Sunday, November 16, 2008

The Wonders of Baking Soda :0)

Here are the current uses for baking soda in my home...

1. Toothpaste! Yes- I know, it tastes completely disgusting...but Wow! After my second brushing, dh confirmed what I thought I was seeing in the mirror- my teeth are whiter! Incredible stuff. I have been using unconventional toothpaste for a while, but lately I have begun to think that we are merely swapping nasty products for ok ones, but still "*products*...still stuff we need to go and buy from a shop...I'm not relaly happy abtu that for myself, happy enough for the children for now- because, really, I can't see any of them agreeing to brush with baking soda ;0)

2. Deoderant/anti-perspirant! I know, sounds crazy...but it works, boy-oh-boy does it work! Here's the thing... I tried going wihtout deoderant a few years ago- it did *not* work. It wasn't tooooo bad, but it was a pain, and I really couldn't get it to last for the day...and I didn't feel comfortable leaving the house. We changed to non-aluminium (crystal) deoderant, and that does the trick reasonably well, as well as any conventional deoderants anyway...and that's another thing, none of them really worked with me anyway. Maybe it's the breastfeeding, or maybe becauseI am overweight- I don't know...but I stink! I can shower in teh morniong, apply deoderant, and still smell by 10am :0(

In fact, I had begun to suppose the smell (of me, laas) was trapped in my t-shirts, and that was that. I tried using baking soda (applied damp in armpits) on Saturday, and I still sweated- but there was no smell...I only put it on once, and all day long, I didn't stink, not even once...wow!

3. Shampoo! We ll, I tried this a few years ago too- and it did work, but I go all fussy (and mopey) about the fact that my hair didn't smell nice...how silly...but that was me then, and I have changed (and I also have some good essential oils). We changed to organic shampoo, which still had nasties, and still didn't suit my scalp. We changed to all-natural shampoo soaps and have been reasonably happy since (though the soap does build up, I htink). The difference between then and now, is also that I thught I needed to wash with baking soda (bs) and apple cider vingear (acv) every day...I don't.

Last week, I washed my hair once with bs, once with acv, once twice with water....it looks lovely, it feels soft, it is definitely not smelly, and certainly does not look unclean. I'm also trying to change my "under 5 minute" showers to under 2 minutes.

And then there are the standard uses...cleaning pots I neglected too long ;0( and making volcanoes for the kiddos, deoderising the carpet, making banana cakes and cleaning the sink.

Currently the rest of my supply is languishing on the lounge floor, where tombliboo got it while I was in the shower- I suppose I hsould be pleased he was trying to clean.

5 comments:

Noixcoco said...

I use a mixture of eucalyptus essential oil and methylated spirit to disinfect everything : it works and smells great! Never tried soda for my hair, don't know how practical it is... I used to wash the clothes with soap nuts but it doesn't work here because the water is cold when you wash the clothes! Will try soda for the armpits...

Ruth said...

so cool! lol, can so identify with the thinking it's the t-shirt's stinky problem...I still maintain that..how do you apply baking soda under your arms? like talc? lol...

Johanna Knox said...

Oh I have been doing the bs deodorant thing too, inspired by Nikki. Isn't it astounding?? Works better than any regular deodorants on me!!

Haven't ventured into alternative hair cleansing yet though ....(although I have vague recollections of making my own shampoo and rosemary hair-rinses as a child ... remember making a gel shampoo and pouring it into a narrow neck bottle while it was still warm, then it set and I couldn't get it out of the bottle! ) :o)

Shell (in NZ) said...

I've been putting it on with a bit of water, kind of like a thick paste, which I put a thin layer of...make sense?

There are no rules, it's just a play-around-and-see-what-happens kind of thing.

And it *is* amazing :0)

I need to go get some more- I used it on a vivid scribble on the bench and on the carpet :0( and I'm running very low now, lol.

Btw, it didn't fix the carpet (I used some meths as well), but have heard that raw egg white left on a permanent marker stain will lift some of it when it dries...trying that today.

Shell (in NZ) said...

A friend has told me that she has begun using baking soda in her dishwasher...and it works better than any commercial cleaner she has tried!! Woot!

dh tried bs as a toothpaste and said he thought he might throw up, and I am still trying to get him to just *try* bs as an anti-perspirant...I am yet to have even the hint of whiffy underarms!