We millennials love fast and inexpensive hacks. And our current favorite is baking soda. From beauty and personal care to household solutions, this humble white powder is so much more than a mere pantry staple!
Here’s a list of the many ways in baking soda can make your life easier.
9 Surprisingly Easy Hacks Using Baking Soda
1. Treat Sunburns
Sunburns are summer’s biggest bane, ruining our fantastic tans and forcing us to cover up. Baking soda with a pH of approximately 9, is alkaline in nature. Since our skin is slightly acidic in nature (with a pH of 5), baking soda often comes in handy in neutralizing the skin’s pH.
To treat sunburns, pour a cup of baking soda into a bucket of warm water and let it mix well. Take a bath using this water. If you have a tub, allow yourself to soak in the water for about 10 to 15 minutes. This will help bring down the painful sores and will also cure your sunburn quickly!
2. Gentle Skin Exfoliator
Whether you’re battling major skin breakouts or a rough skin texture – the solution is the same. A good exfoliator. And there is no better savior for your skin than baking soda. Take baking soda and water in the ratio 3:1 and make a smooth paste. Rub this over your skin using gentle circular motions of your fingertips. This will gently help peel off the upper layer of dead cells and dull skin, to reveal glowing, baby-soft skin.
3. Shinier Hair
No matter what the weather or the outfit, a healthy, clean-smelling mane with ample gloss is a fashion must-have. So go ahead and add a bit of baking soda to your hair care routine. It will remove all the gunk that has built up on your scalp over all those days of using hair products. Take a quarter-sized amount of baking soda on your palm and mix in a bit of your shampoo. Lather up and wash your hair as usual. Rinse thoroughly and style as usual. Your hair will feel and smell cleaner and will also be a lot easier to tame.
4. Mouth Freshener
So you’re back from your afternoon break of stuffing your face with onion bagels and garlic breadsticks. As good as that sounds, you certainly don’t want to tell the entire world what you ate for lunch. Not to worry, you have a friend in baking soda. Unlike chewing gum, baking soda won’t just do a shoddy job of covering up your bad odor, but will actually neutralize it to give you cleaner-smelling breath.
Simply mix a teaspoon of baking soda into half a glass of water. Use this to rinse your mouth thoroughly for about 30 to 40 seconds.
5. Natural Deodorant
Nothing can be more embarrassing than walking into a room only to have people covering their noses the moment you move in closer. Sure, you’ve had a hard morning of chores or maybe it’s just been a particularly hot day, but it still isn’t going to save you from the shame.
The next time you’re on the go, carry some baking soda and a few cotton balls in your purse or bag. Dust a little baking soda onto your pits every time you find yourself emitting some stink. It will help neutralize and eliminate the odor immediately. This is a very handy tip especially for when you’re traveling and don’t have access to soap and water.
6. Unblock Drains
Very few things are as off-putting as a kitchen sink full of murky water, or a bathroom flooding up with soap and grime. Fix that blocked drain quickly by pouring some boiling hot water into the drain. This will soak up the dirt. Next, dump about half a cup of baking soda into the drain and let it sit for about 3 to 4 hours. Now add a cup of white vinegar and wait till it fizzes up. Lastly, pour a few cups of warm water into the drain to get rid of the smell of vinegar.
7. Freshen Books
Musty, dusty pages can not only make you sneeze but are also the perfect breeding ground for mold and weird insects. Fix this problem by sprinkling a little baking soda in between the pages of your books. Let it rest for a few days and then give your books a quick shake.
8. Fruit And Veggie Wash
It’s hard to keep track of whether those fruits and vegetables you buy at the market are free of pesticides or not. Even if you wash them well with water, you can never be too sure if you’ve succeeded in washing off all those chemicals. Your solution? An all-natural fruit and veggie wash using baking soda. Baking soda has very potent antibacterial properties that will kill harmful bacteria and even neutralize those chemicals you don’t want to consume.
All you have to do is fill up a spray bottle with a cup of water along with a teaspoon of baking soda. Add in a few quick squeezes of lemon juice. Seal the bottle and shake it to mix all the ingredients well. Spray this solution onto your groceries, let it sit for a few minutes and then rinse under water as usual.
9. Fabric Softener
Sure store-bought fabric softeners do their job well. But think about all the extra money you can save just by using a much cheaper alternative! That cheaper alternative would happen to be baking soda. Not only will this naturally soften your fabrics but will also be a lot gentler on your delicate cashmeres and pashminas.
Mix together a cup of baking soda along with 6 cups of white vinegar and 8 cups of water. If you wish, you can even add a few drops of essential oil to make the solution smell nicer. Store this solution in regular bottles, and the next time you do your laundry, add in a cup of this into your tubs or washing machine. Your clothes will come out silky soft at half the price!
