Baking soda - - - Fascinating!

By Nicole Hubbard, Hubbard’s Maid Service

Would you read an article about baking soda?

This is the season of baking, after all. But I am the supposed cleaning expert so we’re going with that slant. I googled “baking soda” and it has over 3 million results so I could write a thing or two about it. The reason baking soda has floated over to the center of my frontal lobes is because I have Corian kitchen counters that somehow were inflicted with a hideous blueberry stain. That stain taunted me for several days. Then I applied a paste of baking soda and water over the stain and scrubbed it with a rag and voila! The stain was gone. I did the same thing in the shower that had acquired a rust stain and the same thing, it was gone! So I am quite impressed with baking soda.

Besides using it in baking to make batter rise baking soda has many other uses. You can use it to wash garbage cans. It helps remove grease and odors. And also on that subject of oil and grease  -- stained clothing washes out better with baking soda added to the washing water.

Eliminating odors from your home can be accomplished by baking soda. This is especially good if you are looking for the non-toxic route. It absorbs kitty litter odors. That has got to be one of the skunkiest smells around. Cover the bottom of the kitty box with 1 part baking soda; then add a layer of three parts kitty litter on top. Now to eliminate dog odors or just freshen up the air, sprinkle baking soda on your carpet where your dog lies and vacuum up. Leave the soda on the carpet for half an hour. It also eliminates odor in your vacuum after it has been vacuumed up. It’s a great way to freshen up your home air during the winter when everything is closed up. You can also remove that intense smoky smell from ashtrays with baking soda and water. Don’t you hate it when your hands smell like garlic or fish? Clean them with baking soda – it really works! It will sweeten sour dish towels too.

Baking soda is powerful on barbecue grills. You can use it to scrub on as a paste, soak and then rinse off. You can apply the same method to any type of cooking pans as well to get off burned-on food. Baking soda can be used in place of dish washing detergent as well to give your machine an extra good cleaning.

Baking soda can also be used for personal care. Putting 2-tablespoons of baking soda in your baby's bath water will help relieve diaper rash irritations. It can be used as a mouth wash, baking soda will relieve a canker sore. You can also use it as an underarm deodorant if you’re in a pinch.

Using baking soda is a successful and non-toxic way to preserve our environment and it is readily available and economical for all sorts of uses in the household. If you have any unusual baking soda uses not mentioned here, let me know about them and I will feature it in my monthly newsletter. You can send your ideas to 22nicole22@comcast.net. I would love to hear from you!