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PRINTBaking Soda: The Miracle Worker
Bait bucket- Three tablespoons baking soda, enough water to fill bucket. Scrub the bucket with solution.
Boat and/or car battery and terminals (to remove corrosion)- One tablespoon baking soda, one-quart water. Paint with solution, rinse, dry and coat with petroleum jelly.
Windshield lights and chrome (remove bugs, tar and grime)- baking soda as needed, enough water to dampen sponge. Rub with sponge sprinkled with soda; rinse.
Cold deterrent and reliever- ½ teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 – glass water. Drink as is or mixed with juice or ½ lemon at first cold symptom.
Deodorant- baking soda as need. Pat on as powder.
Fire extinguisher (grease and fat fires)- Coffee can full of baking soda. Toss soda on fire immediately.
Acid indigestion- ½ teaspoon baking soda, ½ glass water. Drink for emergency relief.
Insect bites, poison ivy, prickly heat- Palmful of baking soda, enough water to make paste. Spread on affected areas.
Odors on chopping board, cooking utensils and hands- baking soda as needed, enough water to make paste. Rub with paste and rinse.
Shave for sensitive skin- Three tablespoons baking soda ½ basin warm water. Use soda- softened water in place of shave cream.
Sunburn and minor skin irritations- One cupful baking soda, tubful warm water. Soak the irritation.
Sandi Duncan is the Managing Editor of the Farmers' Almanac. Click here to read Sandi's full biography.This Week's Features
The Great Blizzard of 1899: Deep South, Deep Freeze
Become a Pasta Picasso!
Farmers' Almanac Long Range Weather
February 8th - February 11th
- Northeast U.S.
Wet snow mixed with rain Mid-Atlantic north through New England; slushy accumulations of 4+" possible.
- Midwest/Great Lakes U.S.
Accumulating snows Kentucky, Ohio, then clearing. Fair elsewhere.
- Southeast U.S.
Wet snow Tennessee, western North Carolina; wintry mix northern Mississippi, Alabama. Elsewhere, rain, then clearing.
- North Central U.S.
Drier, much colder.
- South Central U.S.
Snow parts of Arkansas, then clearing, cold. Clear, much colder elsewhere.
- Northwest U.S.
Drier, but colder.
- Southwest U.S.
Drier, but noticeably colder.
• View entire Long Range Weather Forecast »
• Farmers' Almanac 2011-12 Winter Outlook »
• View the Almanac Daily Planner »
If you notice a hole in the upper left-hand corner of your Farmers' Almanac, don't return it to the store! That hole isn't a defect; it's a part of history. Starting with the first edition of the Farmers' Almanac in 1818, readers used to nail holes into the corners to hang it up in their homes, barns, and outhouses (to provide both reading material and toilet paper). In 1910, the Almanac's publishers began pre-drilling holes in the corners to make it even easier for readers to keep all of that invaluable information (and paper) handy.