Many brand-name labels are advertising products with baking soda added, with good reason, too! Baking soda is an all-natural, inexpensive, and easily accessible product. We love baking soda for all its beauty uses and its nontoxic qualities, but there is so much more baking soda can do! Here are some fun facts and a little history about baking soda.

• Canadians use up to 4,800,000 kilograms (9,600,000 Ibs) of Arm and Hammer® baking soda every year! That's crazy! 
• The scientific name for baking soda is sodium of bicarbonate, and baking soda also goes by the term bicarbonate of soda.
• December 30th is National Bicarbonate of Soda Day! 
• Baking soda has hundreds of uses! Baking soda can be used for cooking, cleaning, science experiments, beauty treatments, and so much more! 
• Baking soda is great for cooking because it is naturally alkaline and when mixed with acidic things like lemon juice or vinegar it becomes a perfect medium to help doughs rise. This makes things like cakes and baked goods taste that much more delicious! 
• Baking soda can actually be used to relieve symptoms of heartburn and stomach ache, when taken orally. 
• Arm & Hammer® was the sole sponsor of the very first Earth Day in 1970. This is right when baking soda began to get attention as an all-natural cleaner! The hippie, Woodstock-loving mamas led the way! 
• An all-purpose natural cleaner can easily be made with baking soda. Fill a glass spray bottle halfway with vinegar, add about half a tablespoon of baking soda, and fill the rest with water. This all-purpose cleaner will make cleaning a breeze! 
• Vinegar and baking soda are also perfect science experiments for little ones who can make things like volcanos! 
• In 3500 BC, Ancient Egyptians used natron (a substance primarily made from sodium carbonate) to not only clean, but also to...make mummies! Talk about spooky! 
• Looking to naturally deodorize your house? Sprinkle baking soda all over your carpet and allow it to sit for about 30 minutes. Vacuum up and your carpet and home will smell fresh and clean. 
• Baking soda is great at whiting teeth! Many toothpastes already include baking soda in their ingredients, but you can also use baking soda directly as a whitening treatment. Mix baking soda and lemon juice together to make a paste. Apply to your toothbrush, scrub your teeth, and allow the paste to sit on your teeth for about 10 minutes. For warning, this approach does not taste great, but it works well and is a great alternative to toxic teeth whitening strips and products that contain harmful chemicals! 

The list of uses for baking soda goes on and on! We encourage you to try some of these ideas for baking soda and see how much money you can save and how much simpler life is when you can buy one product and use it for hundreds of purposes! What will you use baking soda for first? Comment below!