Joy, not the washing soda (it's kind of caustic), just the regular old Arm & Hammer kitchen baking soda. It's cheap, and very useful for a lot of stuff.

It's good for having a birdbath and you don't have to use soap, just a heaping teaspoonful in a quart of water, wash and dry. Don't use more, or it will leave a white film on your skin.

Add a couple of heaping spoonfuls to a pot of very warm water and stick your hair in it, massage your scalp, then comb the longer hair while it's under the soda water, rinse and dry. It really does get the grease out.

Take the hair out of your hair brushes and drop them and your combs into a bowl of soda + warm water and let them soak a few minutes, rinse.

It makes a good dry underarm deodorant (not antiperspirant) and you can brush your teeth with it, and use it as a mouthwash.

And you can even put out small fires with it, clean car battery posts, and put it in your ashtrays to absorb smoke odors.

Talk about multipurpose!

Sue