem for you, skip the bubble bath and wear cotton undies. Please, ladies…
Diana, RN
If you hadn’t said it Diana, I would have. Think about it..the one OTC that most of us use is cranberry juice which is ACIDIC. The best thing that I’ve found is to drink lots of water and see my doc.
I have that exact dish of corning ware and just yesterday I was thinking that I needed to look up a way to get the burn off. THANK YOU!
My neighbor sprinkles baking soda on her dollar weeds…does something that kills the dollar weeds or at least makes them weak and helps the grass!
I use baking soda-water paste as a face wash/scrub every morning and evening. The I do a vinegar and water solution as a toner afterward. My face is very soft and it the vinegar gets rid of dark spots!
I need to try this!
I use BS for a scrub, but didn’t think abt vinegar and H20 for a toner! I’ll try it.
What kind of vinegar and what is the ratio of vinegar and water? Sounds great!
Apple Cider Vinegar is what I use – a ratio of about 1 ACV to 2 water. Try it! It’s really helped calm down the redness in my face, and made my T-zone less oily.
What is your water/baking soda ratio and also what vinegar do you use/ratio as well? I have been wanting to do this but have heard of different ways and types of vinegar!!
Thanks
I use baking soda and water to clean my glass top stove.
I created my “at home” version of Mary Kay’s Satin Hands (the old 3-step version). Start some warm water running in the sink (you’re hands are about to get goopy!)…slather on some of “Jillee’s substitute petroleum jelly“, next rub in a generous amount of baking soda to exfoliate, then squirt on some handwash (any kind will do, really). Rub that in so that it breaks up the greasy-paste on your hands. Next, rinse & apply some hand lotion! BEAUTIFULLY soft hands!! :)
Great Idea! Thanks
Joanne….this sounds WONDERFUL! Can’t wait to try this! I added a link to the non-petroleum jelly post…I hope you don’t mind. :-)
You have no idea how much I love you! Cat litter trays, air freshner (love the smell of fabric softener) and drains are happening this evening!
Also when you say vinegar…is white malt vingear the same as white vinegar? I’m having real trouble finding white vinegar in London :(
Not quite. Look for (or ask for) distilled vinegar, or spirit vinegar. Malt vinegar, even white, still has that distinctive “malt” odor.
I agree with Katy. (Thanks Katy!) Look for distilled. I love you too. :-)
I do the baking soda in the brewed tea. It works well..
Was kitten-sitting for a friend and the little guy pooped all over my brand new microfiber sofa. Wiped it off, used a wet sponge with a dab of Dawn to clean the spot, and then put a good amount of baking soda all over the area. I waited a few hours and then vacuumed up the baking soda and you would never know that anything ever happened!
SPIDER BITE: Make a paste with warm water and apply to spider bites. Leave on for 20 minute and then wipe off with clean warm wash cloth. Do this a couple of times until bite has healed. You will see a reduce in the redness after the first time. The baking soda helps to draw the poison out. Of course if you think it is a poisonous spider bite seek medical attention.
I was told by a pharmist to make a paste of plain meat tenderizer (with no add spices in it) and apply it to spider bites or misquiteo bites. Leave it on there for about 15- 20 min. and wash with a warm wash cloth.I had done this after our son who was bitten three to four times on his back by a Hobo Spider. It drew out the poison and shrunk it down and went away after a couple of days. Of course if it’s a “nasty” one seek medical help.
My acupuncturist told me to put fresh lemon juice and about 2TBLS of baking soda in water and drink it in the morning to help bring the alkalinity level up. If I remember I also will do it in the evening at bedtime.
