Surprising ways to use your Baking Soda

To get the most out of your baking soda from now on, start incorporating these hacks into all aspects of your life.

1. Scrub your tiles with it, in the shower, on the kitchen floor.

Baking soda is really satisfying to use when cleaning the shower. You can see the grout becoming white immediately. Anywhere there's grout or tiling, baking soda can come in handy.

To use it this way, here's what she's says you'll need: baking soda, lemon juice, and water. "Mix them together until they create a paste, and then use a toothbrush to scrub tough stains out.

However, don't use baking soda on marble as it can be too abrasive.

2. Use it to polish silverware.

Combine a tablespoon of baking soda and a cup of boiling water. Let your silver soak in this for about a minute, then wipe it dry. They'll shine as new! Just skip this for your antique silver, since it might be too abrasive for that.

3. Use it to remove stains.

Baking soda dissolves stains the same way it does grime, and it's great for cleaning up plastic food storage containers that still smell like yesterday's lunch. It won't totally get spots out of your laundry, but it will help kick-start the process, especially for things like red wine and blood stains, which will need a lot of help. Combine a few tablespoons of baking soda with just enough water to make a paste, rub it onto the stain, let it sit an hour or two, then throw it in the wash.

4. It's a great addition to homemade laundry detergents.

Since it can help remove stains and odors, baking soda works well in homemade laundry detergents.

5. An excellent oven cleaner.

Because it absorbs smells and cleans up stains, it's the perfect tool to make your oven look (and smell) brand-new again.

6. Use it to deodorize your fridge.

Always keeps an open box of baking soda in the fridge. After having it in your fridge for just an hour it will already smell better.

7. And your litter box!

You can also use it to de-stink your cat's litter box. Just sprinkle a thin layer on the bottom of the litter box to help absorb odors—if you put it on top, the smell can be off-putting to your cat.

8. It can make soil more plant-friendly.

Soil pH is important to plants because it changes the amount of nutrients and their survival rate. There are few plants who can survive in acidic soil, but adding baking soda can help reduce the acidity of the soil.

To balance the pH of your soil, sprinkle about a teaspoon of baking soda diluted in 1000 ml of water directly on top of the soil.

9. And keep your plants from getting sick.

If you notice that your plant has a fungal infection, a bit of baking soda can help the plant recover. You'll be able to spot an infection if your plant begins to have a dusty white powder on its leaves that look like chalk. In some cases, you may also notice a plant has developed very dark spots that almost look black. Simply make a solution with 1 teaspoon of baking soda and a gallon of water, and transfer it to a spray bottle so that you can evenly apply it to the infected leaves. This can also help keep aphids away.

10. You can also turn it into homemade toothpaste.

Using baking soda to brush your teeth is safe, and it actually has properties that make it great for dental care. "It is granular in texture and has an alkaline pH, and therefore provides a light abrasive to the tooth surface as well as having stain-dissolving elements. You've probably noticed that many toothpaste brands feature baking soda as an ingredient, but you can also mix it with water to make your own toothpaste.

11. Or use it as a quickie breath freshener.

Just mix about a teaspoon with a half of a glass of warm water. Then swish it around like mouthwash and spit it out. However, that it won't have a long-lasting freshening effect, because bad breath stems from a wide range of factors, like tooth decay. So, it'll work in a pinch, but you might want to see a dentist and find a permanent solution if your bad breath persists.