While most of you will be familiar with baking soda as an indispensable addition to your pantry, I think it’s one of life’s little magic powders with so much more to do than assist with your baking. I’m a bit of a hippy at the end of the day. I grew up in a family of scientists including my father who was an industrial chemist. He spent his days working with big corporates as well as running his own business, working up chemical compositions for everything from household bleach to instant soup. As a result we were all very aware of the chemicals and poisons in everyday products – even back in the 70’s – and as such avoided them as much as possible.

Most of my friends have a ‘wonder product’ – it might be mascara, anti-wrinkle serum or magic hair product but for me it’s baking soda! Yes – good old baking soda – it costs a couple of dollars and I use it to wash my hair, as a deodorant, stain remover, household cleaner and more. The wonder of it is that it does all these things, without costing a penny by comparison with the lineup of products you’d otherwise use – but most importantly for me – without adding a toxic overload of chemicals to the household.

In the coming weeks I’ll share some of my recipes and tips for using it – so hopefully you can substitute baking soda for a chemical alternative you may be currently using.

Here’s a really simple way to use it as a deodorant:

Get a damp facecloth, sprinkle a teaspoon of baking soda onto the cloth and run under your arms. There – done! A chemical free, cheap alternative to supermarket products, that works just as well. As with anything new you want to put on your skin, always patch test the baking soda to ensure you won’t have a reaction to it though!

More baking soda recipes to come. …
x