19 USES OF BAKING SODA: FOR THE HOME AND FOR THE PERSON - LIFESTYLE

19 effective uses of baking soda: for the home and for the person

We often tend to fill our homes with chemicals to clean surfaces and wash clothes, but the answer to our household problems could be much greener than we think! Baking soda is a natural detergent that not only sanitizes, but also whitens and makes shoes and cloths fragrant. Use it in the washing machine together with the vinegar, you will get a great cleaning effect! Discover other tricks in the video to get a perfect laundry.

Sodium bicarbonate: what it is and what it is used for

Baking soda is a very common detergent that you can buy in supermarkets, shops and pharmacies at a very low price. Useful ally at home, it replaces various chemicals that are present in some products of daily use, both for personal hygiene and for the home.
Not surprisingly, sodium bicarbonate is one of the natural products with the greatest number of uses in household cleaning: it can be used both as a deodorant and as a stain remover depending on the situation.

But what specifically is bicarbonate?
Chemically it is called sodium hydrogen carbonate (NAHCO3), but it is commonly known as sodium bicarbonate. It is a sodium salt derived from carbonic acid.
It is a natural neutralizer that manages to keep the pH of the solutions stable around values of 8. In practice it is a buffer substance, which, like lemon, vinegar, salt and citric acid, is extremely versatile.

Its various possibilities of use are due to some specific characteristics: it dissolves in water, but not completely in alcohol, it is slightly abrasive and alkaline, and it is fungistatic.
These properties allow sodium bicarbonate to help in various acidic situations such as fighting heartburn or neutralizing the corrosive action on pipes by acids.

The fields of use of bicarbonate

Baking Soda is therefore a safe, ecological and ideal product in various fields where thorough cleaning and deep hygiene are required.

The magical substance lends itself well to these 4 areas:

in the kitchen, to disinfect and deodorize;
in cleaning, to thoroughly clean and eliminate bad smells;
with laundry, to whiten and enhance the effect of the detergent;
in personal hygiene, for body and hair.

Now let's see in detail the most effective uses of baking soda in everyday chores.

Baking soda in the kitchen

Bicarbonate is ideal in the kitchen because if dissolved in water it sanitizes what we eat; let's think, for example, of the fruit and vegetables that expectant mothers have to wash carefully. It also becomes a terrific leavening agent for making tasty cakes! Here are the actions in which baking soda is particularly useful:

1. Wash fruits and vegetables. It will be enough to put 1 tablespoon of bicarbonate in a liter of water and let the solution act for a few minutes. Rinse and taste the food, ready to be eaten.

2. Cook the dried legumes, one of the long cooking foods at the table. If left to stand overnight in a basin of water with a teaspoon of baking soda, when it is time to cook them they will cook in half the time and will be even softer.

3. Helping leavening, especially if we do not have baking powder at home or if we want to opt for a more natural leavening. Use 1 tablespoon of baking soda for every 500 grams of flour used. In the mixes of cakes and sweets, combine it with a teaspoon of vinegar, you will immediately notice a surprising softness and a nice volume!

4. Make the sauce less acidic. If the tomato sauce seems too sour you can sprinkle a bit of baking soda to correct the flavor and make it more pleasant, in this way you will reduce the acidity. The same trick can also be used with coffee.

Baking soda in house cleaning

Alone or combined with other substances such as vinegar and lemon, it is able to degrease and disinfect various surfaces in the house. It is therefore not surprising that bicarbonate is one of the best allies in house cleaning.
It can be used for dishes and for washing various materials, such as wood, metals, sanitary ware and plastic objects.
Among the uses of baking soda in cleaning we find:

1. Wash the dishes. To obtain an exceptional, easy and fast cleaning, put the dishes in hot water adding one or two tablespoons of bicarbonate together with a little lemon juice: the effect is guaranteed, dishes shiny and well degreased. You can also try to scrape the pots by simply using 1 cup of salt, 1 of water and 1 cup of baking soda to mix.

2. Eliminate bad smells, mold and humidity. Bicarbonate proves effective in this field thanks to its anti-bacterial properties. One of its peculiarities is precisely that of absorbing unwelcome scents, proving once again one of the most effective products at home. To be stored in the different environments where mold and bad smells tend to appear more easily such as shoe racks, cabinets and the refrigerator. Get rid of these hassles with 150grams of baking soda in an open glass bowl or jar. Replace your baking soda once a month, throwing the old one down the drain. Once satisfied, you can use baking soda as a cabinet fragrance, mixing it with a few drops of essential oil.
Bicarbonate is also good for the odors of garbage (dry): it will be enough to sprinkle some on the bottom of the bucket.

