Triple "R" Tuesday...The many uses of Baking Soda...

This week I've done my recycling as well as my reducing (well I'm still working on that one. Another huge run to make to the thrift shops to drop off more stuff) and I'm constantly reusing stuff. That's what you do when you need to be frugal. A shower curtain suddenly becomes a bib, or an older towel suddenly becomes a hand towel and wash cloths. But there is something else that we can do. Take what we have and make multi-purpose cleaners that are not only effective, but also better for the environment.

Really, if you have the time, and the elbow grease, you really only need a few tools to get most of the housework accomplished. Vinegar, sodium bicarbonate aka baking soda, bleach, borax and hydrogen peroxide. And I'll go through all of these throughout the time in this blog. But the first one to mention is baking soda. There are innumerable amount of recipes that this can be used for. All from cooking down to beauty supplies, as well as household cleaners. There is no way I could list everything here. So there will be some simple things you can do for the multi-purpose.

Baking:

Baking Soda is used in leavening, much like baking powder, but whatever you do, NEVER think that the two are interchangeable. Because they aren't. If your recipe calls for baking POWDER, use baking powder, and if you're out, go buy some because baking soda will not do.

Household cleaner:

You can sprinkle some of this down your sink once a week and pour vinegar afterward. After watching the volcanic eruption for a few minutes, you can rinse it down with HOT water and this will help keep your drain cleared out and smelling better.

Mix it with water to form a paste and you have a soft scrub. This is good for sinks, showers, tubs, toilets, floors...the list goes on and on. Anywhere you need a soft abrasive this is your friend!

You can add some to your existing wash load to help make things brighter and fresher.

You can put a box in any closed off environment and it will help to remove any foul odor.

If you're really adventurous you could make your own homemade laundry soap this includes baking soda or "super washing soda" which is baking soda on steroids. Laundry soap recipe

Beauty products:

This can be used to wash your hair. 1tbsp per cup of water. Mix well and pour over dry hair, rub in well into the scalp and do this for a minute, and rinse. Follow this with an apple cider vinegar rinse (2tbsp acv to 1 cup water) and you have clean hair that doesn't tangle. This helps remove residue from your shampoos, conditioners, gels, hairsprays, etc. If you're really adventurous, you could wash your hair this way indefinitely. No real need to buy shampoo and conditioner. (and what frugalista wouldn't want to save that money!)

If you have issues with deodorant sometimes irritating your underarms, or if you're trying to get away from the aluminum in deodorants, and you're trying to find a more natural way, baking soda dusted on, followed by corn starch is a good way. Or if you need your stick. Mix some baking soda with some oil, (light safflower/olive/almond etc) until you get a somewhat dry paste, and push it into your deodorant container. For the greener people, this is inexpensive, and a healthy way to keep that bacteria from setting up on your skin and causing that bad body odor. Now this doesn't prevent sweating, so don't get too irritated if you find out this isn't an antiperspirant.

There are so many things you can do with baking soda, it's almost limitless what CAN be done. And this is reusable in so many places, that this is a dream for the unclutterer AND the frugalista. And on top of that it's GOOD for the environment! So that gets a little green smile. So if you have any little ones running around, this is by far much better than them getting a hold of your store bought housecleaning chemicals. :D

So how do YOU use baking soda?

Triple "R" Tuesdays

Reuse, Reduce, Recycle!

I've been attempting to declutter the house for a little bit. I've went from being a full time student, full time Mom, full time spouse, and full time employee. The employee thing had to be cut back, because though Mr. V thinks I'm great, I'm not THAT great. And due to some issues with our babysitter (aka Mom) needing knee replacement surgery, I had to quit work as well. Which I was going to have to quit come August anyways. I'm going to have an intense semester and there would have been too much of a conflict between school and work. So, I've been looking at everything in my house as a means of do I need it, can I use it, or does it need to go to someone who can. The mantra Reuse, reduce or recycle. So I've been slowly pecking away at things to donate, recycle, keep, or throw out. I've also been looking into cleaning in a more natural and clean way since having had my son. I've mentioned earlier about finding a good "recipe" for homemade laundry soap. I got it from C. Michele. Since this is my own personal journey, there will be things that aren't as green or as frugal as I could have done, as in cloth diapering. Honestly, Lil Mr. V's dad doesn't like the idea. Though it doesn't bother me. Especially now
that he's getting older. But we do things like push mow our small yard with a push reel mower. And I am cleaning more with vinegar and baking soda instead of all the harsh chemicals that you buy in the store. Though our negative effect isn't nil, we are reducing it from what it was.

On the reusing side of things, I've rediscovered rags. You know, those things you use to wash dishes and the softer ones that you use to wash your body. So instead of body puffs and sponges, I just use rags. I have some old towels I need to cut down and re-hem for dish towels and hand towels. I'm also putting myself out there to no longer buy bottled water. I do have a plastic reusable bottle that I'm using for my water. I also have a water filter pitcher that sits in my fridge. It's one of those 2 gallon ones. So I get good cold, refreshing water from there. So instead of going to the convenience store to get water or a soda or coffee before class, I'm grabbing my bottle and filling it up and heading out.

On the reduce front, I'm definitely doing that. I'm not using as much soap as I used to. I'm also toying with the idea of not using standard shampoo and using baking soda instead to wash my hair. It makes me wonder if my semi-curly hair would turn curly. I've heard that since it's so much lighter on your hair and if you can get past the icky stage, it's better for your hair. But it's that icky stage that worries me. I don't like having gross hair. But we'll see when I get my gumption up.

On the recycling front is where most of the action has been happening. So far, I've taken garbage bags of clothes, shoes, and toys of Lil Mr. V's to a local pro-life advocacy group. I've already taken a few things to our local goodwill. I have a couple of boxes and a laundry basket full of items from my kitchen and some clothes to take this week. Mr. V mentioned that he was also going to be going through his clothes to get rid of things that he could no longer or would no longer wear. So, we're working on this decluttering in our home.

What are you guys doing to declutter your home?