That baking soda uti trick also works really well for indigestion/acid reflux as a natural remedy. Mix a Tbls in a glass of luke warm water, drink, wait 10-15 minutes and viola, acid is neutralized! Beats spending 15-20$ on OTC meds
katie another GREAT thingfor acid reflux is drinking lemon water!! i usually just put a lemon wedge in my glass of water in the morning and leave it in there all day as i refill.. i suffer from really bad reflux and once i started doing this i dont even have the slightest trace of heartburn or anything dont even have to take my medication anymore! plus lemon water does so many other great things for you body!! and then at the end of the day i throw the lemon wedge down the garbage disposal so my disposal smells GREAT!!!
im absolutly in LOVE with baking soda i go thru at least 1 big box a week at my house! lol about once a week ill make the face scrub let it sit on till it dries then hop in the shower and rinse it off, then i att it to my shampoo to help get all the styling products (and anything else my lovely lil men have decided to put in there! lol) out, add a bit to my toothpaste and brush my teeth with it which has definatly made them whiter! i also scrub my tounge ring with the bs toothpaste mix… another thing i use it for is i scrub my stove and countertops with baking soda and water paste then come back around and spray them down with vinager and water (half an half) with a bit of lemon juice mixed in… i have neverr seen my stove sparkle so bright!!! plus my house smells of fresh lemons afterward i love it!!!!
I use a handful of Baking Soda and a swig of coke or sprite when I have bad indegestion. Within a minute the indegestion is gone! Precription medication doesn’t even work like a 25 cent box of Baking Soda does!
after reading all the benefits of using baking soda I had to add one our family has used for generations. For any type of upset stomach, use one whole limon (yellow) and the tip of a spoon of baking soda, mix together and drink immediatly. This helps settle your stomach problem, you might have to do it more than once (every few hours as needed) its almost like alkaseltzer, but way cheaper.
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My little girl got thrush in her mouth and none of the medications the doctor gave me worked, so I put baking soda on it and guess what? Completely gone! And I washed her toys with vinegar and lemon juice and I’ve never seen the thrush again. Yay for natural remedies, and they work even better anyway!
I wish I had known this sooner! lol I keep getting thrush and my doc thinks it’s from my CPAP machine. He told me to wash the hose and mask parts in 1 to 1 mixture of water and vinegar and to brush my tongue with baking soda. So much better than taking prescription after prescription!
I have used a baking soda paste on shingles blisters. It immediately takes away the itching and stinging and cools down the pain (if you have had shingles, you will know this hot pain). It also dries out the blisters. Love BS and keep an industrial-size bag under my kitchen sink and clean the stains from my white porcelain sink every week.
My husband uses to clean his Camelback which is a water bladder backpack for bike riders. He rinses it out, puts some water in it and adds some soda, shakes it and drains it. He leaves the soda in it to help it dry out. When he is ready to refill it, he rinses the remaining soda out and refills it with water or Gatorade. He has used the same Camelback for over 10 years using this method to keep it and the tubing clean.
You also can use baking soda as base for poo-free shampoo: http://hairgrowthandcare.com/how-to-make-hair-growth-faster-naturally/
That link does not work Elena. Is it correct or did the site change?
I just found out the other day that I can buy a 50# bag of baking soda at the local feed store where I get feed for our chickens. Less than $10 for the bag! I can make my own washing soda now so this will save me a ton of money. Now to figure out where to store it.
Ahhh…always a dilemma in my house too! STORAGE! Good luck! That’s an awesome deal. You’ll save TONS! :-)
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FYI, make sure that if you are using baking soda as an indigestion cure that you don’t use too much of it as it can throw off your body’s acid/base balance
when using baking soda before vacuuming you say try adding cinnamon..how much would you recomend?
Breeze….I would add a teaspoon of cinnamon to a cup of baking soda. :-)
I, too, sing the praises of baking soda! It is one of the ingredients that I use daily for an almost endless list of uses. The dollar weed idea has piqued my interest and am going to take a box of bs outside (just as soon as it cools down some) to sprinkle on some of the weeds (dollar & other) I have. Maybe I’ll even put some on the fire ants to see what happens.
@ Sw33tp3a pour white distilled vinegar on ants. They will be gone the next day!
