Baking soda

Doc Ruby

I've been meaning to post about this very handy substance for a while now, so I'll just summarise a few of its more useful attributes from various sources.

Baking soda, sodium bicarbonate, is normally used in cooking to leaven bread, or cause it to rise. However it has numerous other attributes which make it a vital addition to any outdoors kit.

• Baking soda to can be used to wash your clothing and especially bedding, and is an effective degreaser when mixed with water, used to scrub iron, steel or copper cookware
• It eases indigestion when mixed with water, in moderation
• Adding a teaspoon to a pot of dry beans causes them to cook very quickly
• As an alkali it can help neutralise acid
• It can be used as a deodorant, as is or with an anti clumping agent
• It removes insects and small vermin, by mixing equal parts salt and soda, and sprinkling on an area like a carpet
• It can help remove foul odors
• Add a generous pinch of soda to a pitcher of tea to take out any bitterness. Drop the soda directly in the brewed tea before you combine it with water in the pitcher. Make sure the pot isn't still on the burner brewing. I'm not sure how this would work with other bitter vegetables like dandelion leaves, if anyone wants to try it let us know the results!
• Toothpaste - its a mildly abrasive tooth cleaner and mouthwash in one
• Use gently as an exfoliating facial scrub
• Puts out grease and electrical fires, and general fire extinguisher, especially when used with vinegar
• It works as an abrasive against rust
• It repels rain from windshields, put gobs of baking soda on a dampened cloth and wipe windows inside and out
• Add to water to remove the "gamey" taste from wild game
• One part in six with water or half and half vinegar makes a good shampoo.

Toothpaste, shampoo, soap and washing powder, all in one. Baking soda also has a wide variety of medical uses you can look up yourself, as its against the charter to mention them here.

Builderfromhell

Thanks for that.
I wonder what constitutes baking soda.
is it cheaper than buying products that do all those things.

DM_7

Baking Soda is great for keeping Shoes from stinking.

Works in Hiking shoes etc. helps dry them out quickly too.

Doc Ruby

Builderfromhell wrote: »

Thanks for that.
I wonder what constitutes baking soda.
is it cheaper than buying products that do all those things.

Sodium and carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, NaHCO3, the sodium provides the active alkali agent, the carbon combines with oxygen to produce CO2, the same stuff that puts bubbles in champagne. Mix a dab with vinegar (an acid) and watch it pop, I guess you could achieve the same effect with citrus fruit acid or formic acid from nettles. Its certainly very cheap, and I'd rather carry a bag or tin of this than shampoo, washing powder, and toothpaste plus soap/deodorant.

Ophiopogon

Yeah I use this in almost all my home cleaning and as a shampoo (with cider vinegar as conditioner)

Although, I would not use it as an every day toothpaste as it is more abrasive than you think and will damage your enamel. I use it to take off staining on my teeth maybe twice a month but no more.

On a side note...does anyone know where to buy it in bulk, also vinegar and castile soap?

eth0

I didn't know it was useful for anything other than baking a particular type of bread I don't particularly like the taste of

krissovo

Will it kill birds if I mix it in bread or rice?

Tabnabs

Please be aware that there are no poisons which can legally be used to kill birds or animals, apart from rats and mice. SI No. 481 of 2010 (Restrictions on Use of Poison Bait) Regulations 2010

eth0

Brilliant, another one of Gormley's utterings we will have to put up with for the next 100 years or so

fodda

krissovo wrote: »

Will it kill birds if I mix it in bread or rice?

Why and what birds do you want to poison?

Doc Ruby

I believe that's a tongue in cheek reference to the alka-seltzer/rice exploding birds myth rather than a serious query about blowing up birds with baking soda...

krissovo

fodda wrote: »

Why and what birds do you want to poison?

I dont "want" to kill any birds normally, I like birds around:D. However in survival situation if the myth of birds being able to be killed by this method is true then it would be far easier than trapping birds for their food value.

If it worked then my survival kit could contain a small amount of baking soda.

Builderfromhell

I'm wondering if baking soda would be a good toilet cleaner. I usually pay extra for some eco cleaner that doesn,t kill the bacteria in the septic tank. I wonder would this be just as good. I expect it would be much cheaper.

Builderfromhell

Found answer to my own question;

Vinegar and Baking Soda
1 cup vinegar
1/2 cup baking soda
Pour the vinegar into the toilet bowl.
Let it sit for 30 minutes.
Return to the toilet, grab your toilet brush and dip it into the toilet.
Take it out, and sprinkle some baking soda onto the brush.
Scour the inside of the toilet with the brush repeating the sprinkle procedure until the baking soda is gone…..voila! Clean Toilet!http://housekeeping.about.com/cs/environment/a/alternateclean.htm

Ophiopogon

I use the above recipe but I also add some lemon juice to clean the toilet and I make up a mix in a spray bottle for a multi cleaner.

For drain cleaner, put some soda down a dry drain leave for a few hours and run through some vinegar.

Add soda to your washing powder to boost it and also vinegar makes a good fabric conditioner.

For shampoo, add a tablespoon of soda to a cup of water. For conditioner, add 1/4 cider vinegar to one cup water.