Baking soda is the common name for an alkaline chemical called sodium bicarbonate or bicarbonate of sodium. It is useful in neutralizing acids, including those in your stomach after you have eaten too much pizza. Baking soda also breaks down proteins. It's used to help baked goods rise. But it's usefulness doesn't stop with settling an upset stomach or helping your chocolate chip cookies rise.
Hypoallergenic Cleaning
Modern cleaning products do a great job of cleaning, but chemicals in them can trigger allergic reactions. Natural cleaners, such as baking soda, clean without causing rashes, sneezing and other allergy symptoms. Use baking soda as a scouring powder for sinks, basins, pots and pans. Mix 1/2 cup in a bucket of water for mopping floors. Clean children's and pets' plastic and rubber toys with a solution of baking soda and warm water. And instead of buying pricey food washes, sprinkle baking soda on a clean sponge and use it to clean your fruits and vegetables.
Laundry
Add baking soda to your laundry to get white clothes clean without resorting to chlorine bleach. If you usually use one cup of bleach, replace half of it with baking soda, or use just baking soda if your skin reacts to bleach. Baking soda also boosts the cleaning action of detergent, allowing you to use a gentler detergent. If you use cloth diapers, soaking them in a solution of baking soda and water helps to clean and deodorize them without the harshness of some solutions.
Personal Care
Baking soda can come in handy if you're allergic to many personal-care products. Try 1/2 cup in bath water to neutralize acids on your skin and remove oil and sweat. A paste made of three parts baking soda to one part water can serve as an exfoliating scrub for your face and body. Mix 2 tsps. of baking soda in a glass of warm water for an odor-neutralizing and cleansing soak for retainers, bite guards and dentures. Use baking soda to brush your teeth; mix 1 tsp. in a half glass of water as a mouth rinse to eliminate bad breath. Baking soda can even be patted under your arms in place of harsh deodorants.
Upset Stomachs and Dry Noses
To soothe a sour stomach, drink 1/2 tsp. of baking soda in 1/2 glass of water. You can drink this every two hours but no more than seven times a day if you're under 60 and three times if you're over 60. A half teaspoon of baking soda has 616 mg of sodium, so take that into account if you're on a sodium-restricted diet. To irrigate dry nasal passages, mix 1/4 tsp. baking soda and 1/4 tsp. kosher salt in 8 oz. of warm water. Hold your head sideways over a sink, and use a bulb syringe to gently squirt the solution into the upper nostril, letting it run out the bottom one. While flushing, make a "K" sound to close off your mouth and throat.
