Old Baking Soda - uses?

[rlu]

We just found a huge box of baking soda that expired in 2002. Obviously won't be cooking with it. Know any uses or should I just dump?

[neeleymartin]

great for green cleaning. i use it in the toilet with a couple shots of tea tree oil. it works like a scouring agent. the tea tree is a natural anti bacterial. baking soda is green cleaning at it's best. it's mildly abrasive so be careful. but you can use it to clean almost anything. hth.

[brittone2]

I'm following Neeley around today with a :yeahthat: sign :ROTFLMAO:

It works *great* for cleaning. You can scour your tub, sink, toilet, countertops, whatever with it. Rinse with a damp cloth (water or vinegar) afterward. Dump some in your toilets with some vinegar, leave it sit for a few hours, and it whitens the toilets naturally (plus my kids like seeing all of the bubbles it produces when combined :ROTFLMAO: )

It works really well to scour soap scum out of the shower/tub.

[rlu]

I knew I could count of the BBB for help. I suspected as much, wasn't sure if the age would reduce the cleaning usefulness (is that a proper phrase?)

Where does one get tea tree oil (oh - I remember it was recommended for cloth wipe storage - off to reseach the diaper forum)

[brittone2]

I knew I could count of the BBB for help. I suspected as much, wasn't sure if the age would reduce the cleaning usefulness (is that a proper phrase?)

Where does one get tea tree oil (oh - I remember it was recommended for cloth wipe storage - off to reseach the diaper forum)


TTO can be found at health food stores, Whole Foods, Trader Joes, and probably places like VitaminShoppe or similar.

[BelleoftheBallFlagstaff]

Laundry is a great use for it, too.

[elliput]

TTO can be found at health food stores, Whole Foods, Trader Joes, and probably places like VitaminShoppe or similar.

I have found TTO at Walmart too.

[rlu]

Laundry is a great use for it, too.

I was researching homemade fabric softner and seeing conflicting reports about using baking soda with vinegar as a fabric softner. I think I'm going to go with just vinegar as the softner (using the downy ball as a dispenser since we already have several of those).

I also saw you can combine baking soda with shaved ivory soap to make your own detergent. See number 9 on the following list http://tipnut.com/10-homemade-laundry-soap-detergent-recipes/

[Beth_in_CT]

you can also dump some down the disposal to freshen and clean it. And my favorite use is to sprinkel it on the carpet and vaccuum it up - great fir get rid of hidden odors!

[amldaley]

Stinky carpets!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lay that stuff down, wait an hour (or more if you can) and vaccum it up!!!

[jbrandy]

Just dump a bunch down the drain and then followup by pouring in vinegar. It will bubble up (like the old volcanoe experiment). I use an old toothbrush to help the vinigar penatrate all the baking soda. After it all goes down wait about 15 minutes and then follow by running the really hot water down the drain for a minute or so. It works better than drain-o!

I got this idea from "The Queen of Clean" books. She uses Baking Soda for lots of cleaning. In fact I get a huge bag of it at Sam's and keep it on hand for sinks and other cleaning. Check out one of her books for more fantastic ideas!

I hope this helps!