Stay at Home Saturday

I was thumbing through a magazine the other day (because that’s what we stay at home moms do, right? Smile.) and I saw an ad for Arm and Hammer baking soda. It was one of those ads that mentions a way to use baking soda that you may not have come across before. It said to use baking soda to scrub your fruits and vegetables to naturally remove waxes and pesticides. Who knew?!

I decided to visit their website and see what else you can do with baking soda. After all, isn’t it something like $0.75 a box? Here are some ideas straight from their website (http://armhammer.com/) and into your mental file for baking soda (I just know you have a mental file for baking soda!). By the way, I’m sure you can do all of this with store brand baking soda, but I used the Arm and Hammer website for all of these tips.

- Deodorize Baby Bottles For safe cleaning and deodorizing, fill bottles with warm water and add 1 teaspoon of ARM & HAMMER® Baking Soda. Shake, rinse and thoroughly clean as usual. For extra cleaning and deodorizing, you can also soak bottles and nipples overnight in a solution of 4 tablespoons of ARM & HAMMER® Baking Soda to 1 quart of warm water. Then rinse and clean as usual.

- Hair Care Sprinkle a small amount (quarter-size) of ARM & HAMMER® Baking Soda into your palm along with your favorite shampoo. Shampoo as usual and rinse thoroughly. The ARM & HAMMER® Baking Soda helps remove the residue that styling products leave behind so your hair is cleaner and more manageable.

- Facial Scrub and Body Exfoliant Are you a fan of the self-tan? Before applying products that give you a ‘glow’, give yourself an invigorating, yet gentle, facial and body scrub with ARM & HAMMER® Baking Soda. Removing dead skin cells will leave your skin soft and smooth, perfect before application. Make a paste of 3 parts ARM & HAMMER® Baking Soda to 1 part water. Rub in a gentle circular motion to exfoliate the skin. Rinse clean. Gentle enough for daily use!

- Dry Baths for Dogs Help dogs stay fresh-smelling by giving them periodic dry baths. Sprinkle ARM & HAMMER® Baking Soda into their fur and rub, then comb or brush it through and out. The ARM & HAMMER® Baking Soda is safe for your pets and a quick way to a fresh dog!

- Liquid Laundry Detergent Booster Add ½ cup of ARM & HAMMER® Baking Soda to your laundry to make liquid detergent work harder for you and your family. A better balance of pH in the wash gets clothes cleaner, fresher, brighter!

- Chlorine Bleach Booster For thumbs up whites with less harsh chemicals that tend to damage clothes add ½ cup of ARM & HAMMER® Baking Soda with a ½ cup of bleach (instead of the usual 1 cup of bleach). Do you smell a cover up? We do! Adding ½ cup of ARM & HAMMER® Baking Soda instead of using a full cup of bleach will reduce smelly chemical odors too!

- Deodorize Drains and Garbage Disposals What goes down sometimes comes back up. To deodorize your drains and disposal, and keep lingering odors from resurfacing, pour ARM & HAMMER® Baking Soda down the drain while running warm tap water. Baking Soda will neutralize both acid and basic odors for a fresh drain. Here' s a tidbit to remember - when replacing your box of Fridge-n-Freezer® Odor Absorber (every 30 days!) pour the contents of the old box down the drain to get a little extra mileage.

Love,

Amy