10 Brilliant Uses for Baking Soda All Around the House

Winter-proof a walkway. A deep freeze is in the forecast for the morning, and you don’t have any rock salt on hand. The in-a-pinch solution: Sprinkle baking soda on outdoor surfaces the night before. Since sodium bicarbonate lowers the freezing point of water, it will prevent ice from forming. And since it’s less alkaline than rock salt, it won’t corrode concrete surfaces or grass.

Brighten yellow teeth for pennies. No need to splurge on pricey whitening strips to get a picture-perfect smile. Instead, simply brush your teeth with a mixture of equal parts baking soda and water two or three times per week. This coarse paste buffs away surface stains caused by coffee, tea, and wine — and reduces discoloration. Plus, baking soda neutralizes bad breath–causing germs.

Soothe blister burns fast. Ouch! You accidentally pressed your arm against a hot rack when removing cookies from the oven. To quickly nix the pain, mix 1 tsp. of baking soda with enough water to make a paste. Then apply to scorched skin and let dry. The slightly alkaline powder will balance your skin’s pH levels to help cut down on blistering and speed healing, while the cooling sensation provides instant relief.

Reveal silky-smooth skin. Winter’s dry air can leave skin feeling rough and cracked. What can help: adding 1⁄2 cup of baking soda to a warm bath. As you enjoy a relaxing soak, baking soda restores skin’s barriers and reduces inflammation so it’s extra soft. Aah…that’s better!

Caramelize onions in no time. Who doesn’t love topping homemade burgers with sautéed onions? But it takes so long to caramelize them! The save: Add a dash of baking soda (1⁄4 tsp. per pound of onions) to onions as they cook. This will raise the onions’ pH, which speeds up the chemical reaction that turns them brown.

Prevent a pet accident cycle. The next time Fido has an accident on the carpet, clean up the mess and prevent repeats by wetting the area with white vinegar and sprinkling on baking soda. Vacuum the next day. The baking soda–vinegar combo will erase the stain and neutralize the smell.

Get a thermos sparkling. This time of year, you love using your thermos to pack soup for lunch at work. The only downside? Soup leaves a crusty residue inside the container, and you can’t run it through the dishwasher. To get it clean, add 1⁄4 cup of baking soda to 1⁄2 quart of water, close and shake. Empty, rinse and wipe clean. The mildly abrasive powder will effortlessly loosen any buildup.

Banish tarnish in a flash. Guests are due for your dinner party in an hour when you realize your silverware is looking dull. But who has time to polish each individual piece? A better way: Line a baking pan with foil, fill with hot water and add 2 Tbs. of baking soda. Then let silverware soak in the mix for five minutes before buffing dry. The powder and the aluminum combo will chemically react with the tarnish to eliminate spots.

Quiet a squeaky floor. Argh! Every time someone makes a trip to the bathroom in the middle of the night, one of the wooden floorboards squeaks so loudly that it nearly wakes up the whole house. To prevent creaks, sprinkle baking soda on any board’s loud spots (and sweep away the excess). The powder will seep into the gaps in the floor and prevent the boards from shifting and creaking.

Guarantee sweet-smelling sponges. If your kitchen sponge is starting to emit an unpleasant odor, try this simple fix: Fill an old spice shaker with baking soda, then sprinkle on enough to cover the scrubber after each use. Store the spice container near the sink for easy access after every dishwashing session. Baking soda will neutralize the acidic remnants embedded in the sponge that are causing the offensive smells.