Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Baking soda toothpaste experiment

When you look at a bottle of baking soda, would you ever have thought of it as a toothpaste? Um, not me! I've never thought of it as anything more than a baking ingredient, the one you can't add a lot of, only a teeny tiny teaspoon or it would make your cake taste weird. Yea, that!

When I read about folks who have been using for shampooing hair, washing dishes and clothes, cleaning floors and counter tops, brushing teeth for years and a gazillion other things, I was like wow, I had no idea. So what is this magical thing that's natural, doesn't contain tons of chemicals and saves money?

In my mind, it's entirely too good to be true. A baking ingredient does all that? Only one way to find out. But I wasn't going to jump in and get all crazy, know what I mean?

I whipped out my bottle of baking soda, poured out a little and mixed it with a little water to make a paste... and voila! my own toothpaste. Well, some say to add peroxide paste but I didn't have any, so I just added water. Came time to brush my teeth before bed, I honestly didn't know what to expect. I've never tasted baking soda on its own.


Let's just say, I was in for a shock. The taste almost mad me gag! It's salty, eww! Did you know baking soda is salty? I didn't, silly me! Why then would it even be called sodium bicarbonate if it wasn't salty? So there you go.

And the verdict? I've only used my baking soda toothpaste (which I shall affectionately call BS Toothpaste) twice so far but I'll say this, it leaves the teeth feeling squeaky clean. I shouldn't be too surprised. But I am. I read the flouride in regular toothpaste is not good for you.

That said, I'm not going to go BS right away. I still have a few tubes of regular toothpaste in stock to get through. After that, I'm not sure. I might just go BS. My kids are eager to try it, not sure they'll like it though.

I'm also eager to try using baking soda as a shampoo. Anyone else use BS for anything else other than baking?

12 comments:

  1. I use baking Soda to clean, you can sprinkle it anywhere, the oven the sink and then use some vinegar in a spray bottle. A light spray over the soda, fizz fizz, wipe away and its clean.
    Safer than chemical.

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  2. I am eager to try baking soda in place of shampoo but not so eager to replace my toothpaste. I've tried it before as toothpaste but am not a fan of the salty taste. I use an SLS fluoride free gel or paste instead.

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  3. @anneliese
    I'm not a fan of the salty taste either. I've stopped using it as a toothpaste but I make a solution for gargling instead.

    @karen
    Thanks for the tip, I'm definitely going to try it :)

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  4. Never tried baking soda as a toothpaste, but it is a pretty amazing ingredient. I don't like the taste of salt on its own very much, so I'd personally probably we a little weary of making BS toothpaste, but I am totally game for trying natural cleaning methods for other things. Stopping by from Sharefest!

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  5. I tried this once, but didn't like the taste. I had read baking soda toothpaste would help whiten my teeth.

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  6. I've never used baking soda alone but have tried the baking soda toothpastes. Even with the flavorings and stuff they add to it it's still gross LOL

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  7. If only I could get past the taste, I would use it to replace the paste but maybe trying mouth wash after might help.

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  8. We are almost out of our toothpaste couponing stash and I am planning on using BS. I am planning on mixing it with a little birch essential oil to give it a minty flavor.

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  9. @Bev, SWG, Cassandra, Khloe
    I agree, that weird saltiness is hard to get paste. Think I'm done with BS toothpaste, will probably use it as a mouthwash instead. And try using it for cleaning.

    @Shannon
    Adding a flavoring is a great idea. Let me know how that goes. I might try it if it makes the BS taste better :)

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  10. I've tried BS as a toothpaste. It certainly does taste nasty. I think I could get used to it if I knew for certain that it would make a difference in whitening my teeth. But for now I stick to my regular tooth paste brand.

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  11. I may have to try this sometime. I doubt I will like the taste either, but it's worth a shot.

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  12. I've heard that this helps to improve the whiteness of your teeth so I'm very tempted to try it.. But I'm not sure I could leave my minty freshness of regular toothpaste behind :P

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I read and appreciate each and every one of your comments :) Thanks for commenting and hope to see you again soon.