Song of Sodium Bicarbonate (aka: Baking Soda)

Whew! It's been a BUSY week! Getting one kid started in preschool, first gymnastics lesson, creating some sort of meaningful lesson plans at school... All this on top of the regular cooking and cleaning at home, PLUS trying to get products ready for my next event at the end of the month. I'm not complaining or anything, but I'm just sayin'... Please excuse my lack of blog post over the past week. Especially since I know you have been DYING to read more about natural ingredients you can use for cleaning around your home. ;)

Ok, enough blabbering. Let's get down to the nitty gritty.  Baking Soda. Sodium Bicarbonate. If you want to get technical, its chemical formula is NaHCO3. Baking soda is weakly alkaline, therefore it helps to break down and neutralize acids. This quality also makes it an excellent tenderizer and leavening agent. Add a bit to tomato sauce or strong coffee to help reduce acidity. Medically speaking, ingesting small amounts of baking soda is said to help adjust the body's pH level to a more alkaline balance.

We all used baking soda in baking and probably keep a box in the back of the refrigerator, right? Well, there are so many other ways to use this versatile ingredient! For example, you can add it to your conventional or homemade laundry detergent to boost the cleaning power. Ditto for the dishwasher. Mixed with a little water or lemon juice, it makes a gentle abrasive cleanser for kitchens and bathrooms. I sprinkle some down my kitchen drain when the sink gets stinky.

Baking soda is a key ingredient in bath bombs and fizzies. It softens your skin beautifully.  It is non-toxic and will not harm babies or children if ingested. The best part about baking soda? Like vinegar, it's cheap and plentiful. A box of generic baking soda retails for around 50 cents!

Here are some additional blogs/articles with more ideas:

51 Fantastic Uses for Baking Soda

Arm and Hammer Website

Medicinal Uses


Happy cleaning!

Sarah