3. Clean the oven. It often happens that the oven, after several uses, is encrusted and difficult to clean thoroughly. The bicarbonate facilitates this task, simply by spraying it inside together with hot water; let it rest for a whole night and the next day you will have much less effort in disinfecting it. Alternatively you can combine it with some lemon juice.
Baking soda can also be used against oven food residues, in this case make your own ecological and natural cleaner with a cup of salt, a cup of baking soda and a cup of water. The mixture must be sprayed on the internal surfaces and left to act for at least one hour before rinsing.

4. Eliminate mites from mattresses and carpets; if you want to disinfect your carpets you can pour a little bicarbonate over them, which after a restful night will be removed with the vacuum cleaner. You can also use it dry on mattresses, curtains and sofas; also in these cases it is preferable to let it rest for a few hours and then eliminate the residues. Excellent practices for obtaining the brightest colors from fabrics. For those who are allergic, bicarbonate prevents the formation of parasites.

5. Sanitize floors and other washable surfaces. As a detergent, bicarbonate is ideal for floors and all other washable surfaces in the house. For marble and granite, fill a bucket with 3 liters of water, add 2 tablespoons of baking soda and 10 tablespoons of alcohol, plus a piece of Marseille soap. With this DIY cleaner your floor will be brighter than before and disinfected without fatigue.
For ceramic surfaces, simply mix bicarbonate and vinegar in the water, and it will have a super anti-bacterial effect.
For all other washable surfaces in the kitchen and bathroom you can create a disinfectant paste with 2 parts of water and 1 of baking soda and 4/5 drops of tea tree oil.

6. Disinfect the bathroom and clear the clogged sink, as well as remove limescale in the shower. Baking soda has antifungal properties and you just need to rub it on the enameled surfaces. An effective compound is made with 3 parts of bicarbonate and 1 part of water to be poured directly onto the sponge. In the event of a clogged sink, pour a cup of baking soda with half a cup of vinegar into the sink, it will act in a quarter of an hour.

Sodium bicarbonate for personal hygiene

The main uses of baking soda as a body care remedy are:

1. Teeth whitener, used both at home and in the medical field. In fact, even dentists use a special mix with bicarbonate to whiten the teeth. To achieve a similar effect at home, you can add a pinch of baking soda to the toothpaste, although it is a remedy to be taken in moderation, not more than once a week. You can make the flavor more pleasant with a few drops of peppermint essential oil.

2. Do-it-yourself deodorant, to be applied on armpits and feet with the help of your fingers. Combine a pinch of baking soda with a teaspoon of coconut oil, if you want a more antibacterial effect add a drop of tea tree oil.

3. Shampoo, or rather normal shampoo additive. Just add a teaspoon of baking soda to the normal dose of shampoo to give your hair a cleaner look and a newfound softness. Our green ally will have eliminated limestone impurities.

4. Face and body scrub. In case of do-it-yourself facial cleansing, you can use baking soda in your beauty routine. If you need an exfoliant made with natural ingredients, you can combine 3 parts of baking soda with 1 part of water and you will have a scrub to use on the face and body. Massage your skin and then rinse with warm water.

Baking soda for laundry

Both for washing by hand and in the washing machine, baking soda must never be missing.
What can you do with this environmentally friendly product?

1. Enhance the effect of liquid detergent. It is not to be considered as its substitute, but it is a fantastic germicide and natural disinfectant, consequently it can enhance the effectiveness of common detergents. Thanks to its powder consistency it is ideal for rubbing on stains, to remove them from dirty clothes. As with the kitchen, even on the laundry it can help neutralize bad smells. A small dose of baking soda combined with the detergent is enough, usually a teaspoon, or poured directly into the washing machine drum.
This habit helps to keep the washing machine cleaner by limiting the formation of limescale.

2. Whiten. With a particular abrasive action, bicarbonate is excellent as a whitener for summer white shoes and other garments with delicate tones. It is able to eliminate even the most stubborn stains if the powder is combined with a little water. The batter formed must be left to act for a few minutes before passing a toothbrush over it and then continuing with the usual treatment in the washing machine.

3. Wash the children's clothes. Babies have extremely delicate skin and it is therefore necessary to use equally gentle detergents, even better if neutral and ecological. However, every mother knows that the daily stains left by the little ones are really tough to eliminate naturally; to obtain a good cleaning effect, add half a glass of baking soda to the liquid detergent for babies or directly in the rinse cycle.

4. Wash the reusable nappies. For even more perfect laundry, pre-wash the baby's nappies. Immerse them in a basin of hot water with half a glass of baking soda, previously dissolved.

5. Clean sports equipment. Go to eliminate odors from backpacks and gym bags with the use of a solution made of water and bicarbonate that will be applied with a toothbrush or a brush. Also ideal for polishing and cleaning golf clubs.