Many common cooking ingredients have uses beyond the kitchen. An excellent example of this is bicarbonate of soda.
From its effectiveness as a mild abrasive to its deodorising capabilities, the applications of baking soda seem endless.
We scoured the internet and spoke to cleaning expert and author, Becky Rapinchuk aka “Clean Mama,” to put together a list of the many amazing uses for this chemical compound.
Indeed, the power of baking soda is well documented. Read on for 21 amazing uses for it around the house.
Cleaning Your Sink
Bicarb of soda works well as a mild abrasive, so it’s a useful sink cleaner. You can sprinkle it all over your sink and then scrub it with a sponge.
Rapinchuk said she likes to mix it with 20-30 drops of essential oil for scent and adds washing up liquid before she scrubs. “It’s a great way to freshen up and give you aromatherapy while you’re doing something that’s not really that fun,” she noted.
Others mix it with lemon juice to form a paste or scrub the bicarb of soda with a cut lemon. Once you’ve scrubbed your sink, you can rinse the sink with vinegar and then warm water. Some people recommend using it as a way to unclog sink drains as well, but others’ experiments have cast doubt on this approach.
Cleaning Produce
According to a study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, bicarb of soda is an effective solution for removing pesticide residue from fruits and vegetables.
All you have to do is fill your clean sink with water, add four teaspoons of baking soda, soak your produce for about five minutes, rinse it with cold water and pat it dry.
Deodorising Your Refrigerator
In addition to being a great mild abrasive, bicarb is a very common deodoriser.
“You can put an open box of it in your refrigerator or anywhere that’s a little musty or stinky,” said Rapinchuk. “It will absorb odors.”
Freshening Up Towels
Its deodorising powers can also work well for things that get a little mildew-smelling, like towels.
“If you need to freshen up your towels, you can put half a cup in your washing machine with your normal detergent to get rid of odours,” Rapinchuk noted.
Cleaning Jewellery
If you have silver jewellery, you can soak it in a mixture of bicarb of soda and hot water in an aluminum-foil-lined bowl. Through the process of ion exchange, the tarnish will transfer from the silver to the water.
After removing the jewellery, wipe away excess tarnish with a soft lint-free cloth. This works for other household items and silverware as well.
For hard stones and metals like diamonds and platinum, you can use a mixture of bicarb of soda, water, salt and dish soap.
Getting Stains Out Of Carpets
“If you have a stain on your carpet, you can sprinkle a little soda on top of it, and it may help,” Rapinchuk explained. “You can also pour a little vinegar and sprinkle it on top. The two will react, and it’s thought to extract the strain. Let it sit and dry, and then vacuum it up.”
Although she’s used this method with great success, Rapinchuk noted that it doesn’t work with everyone’s carpet.
Making Shoes Less Smelly
Rapinchuk said she likes to use bicarbonate of soda to freshen up smelly shoes. There are different ways to do this.
You can sprinkle it directly into the shoes, let them sit for a day and then shake it out. You can make little baking soda-filled sachets with socks, small pouches or pieces of cloth tied with ribbon or string and put them in your shoes when you aren’t wearing them. With sandals, you can seal them in a bag filled with baking soda.
You can use the latter technique for clothing as well. “If you have clothes that are smelly but you don’t have time to wash them, you can put a little soda in a bag and put it in the bag to absorb odours,” Rapinchuk explained.
Treating Your Nails
Combine three parts baking soda and one part water to create a mixture that you can use to scrub your nails to smooth the surface. You can also combine equal parts baking soda and water to create a paste that may exfoliate cuticles and remove nail stains.
Dry Shampooing Your Hair
Many people like to sprinkle a little bicarb of soda to absorb excess oil in their hair or mix it with other ingredients like cornstarch, oatmeal, cinnamon and/or essential oils for a similar effect.
“Some people put it in their hair as a dry shampoo, but not everyone does well with it,” Rapinchuk said. Indeed, the method isn’t effective for everyone, and some have even reported hair damage over time.
Cleaning Your Shower
Rapinchuk likes to uses it to clean her shower as well.
“You can mix it with a little lemon juice or vinegar, and it helps get in the crevices of a drain,” she said. “But be careful that it’s not too much. You can also use it for soap scum. Mix up a tablespoon of bicarbonate of soda with a teaspoon of salt and a little vinegar and make that into a paste to remove soap scum.”
Treating Stings
“If you have a sting of some sort, you can make a poultice,” Rapinchuk explained. “Make a paste with soda and water and just dab it onto that area and let it dry. Historically speaking, it was used to get a stinger out because it was thought to extract the stinger, but can also help with redness or swelling or itch as well.”
Some people recommend this method for removing splinters as well. People also use sodaand water mixtures to relieve mild sunburn and other skin irritations, as many swear it eases the pain and discomfort.
Freshening The Air
Bicarb of soda is a popular ingredient in homemade air fresheners.
Rapinchuk advises putting baking soda and lemon essential oil in a small mason jar, replacing the lid with a piece of fabric and using the metal ring to keep it in place.
“You can do that without any scent and place it indiscreetly in a stinky area,” she said.
Cleaning Brushes And Combs
After removing the hair from brushes and combs, you can soak them in a mixture of soda, shampoo and water. Rinse with hot water after letting them soak for 30-60 minutes.
Soaking Your Skin
“Bicarb of soda is great in a bath with Epsom salt,” Rapinchuk said.
Indeed, you can add a couple of cups of baking soda to your bath to relieve pain or tension and exfoliate your skin. You can also use this mixture as a foot soak or create an exfoliating scrub to apply to your skin (though not all experts recommend this).
Cleaning Your Oven
Rapinchuk mixes the bicarb with soap and water to create a paste for cleaning her oven. She uses this combination for her stove as well.
Others have used a similar soda solution to clean microwaves and other kitchen appliances.
Deodorising The Carpet
If you sprinkle bicarb of soda on your carpet and then let it sit for awhile before vacuuming it up, the substance has a deodorising effect. You can also do this with other soft surfaces like mattresses or pet beds.
Rapinchuk noted that she uses a sieve to sprinkle the bicarb of soda evenly.
Washing Your Face
Many beauty enthusiasts have experimented with bicarb of soda as a face cleanser and even made face masks with it.
Results have been mixed, so it’s best to test it out on an area of your skin before fully diving in.
Cleaning Sponges
You can bring a smelly sponge back to life by soaking it in a solution of bicarb of soda and water. Don’t use this approach for old sponges that need to be disposed of, however. These household items produce a lot of bacteria.
Making A Natural Deodorant
“You can use a makeup brush, dab bicarb of soda in and brush it under to use as a pseudo-deodorant to absorb odour,” Rapinchuk said.
Indeed, many people use baking soda in natural deodorant, but not everyone reacts well to it. It’s often used in the wrong quantities as well.
Creating Washing Soda
“Arm & Hammer has a product called washing soda, which is a laundry booster or cleaning booster of sorts, but you can make it by heating baking soda at 425 degrees for an hour,” Rapinchuk explained.
“It’s a fun hack because you can use washing soda in homemade laundry soap or a soft cleaning paste,” she added.
Scrubbing Your Home
Beyond sinks and showers, baking soda’s mild abrasive capabilities make it a useful all-purpose cleaner.
“My favourite use for baking soda is as my nightly scrub,” said Rapinchuk, noting that she combines two cups with 20-30 drops of essential oil. “I mix it with a table knife, store it in a jar, and use that same mixture to scrub in different areas of my house.”