Arm & Hammer Baking Soda: Multiple Uses for a Little Yellow Box

In 1846, two men created the company that is responsible for the little yellow box known as Arm & Hammer Baking Soda. It is impossible to believe Dr. Austin Church and John Dwight ever believed their invention of this product would reach the proportional heights it has today. The little yellow box containing a white powder known as sodium bicarbonate did not begin its life as Arm & Hammer. It did not even come in a little yellow box. It produced in a red label and its only use was for the "little woman" of the house in cooking. Some years following the birth of this brand, it became as synonymous to sodium bicarbonate, as copy is to Xerox. The brand was a household name. In total, through the years the company produced some 137 editions of Valuable Recipes in the form of a mini cookbook, nobody considering all the hundreds of uses this product has today. Even in those early days, it became an overnight sensation although it was for cooking and heartburn when mixed with water much in the same manner as Alka-Seltzer. The company would have more than changes in use; it would undergo numerous company production names as well. John Dwight and Company soon became the new name and the new family tradition for the cooking product for women in kitchens across the country.

In the mid-1860s, the Church sons tried their hand at the family business after Dr. Church retired. The sons changed the logo and name of the red label product in 1867. The product needed new production with a name and logo people would know and respect. The box color changed to yellow. The logo of the arm with the hammer represents mystical Vulcan, the God of Fire holding a hammer. Other changes in the promotional changes took place in the tenure of the Church sons. The company became extremely ecologically friendly as well as providing protection for the population of birds in danger of extinction.

The protection of birds came in the form of trading cards. Each card pictured a rendition of paintings by talented artists. The replicas were included with each box as a collector set known as The Beautiful Birds of America. This trading card promotion ran more than five decades. Small trading cards devised by the Church sons brought the idea of environmental and animal protection to the masses all through delivery of the most widely sold brand of baking product. The promotion ended decades ago; however, it is possible to find these trading cards on auction sites such as Ebay.com as collectables.

Remaining close to the idea of a better America, the Church brothers used the process of recycling paper to make new boxes long before it become common among other manufacturing businesses. The first Earth Day holiday celebration of the 70s, the company now Church and Dwight Company, became the sole sponsors of the celebration festivities. Innovation at saving the planet and our natural resources were more important to the owners of the company producing the little yellow box than greed and price gouging. This was the ultimate family company, believing in safe products, recycling, and preservation of natural resources for future generations, an idea barely a blimp on the radar of most corporations of its time.

As Arm & Hammer became more popular, women found uses for the product besides in the preparation of meals. The first and most well known use of the product is adding a fresh box to the refrigerator and freezer to prevent odors from mixing. It kept products and the interior of refrigerator units fresh. Later, women used baking soda to clean lunch boxes for husbands and children heading off to work and school. The strong yet lightly abrasive had the ability to clean tough stains and messes without leaving scratches in the manner as steel wool. Since baking soda did such a tremendous job with plastic, the choice to clean odors from plastic containers became another use. A quart of warm water to a few tablespoons of baking soda left overnight to soak removed residual odors in plastic containers. The little yellow box worked equally as well removing odors from plastic trashcans, diaper pails, and kitty litter boxes.

Other uses became apparent as time passed. Stains on counter tops, microwave ovens, stove tops, and other kitchen appliances requiring a tough yet lightly abrasive touch to come clean pushed Arm & Hammer more uses. Stuck-on, burned, and otherwise leftover foods difficult to remove requires only a generous amount of baking soda and the addition of hot water with fifteen to twenty minute soaking before the pot, pan, or dish comes completely clean without heavy scrubbing or tossing the dish.

The product is equally popular in the diner business as well as in the home. Coffee pots and teapots with dark stains appearing impossible to clean require only a bit of baking soda, cubed ice, and enough water to slosh the ingredients in a swirling circle to remove the stains. It is important to swish carefully in glass decanters since ice is able to break the glass if swished too hard. The same concept works magic in stained coffee cups too.

The miracle powder from the little yellow box works dirty dishes left in the sink overnight. Add hot water with generous baking soda. Soaking in the mixture makes the dishes easier to clean. Add Arm & Hammer to the dishwasher to clean and deodorize it between washes or better still, sprinkle a generous dose over dishes prior to a wash to clean the dishes making them brighter while cleaning the dishwasher at the same time.

A large number of kitchens have sponges for cleanups instead of washcloths. Baking soda can remove the odor from sponges by adding four tablespoons into a quart of hot water until dissolved. Soak sponges overnight. By morning, remove the sponges from the water mixture and rinse well for a clean odorless sponge ready for more kitchen cleaning abuse.

