Household Uses for Baking Soda

My dictionary defines baking soda as “a water-soluble powder, NaHCO3” . . . but I call it a miracle worker. Let me take you through a hypothetical day at the Christie household, just to show you the versatile uses for baking soda that are inexpensive and safe.

In the morning, I get up andinstead of reaching for a tube of synthetically flavored geltake a small box of sodium bicarbonate from the medicine chest, sprinkle some of the powder on my toothbrush, and cleanse my teeth. Baking soda’s no more abrasive than toothpaste, so I use it daily.

For breakfast, I offer my family hot-from-the-oven soda biscuits, fare that’s far more delicious and much less expensive than canned pop-out biscuits. Afterwards, while washing the dishes, I sponge a little baking soda into the empty coffee cups to remove any stains. And I might put a spoonful of bicarb into our glass percolator, fill the container with boiling water, and let it soak for a few minutes to get rid of stale-tasting residues. When the dishes are done, I sprinkle a little soda on the countertops and in the sink, scrubbing lightly with a sponge and then rinsing. Surfaces (even scuff-prone fiberglass tubs) come clean without a scratch.

Now I’m ready to do some housework, so I mix up a batch of natural cleaning product by combining 1/2 cup of household ammonia, 1/2 cup of white vinegar, 1/2 gallon of water, and 1/4 cup of baking soda. A stiff old nailbrush dipped in the solution makes fast work of rubbing out food spots on the dining room carpet . . . and a sponge saturated with the liquid gets fingerprints and smudges off painted walls and woodwork.

While I’m washing down the shower tiles with the solution, I remember this is the day to clean all the drains in the house . . . so I pour 1/2 cup of soda followed by 1/2 cup of vinegar into each one (I sometimes also put a palmful of salt into the kitchen drain, to cut through grease). Half an hour or so later, I flush plain water down the drains, or if a drain is particularly sluggish, I use boiling water. By doing this once a week, I keep our pipes odorless and running free. And if you have a septic tank, flushing a cup of soda down the toilet once a week will help neutralize pH and often encourage the growth of waste-digesting bacteria.

  • Published on May 1, 1984
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