Bicarbonate Of Soda

What’s not to love about Bicarb?

Go to any natural living workshop and you will come away feeling like you should marry this humble and most versatile of chemicals.

Bicarbonate of Soda

Here are just a few of the things that I use it for:

• It is in our toothpaste recipe where it helps to de-odourise the mouth and banish bugs.
• To adjust pH upwards (make things more alkali) and make them more skin friendly – things like our soap nut cleanser which has a low pH of around 4 which can sting eyes.
• To remove the smell from fusty old shoes.
• As a deodorant active in our natural under-arm recipe
• As a softener for water – having a bath in a bicarb solution makes skin feel soft and lovely

Although bicarbonate of soda is  a naturally occurring mineral the stuff used in cosmetics is manufactured using an industrial process so it is classified as ‘nature identical’ rather than natural.  More recipes and information are found on the McKenzie website (who don’t sponsor me BTW).

What do you use yours for (and don’t say making cakes :))