Baking soda can help relieve sunburn discomfort, and it’s one of the home remedies that actually has institutional backing. The Mayo Clinic specifically recommends adding about 2 ounces (60 grams) of baking soda to a cool bath to soothe sunburned skin. It won’t heal the burn faster, but it can reduce the itching, tightness, and irritation that make sunburn so miserable.
Why Baking Soda Helps With Sunburn
Baking soda is mildly alkaline, which means it can shift the pH of your skin’s surface. When your skin is inflamed from UV damage, the local environment becomes more acidic. Baking soda counteracts that acidity, which helps calm the inflammatory response and reduce irritation. This is the same reason it’s used for other irritating skin conditions like eczema, poison ivy, and chickenpox.
Beyond the pH effect, a baking soda bath softens dry, tight skin and can gently loosen any flaking that’s already started. It also reduces itching, which is especially useful in the days after a burn when peeling begins and the urge to scratch becomes constant.
How to Use It
The most effective method is a baking soda bath rather than applying it directly as a paste. Add about 2 ounces of baking soda (roughly 4 tablespoons) to a tub of cool or lukewarm water. Soak for about 10 minutes. You can repeat this several times a day as needed.
A few things matter here. The water temperature should be cool, not cold. Ice-cold water can constrict blood vessels and actually trap heat in the deeper layers of your skin, which slows healing. Lukewarm to cool is the sweet spot. Also, don’t scrub or rub your skin while soaking. Just let the water do the work. When you get out, pat yourself dry gently with a soft towel rather than rubbing.
If you don’t want a full bath, you can dissolve a couple of tablespoons of baking soda in a bowl of cool water and soak a clean cloth in it, then drape the cloth over the burned area for 10 minutes. This works well for sunburns that cover a smaller area, like your shoulders or nose.
What Baking Soda Won’t Do
Baking soda is a comfort measure, not a treatment. It eases symptoms like itching and tightness, but it doesn’t speed up skin repair or reverse UV damage. Great Ormond Street Hospital, which recommends baking soda baths for various skin conditions, is clear on this point: these baths help ease symptoms but are not a cure.
For actual healing, your skin needs hydration and time. After a baking soda soak, applying a fragrance-free moisturizer or pure aloe vera gel while your skin is still slightly damp helps lock in moisture. This combination, the soak followed by moisturizer, tends to provide more relief than either one alone.
When to Skip It
If your sunburn has blisters, be cautious. Blistering means the burn has reached deeper layers of skin, and soaking in anything carries a risk of infection if blisters break open in the water. For blistered sunburns, cool compresses applied gently to intact skin are a safer choice than a full bath.
You should also skip baking soda if your skin is already cracked or has open sores from scratching. The alkaline environment can sting on broken skin and may interfere with the natural healing process. And if you’ve never used baking soda on your skin before, test a small amount on an unburned patch of your inner forearm first. Skin sensitivity varies, and some people find it drying or mildly irritating even at low concentrations.
Other Remedies Worth Combining
Baking soda works best as part of a broader sunburn care routine rather than a standalone fix. Cool compresses, aloe vera gel, and a fragrance-free moisturizer are the core toolkit. Drinking extra water matters too, because sunburn draws fluid to the skin’s surface and can leave you mildly dehydrated, which slows recovery.
Avoid layering baking soda with other alkaline or acidic home remedies like vinegar or lemon juice. Mixing acids and bases on already-damaged skin creates unpredictable pH swings that can increase irritation. Stick to one soothing agent at a time. If you use a baking soda bath, follow it with moisturizer and leave it at that.
Over-the-counter anti-inflammatory pain relievers can also help reduce the swelling and tenderness that come with moderate sunburns, especially in the first 24 to 48 hours when inflammation peaks.