Budget Saver Tip #35: Baking Soda Challenge

Remember back in October I posted about using baking soda instead of shampoo? And then a couple weeks later I wrote about using baking soda as a facial cleanser and exfoliant? Well, once a week or more, I still like to wash my hair with baking soda because, for one thing, it doesn't dry and irritate my scalp--giving me a break from shampoo, which does. And nearly every night I still use baking soda for my face. Its surprisingly gentle and very effective.

What I had never tried until recently was using baking soda as a body wash or to replace soap. Sure, baking soda doesn't make anyone smell pretty, but to me that's the beauty of it. Instead of masking body odors with artificial scents, how about neutralizing the odors altogether? After one or two uses in this way, I was sold. I still use soap for some things (like regular hand washing), but baking soda definitely has a permanent place in my shower.

Do you dare take the baking soda challenge?

Baking soda is so cheap in comparison to beauty products--and what you see is what you get: no unpronounceable names on the label of who-knows-what chemicals. If a catastrophe happened and soap, shampoo, body wash, etc. were not able to be produced any longer, my family would totally be fine. :)