Household Tips - Day 2

Happy Tuesday my friends! How are you?  How was your Monday?  Great, I hope!  Mine was good, but very very slow.  So... all this week, I am going to pass on to you some wonderful household tips I found and use quite often.  Some of these are tried and true and others I've not used at all but am collecting the ingredients to try out soon.  I hope that these will be useful for you as well.

BAKING SODA

Baking Soda is one of my most FAVORITE household items to use for cleaning among other things.    One of the best things about it is that it is very inexpensive! :o)  Here are just a few things you can do with Baking Soda:

Treat Insect Bites and Itchy Skin - Make a paste out of baking soda and water and apply as a salve onto the affected area.  To ease the itch, shake some baking soda into your hadn and rub it into damp skin after your bath or shower. 

Help Your Hair - Sprinkle a small amount of baking soda into your hand along with your favorite shampoo.  Shampoo as usual and rinse thoroughly.  Baking soda helps remove the residue that styling products leave behind on your hair.  Your hair will be cleaner and more manageable.

Clean Brushes and Combs - Remove natural oil build-up and hair product residue by soaking combs and brushes in a solution of 1 teaspoon of baking soda in a small basin of warm water.  Rinse and allow to dry.  

Make a Surface Soft Scrub - For effective cleaning of bathroom tubs, tile and sinks including fiberglass and glossy tiles - sprinkle baking soda lightly on a clean damp sponge and scrub as usua.  Rinse and wipe dry.  

Polish Silver Flatware - Use 3 parts baking soda to 1 part water.  Rub onto the silver with a clean cloth or sponge.  Rinse and dry for shining sterling and silver-plate serving pieces.

Boost Your Liquid Laundry Detergent - Add 1/2 cup of baking soda to your laundry to make your liquid detergent work harder.  A better balance of pH in the wash helps get your clothes cleaner, fresher and brighter.  (I use this all of the time and can tell a big difference)

Extinguish Fires - For small cooking fires (frying pans, broilers, ovens and grills) turn off the gas or electricity if you can safely do so.  Stand back and throw handfuls of baking soda at the base of the flame to help put out the fire.  When baking soda is heated it gives off carbon dioxide, which helps to smother the flames.  NEVER EVER USE WATER ON KITCHEN FIRES!!  

Fruit and Vegetable Scrub - Sprinkle a little bit of baking soda on a clean damp sponge (or vegetable scrub brush if you have one) and scrub the vegetable and rinse clean.  

Soak Oral Appliances - This can be used for retainers, mouthpieces and even dentures.  Mix a solution of 2 teaspoons baking soda dissolved in a glass or small bowl of warm water.  You can also brush appliances clean using baking soda.  

Again, some of these are ones I've tried and some aren't, but they are all good ones to try either way. :o)  I hope you can get some good use out of these ideas like I have.  If you have any other ideas and uses for baking soda, feel free to pass them along - I can always use more tips!

Have a great day my friends and thanks for stopping by to say hi!

Lots of love and hugs,