Bicarbonate of soda or in everyday lingo – baking soda. This stuff is really a gift in so many ways. The uses for baking soda are many. You can clean with it, use it to make natural beauty products and it’s also really healthy.
North Americans are a pretty pristine lot. We like things clean, shiny and smelling fresh, so if you’d like to know about a great life hack such as the great uses for baking soda – other than for keeping your fridge from smelling bad – read on:
Fruit and veg cleaner
When you buy fruit or veggies chances are they will be covered with a waxy film that you don’t want to be ingesting. Take a damp sponge and add some baking soda and give your apple or cucumber a soft scrub. Rinse and they’re ready to eat.
Rug freshener
Sprinkling baking soda onto a carpet or an area rug will take out any nasty smells. Wait about 15 minutes after you’ve shaken the bicarb onto the rug and simply vacuum it up.
The whitest whites
If you add about a cup of baking soda to a load of whites with your regular laundry detergent, it will get your whites much brighter and cleaner.
The cleanest appliances
The coffee maker and dishwasher will look and function like they’re new after you run them on an empty cycle using baking soda.
A terrific exfoliant
Take three parts of baking soda and one part water and make a paste. Apply it to your face gently in circles, then rinse with warm water. It’s one way of getting naturally glowing skin.
Weed killer
There are many loves of baking soda, fortunately weeds aren’t among them. Sprinkling baking soda into cracks and crevices of walkways and your driveway will discourage weeds from growing and it’s safe for all those outdoor critters.
A gleaming toothbrush
Mix about two ounces of baking soda with about a quarter pint of water. Add your toothbrush and let it sit overnight. By morning it will be disinfected and ready to use on your pearly whites.
Douse the heartburn
No antacids on hand for a nasty case of heartburn? You will likely have baking soda in the house. Mix about a half teaspoon of the bicarb with about a quarter pint of water and drink up. Your heartburn will be history.
The best omelette
Have people oohing and aahing over your omelettes at your next brunch. Add a half teaspoon of baking soda to every three eggs you use. The soda will give extra dimension to the eggs making your omelettes into little, fluffy clouds. Who would have thought this was one of the uses for baking soda?
Blocked drain? Easy fix
Blocked drains are a pain, but they’re easily remedied by pouring about four ounces of baking soda into the drain followed by about four ounces of hot, white vinegar. The bubbling action will usually unclog an unruly drain very quickly.
