Hi dear readers! I hope you’re well! Did you try white vinegar as a magical product in the whole house? Yes? Fantastic. Today, let me introduce another one: bicarbonate of soda.
Advantages:
cheap (less than 3€/kg), natural, ecological, biodegradable, easy to use, easy to find in a store.
Drawbacks:
· Its corrosive properties to skin in high or frequent use. Wear gloves to use it.
· It can give a salty taste to healthcare products (toothpaste).
· Be careful if you use it with an acid (vinegar, lemon juice…): a reaction occurs which can seam volcanic 😉
Composition:
What it is made of? Its chemical formula is NaHCo3, it means that it’s an inorganic compound of sodium, hydrogen and carbonate. It’s an alkali, which can be found in solid formula, and as white powder. The adjunction of an acid (lemon juice, vinegar, moisture…) gives its raising power. An alkali has too alkaline or basic properties, good to counter acid states of the body.
The baking powder, or baking soda, is a mixture with bicarbonate of soda and an powder acid, which needs only a neutral liquid (water) to react and raise.
Properties:
antimicrobial, disinfectant, freshener, softener, cleans a lot of surfaces, especially the greasy ones, scales fur, preserves the colour of the food in boiling water, helps to make more easily digestible some aliments…
Uses:
· In the kitchen: scales fur from coffeemakers and kettles in action with white vinegar, takes fat off from greasy surfaces and utensils, helps baking goods (with an acid liquid),
· In the toilets: scales fur and disinfects, air freshener,
· In the bathroom: scales fur of showers and bathtubs, can enter in the composition of healthcare products (toothpaste),
· In the laundry: whitens the washing,
· In the whole house: whitens the seals.
Uses in details:
In the whole house: add bicarbonate of soda at the water to whiten tiles seals (wear gloves) and let a little while, then rinse.
In the kitchen:
o Add ½ teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda to the dry mixture for a cake (with the flour, for example) and a teaspoon of an acid liquid (lemon juice, cider vinegar…) in the wet mixture, in place of baking soda.
o If white vinegar is not sufficient to scale fur, add a pinch of bicarbonate of soda.
o Put bicarbonate of soda on a wet sponge to take the fat off greasy surfaces or utensils (oven after a chicken baked in for example) and rinse well with clear water (wear gloves to protect your hand skin),
o Put a pinch in the boiling water to cook vegetables and cabbages, dry beans, to make them more easily digestible, or to conserve them more green (French beans).
o Put 1/4 of teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda in a glass of water and drink it after each meal, it will help you fighting the acidity of your body (due to too many acid foods or practising a lot of sport...)
In the toilets:
o To scale fur in action with white vinegar (be careful to the volcanic reaction 😉).
o Pour powder in a little container as air freshener (and change it regularly).
In the bathroom:
o To scale fur (see upper).
o To prepare a homemade toothpaste (a pinch with coconut oil, white clay, essential oil of tea tree. But be careful not to use too often: bicarbonate of soda may attack tooth enamel).
In the laundry: you can add it in the washing machine drum (or its cousin percarbonate of soda) to whiten white materials (sheets, towels…) with your usual washing powder or liquid. The best to whiten materials is to let the white linen washed with it, hung outside by a full moon night.
Useful links:
Tags: cookery, saving money, natural products, eco-friendly, home
And you, how do you use it?