A light paste of baking soda and water removes scuff marks on linoleum without damaging the material although it is important to check for colorfastness. If heavy build-up from using products like Mop & Glo becomes a problem, sprinkle baking soda on the floor a section at a time. Keep a bucket handy for rinsing a scrubby sponge to remove the residue. Soak heavily soiled areas about ten to fifteen minutes before returning to clean again, this time removing the dirt and grime. Rinse the floor well.

Nobody likes to think about the chemicals used in the fields to promote growth and remove pests but it is a fact most fruit and vegetables have exposure to chemicals with exception of organically grown, which can be cost prohibitive for many families. It is possible to remove the chemicals using Arm & Hammer. Wash fruits and vegetables in a mixture of baking soda and water, rinse well, and pat dry. It removes as much chemical as humanly possible short of purchasing strictly organic grown produce.

Arm & Hammer works wonders for personal hygiene. Prior to the days when toothpaste manufacturers added Arm & Hammer to toothpaste brands, the older citizens used it to clean teeth to remove coffee stains without wearing down the enamel of their teeth. The taste is horrible without the flavoring but it works wonders and leaves a clean, healthy, odorless mouth.

The addition of a cup of baking soda to a hot bath after a long exhausting day alleviates tension and muscle aches. It exfoliates the skin to remove dead dry skin leaving fresh bright youthful skin behind without the high cost of the commercial skin exfoliates. The addition of baking soda to foot baths help with tired, achy feet when working in jobs such as waitressing or other heavy-walking type jobs.

Over time, hair gel, mousse, hairspray, and other solution products leave a build-up on hair. Instead of paying the exorbitant fees to a beautician, do it yourself at home. Add a small amount of baking soda to shampoo at least once a week to every other week to keep build-up to a minimum. Shampoo thoroughly and add condition as usual before rinsing hair thoroughly. Save a small fortune by doing this at home to have that extra to spend elsewhere.

When changing the boxes of Arm & Hammer from the refrigerator and freezer, use the boxes for the garbage to use to sweeten and deodorize garbage disposals and drains. Dump the contents down the disposal and sink drains to remove odors. This adds new life to a used box of Arm & Hammer. It is difficult to waste this product with so many uses.

Sprinkle baking soda on infant car seats by rubbing well and then vacuuming out unless the cover is washable. Use a mixture of hot water and baking soda to clean the baby's nursery from everything to the crib, playpen, toddler's bed, changing table, and much more. Rinse well after cleaning. It helps to add a cup of baking soda to the wash, particularly infant clothes to remove any odors from breast-milk or formula stains, baby foods, urine, and feces that contacts the clothing and as a laundry booster. Sprinkle baking soda in diaper pails to keep odors from diapers at a minimum. It works equally well when added to kitty litter boxes mixed with litter to keep odors down as much as possible.

Finally, there is one last perfect use for baking soda among all the other uses and options above. Arm & Hammer works great as a fire extinguisher from grease or electrical fires. It is important to follow pre-determined escape routes and it is always best to keep fire extinguishers in the house; however, in the absence of a fire extinguisher, stand as far away as possible tossing handfuls of baking soda into a grease or electrical fire.

According to a local firefighter friend, baking soda emits carbon dioxide when hot. This fact is important because carbon dioxide smothers flames and thus puts out fires as long as it is a small fire and caught before it grows into a bigger one.

Note that baking soda or even salt is not a replacement for a high-quality fire extinguisher, but it will work when nothing else is close. It is important to keep a kitchen fire extinguisher in the kitchen area, an over-all fire extinguisher in the garage or utility rooms, and laundry rooms since dryers can retain lint making it a fire hazard. Check smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors twice a year, usually best to do when changing clocks during daylight savings time in the spring and fall.

These are the many uses of the baking soda known as Arm & Hammer. It is but a few of the hundreds of different uses. There are dozens more including cleaning tires, tarps, and car covers. The list goes on and on. Always keep several boxes on hand at any given time. Buy the big boxes for cleaning and the smaller boxes for the refrigerator and freezer. Check the box labels for more ideas and tips for use. These days Arm & Hammer adds these tips to the boxes to make others away of the many uses in addition to but exclusive to baking. As you purchase a box, make notes in a notebook with the tips and file them away to have for reading at your leisure so when a use becomes available, you have the information on hand. In addition, when Arm & Hammer will prove a better choice, you will have directions as well as options. This writer kept a notebook filled with uses for many years until passing it along to a dear friend as a private wedding gift in addition to the gift I bought for the wedded couple. The pages have dog-ears and small tears today. It means it is going to good use and has for many years now.