Using Baking Soda

Today I was catching up on one of my favorite blogs and came across some uses for baking soda. I love using baking soda and vinegar when cleaning around the house so I thought it was so cool when I saw this and all of the different ways it can be used.

So just click here to go to the blog....

Or you can look below at the list. I want to say thank you to Lindsey C @ The Housewifes Weekly Journal for posting these.

Health Uses
1. Use it as an antacid. (Hmm... I've got to try this in addition to my Star Anise tea)
2. Use it as underarm deodorant by applying it with a powder puff
3. Mix half a teaspoon with peroxide paste and use it as toothpaste. (This sounds like a great alternative to regular toothpaste that contains Sodium Laureth Sulfate)
4. Use it as a face and body scrub.
5. Add a cup to bathwater to soften your skin.
6. Relieve skin itch from insect bites and pain from sunburn.
7. Remove strong odors from your hands by rubbing them with baking soda and water. (Love it!)
8. Put two tablespoons in your baby’s bathwater to help relieve diaper rash.
9. Apply it on rashes, insect bites, and poison ivy irritations.
10. Take a baking soda bath to relieve skin irritations.
11. Heartburn? Take a teaspoon of baking soda mixed with one-half glass of water.
12. Freshen your mouth by gargling half a teaspoon of baking soda mixed water.
13. Relieve canker sore pain by using it as mouthwash.
14. Use it to relieve bee stings.
15. Use it to relieve windburn.
16. Apply it on jellyfish sting to draw out the venom.
17. Unblock stuffy nose by adding a teaspoon of baking soda to your vaporizer.


In the Home
18. Keep cut flowers fresh longer by adding a teaspoon to the water in the vase. (I guess Fabian will have to go buy me some flowers, to try this one!)
19. Put out small fires on rugs, upholstery, clothing, and wood. (Glad I haven't had to use this one!)
20. Put an open container of baking soda in the fridge to absorb the odors.
21. Sprinkle it on your ashtrays to reduce bad odor and prevent smoldering.
22. Sprinkle it on your slippers, boots, shoes, and socks to eliminate foul odor.
23. Turn baking soda into modeling clay by combining it with one and 1/4 cups of water and one cup of cornstarch.
24. After feeding your baby, wipe his shirt with a moist cloth sprinkled with baking soda to remove the odor.
25. Wipe your windshield with it to repel rain. (Great idea for Floridians)
26. Improve the smell of dishrags by soaking them in baking soda and water.
27. Suck it in with your vacuum cleaner to remove the odor.
28. Freshen the air by mixing baking soda with your favorite perfumed bath salts. Put the mixture in small sachet bags.
29. Restore stiff brushes by boiling them in a solution of 1/2 gallon of water, 1/4 cup of vinegar, and a cup of baking soda.
30. Put it under sinks and along basement windows to repel cockroaches and ants.
31. Scatter baking soda around flowerbeds to prevent rabbits from eating your veggies.
32. Sweeten your tomatoes by sprinkling baking soda on the soil around your tomato plants.
33. Sprinkle it onto your cat’s litter box to absorb the bad odor.
34. Sprinkle it on your pet’s comb or brush to deodorize their fur and skin.


In Cooking
35. Use it as a substitute for baking powder by mixing with it with cream of tartar or vinegar.
36. Wash fruits and vegetables with it. (This supposedly helps remove pesticides!)
37. When boiling a chicken, add a teaspoon of baking soda to the water. Feathers will come off easier, and the flesh will be clean and white.
38. Soak dried beans to a baking soda solution to make them more digestible.
39. Remove the distinctive taste of wild game by soaking it in a baking soda solution.
40. Make a sports drink by mixing it with boiled water, salt, and Kool-Aid. (I don't know about the Kool-Aid)
41. Remove the fishy smell from your fillets by soaking the raw fish in a baking soda solution for an hour inside the fridge.
42. Make fluffier omelets by adding half a teaspoon of baking soda for every three eggs used.
43. Reduce the acid content of your tomato-based recipes by sprinkling them with a pinch of baking soda. (Got to try this one)


