Happy Earth Day my friends! I didn’t have much planned for an Earth Day blog post, but lucky for me the folks at ARM & HAMMER® came to my rescue and sent me some really fun tips. When I think of ARM & HAMMER®, I usually think of chocolate chip cookies—since that is my most common use for Baking Soda. But ARM & HAMMER® Baking Soda is also a natural, safe, and effective solution for countless household needs. And here’s a really cool fact: ARM & HAMMER® has a long history of environmental awareness, and the makers of ARM & HAMMER® were the first and sole corporate sponsor of Earth Day in 1970. (The very first Earth Day.) So essentially, ARM & HAMMER® was green before being green was cool.
ARM & HAMMER® Baking Soda isn’t just for chocolate chip cookies. Check out these great ideas:
Deodorizing Fridges and Freezers
To keep your fridge and freezer fresh, and foods tasting like they should, replace your ARM & HAMMER® Baking Soda once a month. Baking Soda absorbs the odors that can make other foods (even ice cubes) have an unpleasant taste.
Hand Washing Dishes and Pots and Pans
Add two heaping tablespoons ARM & HAMMER® Baking Soda (along with your regular dish detergent) to the dish water to help lift grease and foods left on dishes, pots and pans. Let cooked-on foods soak in the ARM & HAMMER® Baking Soda and detergent water for 15 minutes, then use dry ARM & HAMMER® Baking Soda on a clean damp sponge or cloth as a scratchless scouring powder.
Clean Stainless Steel Sink without Scratching
Sprinkle ARM & HAMMER® Baking Soda onto a clean damp sponge or cloth and wipe the sink clean, then rinse thoroughly.
Deodorizing Cars
Leave car odors in the dust! Odors settle into car upholstery and carpet, so each time you step in and sit down, they are released into the air all over again. Eliminate these odors by sprinkling ARM & HAMMER® Baking Soda directly on fabric car seats and carpets. Wait 15 minutes (or longer for strong odors) and vacuum up the odors with the ARM & HAMMER® Baking Soda.
Cleaning Baby Pool Toys
Don’t toy around with harsh cleaners. Clean and deodorize baby toys safely and effectively using four tablespoons of ARM & HAMMER® Baking Soda dissolved in one quart of warm water. Wash toys with a clean damp sponge or cloth, rinse and dry.
Bugs Be Gone
Baking Soda temporarily protects and helps relieve minor skin irritation and itching due to insect bites. Dissolve one to two cupfuls in a tub of warm water. Soak for 10 to 30 minutes as needed or as directed by a doctor. Pat dry (do not rub) to keep a thin layer on the skin. Or, add enough water to the baking soda to form a paste, apply to the affected area of skin as needed. Children under two – consult a physician prior to use.
I have done this and it works great! Inevitably every summer I get a mystery bug bite that swells up larger than the size of a quarter. It works wonders for me.
Sneaker Peeker
Are you running into smelly odors every time you wear your sneakers? Keep odors from spreading by shaking a little ARM & HAMMER® Baking Soda into sneakers when not in use. Shake out before wearing. For some added fun, make a Sneaker Peeker, an odor fighting creature of your own. Just fill a sock with one cup of ARM & HAMMER® Baking Soda and secure with a rubber band. Cut extra material off of the sock and decorate to make your Sneaker Peeker an animal, monster or even a flower! Stick them in your sneakers overnight for fresh shoes in the morning.
I will definitely be giving this one a try!
Clean Plastic Storage Containers
As you unpack your children’s lunchboxes for a new school year, be sure to scrub them with ARM & HAMMER® Baking Soda sprinkled on a clean damp sponge. For even tougher odors, just soak items in a solution of four tablespoons ARM & HAMMER® Baking Soda solution in 1 quart warm water.
Aren’t these great? If you’d like even more ideas for using ARM & HAMMER® Baking Soda around the house, download this tips sheet. Thank you, ARM & HAMMER® for sharing these with us!
How do you use Baking Soda? Do you use it for cleaning and for other household purposes—or do you think chocolate chip cookies like me? I’d love to hear!
Great tips! I’ve used arm and hammer to eliminate odors in my fridge and car. I’ve also cleaned my oven and bath tub with baking soda, a sponge, and water. It works great! Happy Earth Day!
These were wonderful ideas. I am going to check out the detailed tip sheet, Thanks. 🙂
oo oo
my favorite use for baking soda is to clean up all the gunk off of my cast iron sink. When it gets grubby and kind of off-white I sprinkle baking soda all over the damp surface of the sink. I wait 5-10 minutes then scrub with a sponge and some elbow grease. After rinsing all the soda down the drain, I am left with a sparkling white sink. hooray! Even areas that I assumed were stained look brilliant! love it!
Baking soda is one of the world’s Greatest Things, ever. I use it to help get burned food off the bottom of my stainless steel pans: just put enough on to barely cover the bottom of the pan, cover with about 1/8″ of water. Boil. and Boil. add water: keep bringing the water to a low boil. The burned bits come off in chunks.
This is a staple in our home used for making laundry detergent, dishwashing soap, toothpaste, household cleaning products and even great for conditioning hair!!
One of my favourite uses for Baking Soda is to maintain my pipes!!! I live in an old house and have often run into plumbing issues (clogging) and have since found that doing periodic ‘rinses’ of my pipes by combining Baking Soda and fresh squeezed lemon juice or white vinegar right into the drain creates an awesome cleansing fizz … followed by running super hot water down the drains after the fizz has sat for awhile. Much safer than the chemical stuff (and much more fun if I do say so myself!)
And I just so happen to use Arm & Hammer Brand : )
Great post!
Ooh, I needed this. My son has some serious sneaker issues right now. The sneaker peeker is genius!
I love your blog by the way! Thanks for the helpful tips!
I am going to try that sneaker thing as soon as I buy more A&H! I love to put it in my drains and add some vinegar – it foams up and cleans around the drain too.
Yeah surely using baking soda is a good way to clean everything at home.
I’m so glad that I took the time to look at this blog, I really enjoyed the reading as well as the comments.