by Fran Moriarty

Created on: July 20, 2009   Last Updated: July 23, 2009

Miracle products for under a dollar are tough to find in today's economy. Yet baking soda can be found on every grocer's shelf. Like the elixirs promised by pitchmen of old under the name of some wild exotic substance, baking soda can do it all. Most households already have a box sitting on the back shelf of the refrigerator and in the cabinet with the baking spices. Besides eliminating odors and being good to eat, baking soda has many more uses.

Many beauty aides are costly and often contain chemicals that can damage the body. Baking soda is both an inexpensive and a natural product. Here are just a few beauty tips for baking soda use.

1. Use a powder puff to dust baking soda under the arm. It makes an excellent deodorant.

2. Mix baking soda with a hydrogen peroxide to make a paste. Use a cotton swab to apply to teeth. This makes a whitening toothpaste that works. (See http://www.toothwhiteningproductreview.com/homemade- teeth-whitening-peroxide-paste/).

3. Baking soda can be used like the expensive body wash/scrub products. Baking soda can be mixed with water used in the same way. As the baking soda cleans the body, it also softens the skin, just add a cup to the bathwater or pour it on in the shower.

4. Rise and gargle with a half teaspoon of baking soda in a half cup of water. It makes a great mouthwash.

5. Embarrassing foot odor can be eliminated by sprinkling some baking powder in your shoe.

Baking soda can also offer health benefits. Just a few are listed here.

1. Acidosis is a serious medical condition that occurs when the blood acid levels increase. An intravenous solution of baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) is used to reduce the acid level.

2. Insect bites, bee stings, rashes, and poison ivy can be treated with a paste made of baking soda with water. Add a little vinegar for insect bites and bee stings.

3. Sunburn or wind burn can be relieved by rubbing moisten baking soda on the affected areas.

4. Diaper rash and skin irritations can be treated adding 2 tablespoons of baking soda to a baby's bathwater or 2 cups to an adult's bathwater.

5. Heartburn and acid indigestion can be relieved by drinking a teaspoon of baking soda in an half glass of water. The taste isn't that great and the belching that follows is awkward but the relief is well worth it.

Natural, harmless, inexpensive, and a broad spectrum of uses is the attraction of baking soda. If not already in the house, it should be. In fact, it might be a good idea to have a box in in every room, closet, cabinet and refrigerator/freezer in the house. Besides being just a refrigerator odor eater and an ingredient to Iris soda bread, it has many more uses.

Much of the information of this article was offered on the following website. For greater details and an expanded explanation of baking soda, check this website out: http://www.bakingsodabook.co.uk/index.shtml.

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