Thanks, Jillee for the tips. Question on the mattress freshening, though. Approx what ratio of soda to fabric softener? High ratio would be a paste, but if just a little, wouldn’t the mixture still be too chunky to spread? Can you help confused girl out on this one? :) Thanks!
I’m confused with you Molly. I want to do this to my inherited mattress…1 Tablespoon to a box? or… Help :) Thanks.
I too would like to know.
As would I…
Anyone figure this ratio out?!
I would love to know too! I just inherited a mattress and boxsprings and fabreeze is not doing enough.
When I’m ready to store my ice chests after using, I pour in 1/2 cup baking soda to keep them smelling fresh until the next use. Never another musty smelling ice chest!!
love Love LOVE all your tips Jillee…came across your site via Pinterest and have already tried out half a dozen of your suggestions. I am with Molly O though on the mattress re-freshener. How much Baking Soda do you use? What is the ratio of liquid fabric softener to baking soda?
I LOVE baking soda too, I go through crazy amounts of it because I use it for everything. That and vinegar (white distilled) are the primary cleaning products in my home. I add a little of both to the dishwater when I have pots and pans to hand wash (along with Dawn power clean) works like a charm and cuts down on scrubbing. My all time favorite use though is to add it to my shampoo every other day. I suffer from severe dandruff, which is probably something closer to psoriasis but I’ve never seen a dermatologist for it because if I use the baking soda the itching goes away completely. Mind you it doesn’t COMPLETELY cut down the flaking but it does improve it considerably. I used to use t-gel but I had to use it daily and eventually it stopped working. The baking soda works better than anything else I’ve tried and never quits working. I have found that it dries out my hair a little but using a GOOD conditioner solves it. I would love to try the no-poo method, but with my scalp condition I know I can’t, adding it to my shampoo helps the bsoda to be scrubbed into my scalp better since I have very thick hair.
Sprite, the product you need for your head is called Nizoral in the blue and white box. It isn’t all natural like the recipes here, but IT WORKS! I, too, had flaking like mad, itching and even oozing. They told me it was NOT psoriasis, but couldn’t tell me what it was or how to get it to stop. Nizoral (in the medicated shampoo section of the pharmacy) is the ONLY thing that works.
Jillee, I would like to know on the mattress one, how much baking soda do you use?
I tried the
“tile grout cleaner, mix baking soda and hydrogen peroxide into a paste, and scrub the grout with the paste and a toothbrush.” today. WOW, amazing. I had previously tried all sorts of cleaning things…literally everything, and nothing worked. This does! Thank you! :-)
I am also curious as to how to do the mattress wash. What is the ratio with liquid softner and baking soda? Thanks!
I use baking soda to clean the grease off of glass lids and kitchen appliances. I make a paste and rub on them until clean. Also use on tupperware too.
I’ve been using soda in ice tea for a number of years but only use a pinch per half gallon rather than a 1/4 teaspoon. Seems like using that much would be way TOO much. It sure works to take that bitterness out, and makes a smooth refreshing drink!
Hubby likes to make egg drop soup. The egg gets cooked on to the pan and I have spent countless hours SCRUBBING it off. Baking soda alone wouldn’t even bring it off entirely. However, the other day I sprinkled on baking soda and dampened the soda with hydrogen peroxide. I waited about five minutes and, lo and behold!, the pan cleaned up like a dream come true. Everything came off the pan with a couple of gentle swipes. Love my baking soda!!
Would also like to know the amounts for the mattress wash with BS/fabric softern
thanks
I sprinkled the baking soda on my matress and then sprayed some fabric softern over it…i think it works well! hope i have helped you guys :)
greetings,
Linda
Thanks for the baking soda tips. I recently learned that if you add a pinch (prob 1/8 to 1/4 tsp) to the water you’re cooking beans in they will become soft (I don’t know if anyone else has had this problem, but I’ve tried on a few occasions to make split pea soup and sometimes the peas would never completely soften — adding the baking soda ensures that they will get soft). Really works!
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