So who doesn’t have baking soda in their home? Anyone? Anyone? I didn’t think so. I bet most people even have an open box in their refrigerator. But, beyond baking and removing odors from the refrigerator, baking soda is another amazing household ingredient that is simply often ignored.

Baking soda, aka sodium bicarbonate, helps regulate pH.  When baking soda comes in contact with either an acidic or an alkaline substance, it neutralizes that pH. Beyond that, baking soda has the ability to retard further changes in the pH balance, known as buffering. This dual capability of neutralizing and buffering allows baking soda to do wonderful things like neutralize acidic odors (like in the refrigerator) as well as maintain neutral pH (like in your laundry water, which helps boost your detergent’s power). It’s a simple reaction, but one that has far-reaching effects for a number of cleaning and deodorizing tasks.

 Here’s what I use baking soda for:

• It is a gentle non-abrasive cleanser, which is great for scrubbing kitchens, bathrooms, and fiberglass.
• Cleaning sterling silver – add a little bit of water to some baking soda, make a paste, then rub it all over your jewelry or silverware, it gets into all the fine detailed areas that a polishing cloth seems to miss; after all the tarnish is removed, simply rinse off and dry.
• To deodorize carpets – sprinkle on the carpet, let stand for 10 minutes and vacuum up.
• To deodorize the refrigerator and freezer – put a cup of baking soda in an open container and leave in the back, replace every couple of months.
• Add it to toothpaste for an added whitener.
• Add a cup to the wash, it removes perspiration odors; neutralize some chemical smells along with brightening and softening the clothes. Your laundry will look brighter and smell fresher.
• For skin irritations like poison ivy, measles or chicken pox – add a half cup of baking soda to a bathtub full of warm water and soak. The baking soda will help relieve the itching and irritation as well as help soften skin.
• Add some baking soda and hot water to a pan with burnt-on food, let it soak and then clean it with a lot less effort.
• Keep cut flowers fresh longer by adding a teaspoon to the water in the vase.
• Sprinkle it inside stinky shoes, litter box, or the garbage can to soak up odors.

One of the most amazing things about baking soda is that it’s cheap. You can do all these things for a very small cost. Baking soda is truly a miracle product, whether it’s used for baking or not.

What do you use baking soda for? Please share and I will continue to share my journey with it.