Baking soda, also known as sodium bicarbonate, is a versatile ingredient. Commonly used as a leavening agent in baking, baking soda also has a place in bath and beauty products. It is the primary ingredient in bath fizzies and adds gentle exfoliation to soap and scrubs.

Baking soda is a light, fine white powder. The mineral form of sodium bicarbonate is called nahcolite. The majority of the baking soda in the U.S. comes from the vast trona mines in Green River, Wyoming. What is trona? According to the city of Green River Wyoming, “trona is the raw material which is refined into soda ash. Soda ash, in turn, is used to make glass, paper products, laundry detergents, and many other products. It also is used in the manufacturing of other chemicals, such as sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and sodium phosphates (detergents).”
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