Cleaning Purposes
44. Add a cup to the toilet, leave it for an hour, and then flush. It will clean the toilet and absorb the odor.
45. Use it to scrub sinks, showers, plastic and porcelain tubs
46. Spray it on walls, mirrors, and counter tops.
47. Add a spoonful to your dishwasher to make scrubbing dishes easier.
48. Remove grease from pots and pans.
49. Dry clean carpets and upholstered furniture by sprinkling baking soda over the fabric and gently brushing it. Leave it for an hour or overnight, then vacuum.
50. Boost your laundry detergent’s cleaning power by sprinkling a handful on dirty clothes.
51. Combine it with water to make a paste for polishing stainless steel and chrome.
52. Remove scratches and crayon marks from vinyl floors and walls.
53. Clean your shoes with it.
54. Clean garbage cans with it.
55. Use it to wash diapers.
56. Clean the fridge with it.
57. Soak brushes and combs in a baking soda solution.
58. Mix it with water to wash food and drink containers.
59. Put three tablespoons of baking soda to a quart of warm water, then use the mixture to wash marble-topped furniture.
60. Absorb it with a damp sponge, then clean Formica counter tops with the sponge.
61. Use it to get rid of stale odors from cooling containers and thermos bottles.
62. Run your coffee maker with a baking soda solution, then rinse.
63. Combine with hot water to clean baby bottles.
64. Sprinkle it on barbecue grills, then rinse it off.
65. Scatter it on your greasy garage floor, scrub the floor, and rinse.
66. Remove burned-on food from a pan by soaking it in a baking soda solution for 10 minutes before washing. (I tried this one the other day to remove burnt milk from the bottom of a pan. I boiled it with about 2 tsp baking soda and all the burnt mess floated to the top!)
67. Clean your ashtrays with a baking soda solution.
68. Keep your drains clean by putting four tablespoons of baking soda in them each week. Flush it down with hot water. (This works and is so much more environmentally friendly than chemical drain cleaners)
69. Clean your shower curtains by soaking them in baking soda and water.
70. Put it on a small brush to rub canvas handbags clean.
71. Use it to remove melted plastic bread wrapper from a toaster. Sprinkle baking soda on a damp rug, then use the rag to clean the toaster. (Does everyone do that?!)
72. Use it to clean your retainers and dentures.
73. Make a thick paste of baking soda and water, and used it to scrub enameled cast iron and stainless steel.
74. Mix four tablespoons of baking soda with a quart of warm water, and use it to clean the inside part of an oven.
75. Use it to unclog gas stoves.

Green Sites and Apps

So while the hunny and I have been working around the house here in Fl and packing and moving some more stuff into the trailer I have been looking on the web for more green sites. I love reading other peoples blogs so I have a lot of sites that I read daily on my google reader. I love my google reader and wish that I had app to easily bring it up on my nook, but until one is made I will keep going to the website. Anyways so if you come across any blogs about homesteading, sustainable living, or green living, be sure to drop me a line so I am enjoy them also. I plan on adding the blogs I read to my site here but think I am going to have to move the box that they go in since it is kind of small and I read a lot lol.

Now on to the sites and app's...
I will do the apps first as I have only come across a few that I really like and plus I only get the free ones.

The Treehugger app brings you news of green things, ways to go green and other people and places that are going green and how they are doing it.

The Go Green app gives you tip on how you can go green. Every time you close the app and open back up it gives you a new tip.

The Locavore app helps you eat in season and local to where you are. Based on your phone’s GPS location, Locavore will make searching for in-season, local food a breeze by pinpointing farms and farmers’ markets nearest you.

As for some of the sites that I love to read. Instead of listing them on here. I will be adding them to my page so that others can see as they are updated.