Baking Soda, oh my!

It's been a few months since I started using baking soda for everything since I bought a book called "Joey Green's Amazing Kitchen Cures: 1,150 Ways to Prevent and Cure Common Ailments with Brand-name Products" and about half the book names baking soda as a cure to eveything from plaque to shampoo to bleach.

As the months march on, I've come to learn a dozen new uses for baking soda, per day, and so I'd like to share some of them here in my n-th part series about baking soda.

#1 Replacement for Shampoo.

The winter months really wreaked havoc on my tresses. In the last few months, I've noticed that they have been lackluster and dry. In part, I'm sure, this is due to overwashing my hair, but I'd been thinking that there must be a product which could restore both and didn't cost an arm and a leg.

Okay, I have to admit that while this blog is ostensibly about baking soda, I'm also going to be plugging several new things that have come my way over the past two months. The first is a cool new podcast I found on iTunes called "Stuff Mom Never Told You" from How Stuff Works (from the fine folks who tell you a little about everything at www.howstuffworks.com). It's a very cool podcast, very funny with many informative topics pertinent to both men and women, but particularly focused on women's concerns.
The second is about a podcast entitle "How often should I wash my hair?" and that also featured information about the no 'poo movement, that is, people who no longer wish to use mainstream shampoo brands, either because of:

1.  cost,
2. damage to the environment, or
3. the chemicals that exist in shampoos that they don't want going on their heads and skin

 It turns out, that Americans on average tend to wash their hair more than they really need to. Now, I'd known from my trusty handy-dandy book that I could use baking soda in between washings to reduce the oiliness of my hair, but the podcast got me started on a Google search, and what  I found were several blogs and sites ( i.e. www.naturemoms.com) featuring a recipe for using baking soda and apple cider vinegar to clean your hair every 2-3 days, depending on your hair type. You can also use other natural products, such as aloe and other plant oils, but this is the most easily accessible, I think. Click on this link for a very easy recipe: http://www.naturemoms.com/no-shampoo-alternative.html

I have to say that I actually enjoyed this use for baking soda. It's cheap and super easy to use (although I felt like it took longer than using my normal shampoo, but that might just be me). My hair did feel a little bit heavier the second day after I used it, sort of like when I put too much conditioner in, but the various blogs I read mentioned that you might have to play around with the measurements a little bit at first. For example, you might use less than the TBSP recommended, or add honey to the rinse, or lemon juice in place of the cider vinegar. However, it smelled clean (the cider smell goes away after you rinse it out) and my hair was definitely softer, shinier, and the color was more lustrous because of it. I used it for an entire week, and only switched to an all-natural shampoo the day before an event because I thought it would save time. It didn't, and I will definitely be switching back the next time I wash my hair.

I'm finding a lot of options for cleaning with everyday products that are not harsh on the environment or your skin and I think life is less fussy and simpler because of it. I am going to enjoy using baking soda for this purpose, and look forward to sharing some more ideas with everyone.