Today’s guest post is from Dorie Morgan of Dorie Morgan’s Rising Up where she navigates suburban life.
It started innocently enough.
It was about a month before my wedding. After consuming an obscene amount of coffee so I could keep my energy up to plan my wedding, my teeth were looking a little dingy.
A friend suggested I use Arm & Hammer Baking Soda to freshen up my smile. I thought she was nuts. Then I discovered she was brilliant. It worked and I still had enough money left over to buy more coffee.
Now I’m obsessed with all things baking soda. I’ll buy just about anything with the Arm & Hammer logo on it, no questions asked. I’ve yet to be disappointed.
No morning is complete without my Arm & Hammer Advanced White Brilliant Sparkle toothpaste. While I wait for my coffee to brew, I open the fridge to see the Fridge-N-Freezer Odor Absorber box keeping everything smelling the way it should.
When its time to vacuum the carpets, I sprinkle about two cups of Arm & Hammer Baking Soda all over the carpet and let it sit for a few minutes. Much like the wonderful things the Fridge-N-Freezer box does in the kitchen, baking soda makes the carpet smell fresh and clean.
I’ve even heard that you can use Arm & Hammer to keep your pool water clean and to put out small fires in your home. While I don’t have room at my house for a pool, I do have a husband who works with power tools so it isn’t unrealistic to think that someday I’ll be able to test that knowledge first hand.
My absolute favorite use though is to put a half cup of this wonderful stuff in the washing machine when I run a load a laundry. My husband is a carpenter so he always comes home with clothes covered in sawdust, spackle and other nasty construction materials. I used to run the clothes through twice in a feeble attempt to help my husband look like a person but now I boost my laundry detergent with Arm & Hammer. That half cup of baking soda saves my time, saves us water and everything just smells better when it’s done.
Maybe I have good reason to be obsessed.
What baking soda tips do you have to add and share?
You can use Baking Soda as shampoo – it works great, costs next to nothing and if you buy in bulk you save on packaging too! Just mix about a tablespoon of baking soda with enough water to make a paste and massage in.
I also use is as a cleaner all round the house (baking soda and white vinegar are the mainstays of my household cleaning products line up!). For a creme cleanser I use a paste of baking soda and water – or occasionally I make it up with baking soda and dishwashing liquid when I need something with a bit more ooomph!
I also have used baking soda to brush my teeth and help whiten them up. I’m a fan of sprinkling baking soda on pretty much everything in the kitchen. It helps scour my stovetop and tile kitchen counters as well as working well in my bathtub when the other cleaners don’t quite get the job done. Love it!
Oh baking soda! How I love you! I use it for cleaning as well. I have a porcelain enamel kitchen sink that gets NASTY stains from carrots and coffee (yep! staples in our house). Sprinkle it on the sink, and pour a little apple cider vinegar and voila! clean sinks (with a little elbow grease of course). Baking soda and apple cider vinegar are wonderful for scouring dishes that won’t come clean. I have a stovetop grill that likes to give me trouble – a little baking soda and vinegar does the trick. It’s clean!! :)
I think I’ve used it for cleaning the coffee pot as well…
Thanks for the additional tips all! I definitely learned there’s much more I could be doing with baking soda.
@ Meg – Never heard that about shampoo. I’m going to try that just to see what happens, thanks!
@ Katelyn – I have one of those flat-top stoves so baking soda could be just the trick.
@ Rachael – Great cleaning tips. I feel like I’ve been missing out! : )
@Meg – My husband caught me trying to bring baking soda into the bathroom last night for my shower. I’ll have to try the shampoo trick when he isn’t home.
@Katelyn – I used baking soda to get wall paper glue out of the bathtub at the house we’re remodeling. It was the only thing that worked.
@Rachael – I haven’t used baking soda in the coffeepot yet, but I do run vinegar through once a week. I usually have to wait until no one is home because they complain about the smell. Although I bet the apple cidar vinegar would solve that problem… hmm… things to think about!
@Rebecca – Thanks so much for letting me share this post with Alice!
I think I’m in baking soda heaven…
I’ve used baking soda to put out a pretty frightening grill grease fire… So yes, it’s true! (And thankfully I had knowledge of it at the time!)
Hey, I know this is late, but recently I ran out of dishwasher soap and read somewhere on the Internet that I could use baking soda! Lo and behold, it worked. I just mixed together equal parts of baking soda and salt together in a small dish, then spooned it into the dispenser on my dishwasher. Voila, clean dishes!
The baking soda did the cleaning/refreshing and sparkling, and the salt did the scrubbing work.
There was only one glass that had a little bit of white film on the outside, but it wiped right off on my shirt. Probably just salt anyway!