Hansells Handy Tips by Hansells Recipes
Other
Serves: 1
Ingredients:
Hansells Baking Soda features in these tips and recipes, from Bath Bombs to Volcanoes, cleaning and more!
Method:
Bath Bombs/Fizzies
Hansell's baking soda and citric acid are regular ingredients in bath bombs which are a special treat for children and make lovely Christmas presents. Here is the 'recipe', which is child friendly:
2 tbs. citric acid
2 tbs. cornstarch
1/4 cup baking soda
3 tbs. coconut oil (or any other carrier oil like almond, avocado or apricot kernel oil)
1/4 tsp. fragrance oil
3-6 drops of food coloring (if desired)
Paper cup cake cases
Place the first 3 ingredients into a bowl and mix well. Place coconut oil into a small glass bowl and add fragrance and food coloring. Slowly add oil mixture into dry ingredients and mix well. Scoop up small amounts of the mixture and shape into 1? balls. Let the balls rest on a sheet of waxed paper for about 2 to 3 hours, then place each ball into a cake case to let dry and harden for 24 to 48 hours. Store bombs in a closed, air-tight container. To use, drop 1 to 3 bombs into warm bath water.
- Melanie
Baking Soda Volcano
6 cups flour
2 cups salt (sounds like a lot, and is! Buy a big, cheap bag from the supermarket)
4 tablespoons cooking oil
warm water
empty plastic soda bottle, well-washed
dishwashing detergent
food coloring (I like orange and red for maximal realistic effect)
vinegar
baking dish or other pan
2 T Hansells baking soda
1. First make the 'cone' of the baking soda volcano. Mix 6 cups flour, 2 cups salt, 4 tablespoons cooking oil, and 2 cups of water. The resulting mixture should be smooth and firm (more water may be added if needed).
2. Stand the soda bottle in the baking pan and mold the dough around it into a conical volcano shape. Don't cover the hole or drop dough into it.... this is the well that will form the all-important central 'reaction-cavity' for your volcano.
3. Fill the bottle most of the way full with warm water and a bit of red food color (can be done before sculpting the volcano cone, if you don't take so long that the water gets cold).
4. Add 6 drops of detergent to the bottle contents. (The detergent helps trap the bubbles produced by the reaction so you get better lava.)
5. Add 2 tablespoons baking soda to the liquid.
6. Slowly pour vinegar into the bottle. Watch out - eruption time!
The cool red lava is the result of a chemical reaction between the baking soda and vinegar. In this reaction, carbon dioxide gas is produced (and is also present in real volcanoes). As the carbon dioxide gas is produced, pressure builds up inside the plastic bottle, until the gas bubbles (thanks to the detergent) out of the 'volcano'. All this is based on simple chemical principles.
- Kate
Growing Crystals
3 tsp Hansells Baking Soda
½ cup Water
10cm String
Small weight for string (e.g. fishing weight)
A clear glass or jar
Put 1/2 cup water in a pot.
Dissolve in as much baking soda as possible, stirring in 1 teaspoon at a time.
Heat the solution (do not boil).
Remove from heat source, stir, and add more baking soda until no more will dissolve and solution is saturated.
Cool solution.
Pour into a clear glass.
Tie the weight onto the end of the string and hang into solution.
After several days crystals will begin growing on the string as the water evaporates.
- Vicky
Remove Bad Smells and Stains
Baking soda can be sprinkled into tennis shoes, boots and on slippers to eliminate bad odors.
While doing the laundry, you can get rid of rings around the collar by rubbing in some cream of tartar on a wet collar and washing as usual. It makes marks disappear! Also, cream of tartar is a great tub scrubber and leaves your tub and basin spotless!
- Giselle
Cleaning Paste
1 cup baking soda
1 tsp cream of tartar
10mls liquid castile soap (or eco-friendly dishwashing liquid)
30mls water
Mix baking soda and cream of tartar in bowl. In a separate jug, mix liquid castile soap and water. Slowly pour into the powders and mix to form a paste with a fork. More water can be added if needed. Optional - stir in 1ml peppermint essential oil. This gives a wonderful smell and is a great antiseptic.
Use to clean kitchen and bathroom sinks, toilets and baths. Store in an airtight container.
- Katrina
Smelly Dogs
My doggies love swimming at the river, but are always left with the yucky 'wet dog' smell. I sprinkle a bit of baking soda on their coats, give them a quick brush and they smell good as new!!! A very cheap alternative to fancy shampoos and deodorants.
- Jaqui
Baking Soda Hints
1) Getting rid of burnt on messes in saucepans and roasting tins: Soak overnight in a BS solution.
2) Evaporate odours in shoes and in garbage bins as well as on hands when preparing fish, garlic, onions etc.
3) Dispel greasy marks on walls with a shake of BS in the cleaning water
4) Add a shake of BS to washing up water to reduce grease and use less detergent.
5) A dab on your toothpasted toothbrush will brighten teeth and freshen breath.
6) Gets rid of musty odours in any stored containers (suitcases/camping gear/fishing gear)
I could go on...Bake Soda Bread.....Make gingerbread....wash the dog in it.....clean up grease spills on concrete.....
I'm never without Hansells Baking Soda. It should even be in our Emergency Disaster Kits. It's clean, reliable, biodegradable, and IT'S CHEAP!
- Diane
Fire
Baking Soda can be used to put out grease or electrical fires. Scatter baking soda by the handful to put out the fire.
- Rebecca
More Baking Soda Tips
- Meat Tenderiser: Soften tough pieces of meat by giving a good rub with baking soda and leave for up to 5 hours before washing the soda off and cooking as usual.
- Wallpaper Revamp: Wallpaper looking dingy and tired, mix 2 tablespoons of baking soda with 1 litre of water. Using a sponge, rub the solution on the stain and leave for up to 10 minutes, then rub off with another damp sponge.
- Coffee cup rings on the coffee table: Make a paste of 2 dessert spoons of baking soda to 2 teaspoons of water. Gently rub, then polish as usual.
- Bee Stings: Instant relief by making a paste from 1 teaspoon of baking soda with water. Apply to the area and let the paste dry.
- Plant Food: Those alkaline loving plants such as dianthus will have fuller healthier blooms thanks to the odd watering of a solution made from 2 teaspoons baking soda to 2 litres of water.
- Shelley
Handy Kitchen Hint
Fill a large holed shaker (e.g. a dried herb shaker/sugar shaker) with flour and use that when needing to dust surfaces with flour or just pour out a tablespoon as you need it, this is a handy way to keep a bit of flour on hand instead of digging into the flour bin.
- Nicola
