What do vaseline and baking soda do?

Vaseline and baking soda together or separately have many uses in household, beauty, and cleaning. Vaseline, which is petroleum jelly, is occlusive moisturizer that seals moisture in skin, protects chapped lips, heals minor cuts, prevents diaper rash, and can be used to remove makeup, tame eyebrows, and protect skin from dye. Baking soda, sodium bicarbonate, is mild abrasive and alkaline that neutralizes acids, deodorizes, cleans surfaces, softens water, and can be used as gentle exfoliant. Together, vaseline and baking soda mixed can be used as DIY exfoliating scrub for rough skin like elbows and feet, as paste to remove blackheads, to whiten teeth though abrasive so use cautiously, to clean surfaces, to remove stains, and to soothe skin. Vaseline provides moisture barrier, baking soda provides gentle abrasion and deodorizing. For example, mix for lip scrub, foot scrub, or to remove glue residue. However, avoid using baking soda on face daily as it can irritate and disrupt pH. So vaseline moisturizes and protects, baking soda cleans, deodorizes, and exfoliates, together they make scrub and cleaner.