I've just discovered I love..

[skivvywoman]

Bicarbonate soda

It's cleans my oven along with white vinegar like new (and it was minging)

So I googled other uses for it and you can whiten and remove stains from teeth, so I decided to try it as I always get a stain on my bottom tooth (smoking and coffee) and I've tried everything to get it off inbetween dentist visits and ice just tried it and it's literally took the stain off in seconds!

Just thought I'd share the highlight of my night while everyone in here is in bed

When you say that you mix it with bleach....what bleach do you mean? Toilet cleaner bleach?

My dentist says that using bicarbonate weekly is far superior to any if the fancy whitening toothpastes on the market

I clean my copper pans with a mix of bicarb & vinegar. Also great at shifting stains on worktops. Going to try the mildew trick!

I wouldn't make a habit out using bicarbonate of soda on your teeth, it'll erode the enamel.

As a jewellery shop worker I would say use caution using anything other than a jewellery cleaning cloth on any jewellery as can easily be destroyed by abrasive cleaning methods and once you've done it you cant restore it to its original condition.

Jumping on the thread incredibly late here (as usual) but it's also fab if you're sick. Dissolve a couple of spoons in warm water and swill it round your mouths for a few seconds, it totally removes that horrible taste that usually takes hours to disappear.

Nice to see the old fashioned ways coming back. I've found sprays set off my asthma.

I wouldn't be using a homemade toothpaste as standard tbh. It's got no fluoride in it. I know our water system does but generally dentists only recommend flouride based toothpastes with good reason.

And yes, that includes the aloe shit based one from that well known pyramid.

I like the idea of a once in a blue moon teeth stain remover though!

The difference between baking bicarb and cleaning bicarb will be if the factory is set up to deal with products for consumption or not. There are FAR more stringent regulations in place for items that will be consumed rather than to be used for cleaning or the like. Whether or not you risk it anyway is up to you! If you're only wanting a bit for teeth stain removing I'd be tempted to use the baking one, or look for a cheap one online that is listed as 'food safe'

Is it BOS you can use to clean limescale from the kettle? We live in a real hard water area and my kettle is full of massive bits of limescale :(

It's great for eye infections. Pinch dissolved in boiled cooled water and wash eyes. Doesn't sting like salt water.
I use it daily on my Bulldog to clean her eyes and facial folds but works equally well on humans. Can also be used to clean tear stains on white coated animals. Use in larger quantities as a paste to apply when bathing dogs makes their coat lovely and white and sooths any itchiness. Again can also be used on human skin, particularly good for burns, sun or otherwise.
Lastly tastes vile but teaspoon in pint of water helps cystitus.

Brilliant at softening up calluses and hard skin on feet as well.

Add a cup of bicarb to a bowl of hot water (not too hot - at a temperature you can put your feet in), soak your feet for about 20 minutes, and then give them a good going over with a pumice stone or similar.

They will be baby smooth in minutes, and no cutting or scraping or any of that.

Do it once a week and you need never worry about calluses/hard skin again.

I love Bicarb but a word of warning

I had some in a glass and was soaking something overnight, and left the glass on the oiled hardwood kitchen counter. I must have spilled a little of the bicarb solution over the edge of the glass, because the next day it had eaten into the wood and left a bleached 'ring' stain in the wood.

So don't get it anywhere near your wooden counter tops!

Beauty ..... Minging hadn't been cleaned in months it was the thee worst job ever!

I descale my kettle with Bicarb. All I did was put one tablespoon in the half filled kettle and boiled the water. I let it cool a little and when I wiped the bottom of the kettle (you do still need to wipe it), it came up as new.

I also use it with vinegar to clean the oven and I use it to deodorise the fridge.

I get mine from poundworld. I can't believe sainsburys/ tescos don't sell it.

It's also great for cleaning leather dog collars, probably plastic ones too. I boil a kettle then chuck in a splash of white vinegar and bicarbonate and put the dog collars in;leave for a bit, then the grime just wipes off and you have sparkling new, non-stinky collars.

Have done the teeth thing occasionally, totally works, just use a bit and not often.

White vinegar, bicarbonate and lemons are all excellent natural cleaners. You can use a cut up lemon to clean your sinks / bath, it lifts the stains.

Loving this thread. I've just ordered a 1k resealable tub from ebay for just over a fiver

Rachel - can you use the lemon as a normal bath cleaner? I hate spray bathroom cleaners. I used to write COSHH reports and the amount of everyday products that have been linked to cancer or even openly state in the small print of their data sheets 'contains known carcinogens' is terrifying. And of course, the only people who ever look at data sheets anyway are those writing COSHH reports, like me.

I love my bicarb but would love to add other natural cleaners to my shopping list! I bought an Ecoegg the other day for my laundry and it is my new favourite thing. I saved up all my washing until it arrived.

Ok so I've just mixed BoS with white vinegar, covered my oven door with it, left it for five minutes and it's done nothing. So I've tried again with BoS and bleach and still nothing. I've scrubbed and scrubbed. I think the glass is just so burnt that nothing will shift it now.

I'd leave a really thick mixture on for a couple of hours or even overnight MsAdorabelle

Oh ok, thanks Betty, will give that a go.

I made a thick paste with bicarbonate soda white vinegar smeared it all over then I added more to the bowl put it in the oven at 100c for 30 mins and I did have to scrub with a scourer but it did come off easily

Hi there, recently got a puppy and it's doing its business on my carpet (even thou it's covered in puppy pads she seems to find a gap ) will it work on my carpet to get smell out, even if carpets dry??
Thanks in advance x

Pop over to the Doghouse section Mummy, there's lots of advice about toilet training. Might stop the carpet destruction!

Thanks ms will look now 😊

CYSTITIS
CYSTITIS
CYSTITIS

right, that should have alerted any sufferers!

It was mentioned briefly upthread inamongst a long list of other things, but I would like to thank BofS for stopping me from going out of my mind when I was younger and suffered with UTIs regularly due to all the shagging

If you feel like you are weeing splinters, a level teaspoon dissolved in some warm water will bring sweet, blessed relief after about an hour. It doesn't stop the infection so you still need to do everything sensible to get that under control, but good grief, does it ease the stinging! Do check with GP though as not sure how it affects other meds.