Baking soda is a versatile and natural cleaning agent renowned for its ability to effectively remove stains, grime, and odors from various surfaces in your home. Its gentle abrasiveness and odor-absorbing properties make it an ideal choice for tackling cleaning tasks while leaving your with a fresh and deodorized environment.
Take a moment and travel back to your childhood. Remember the fun of the volcano science experiment?
You carefully poured a box of baking soda into your paper mache volcano and impatiently anticipated the moment the vinegar would be poured in to trigger the “greatest eruption in the history of all elementary school science fairs.”
Guess what? The baking soda and vinegar combination can clean, too! Now you have an excuse to relive the fun of your childhood in your kitchen and bathroom. Who said cleaning has to be boring?
If your mom didn’t let you do the volcano experiment because “everyone was doing it” and she made you grow beans instead, now is your chance!
Use the Baking Soda/Vinegar Combination to Clean:
Garbage Disposal and Drains:
Sprinkle some baking soda in your sink or shower drain, and then follow with some vinegar. Wait a few minutes and flush the drain with water. This chemical reaction helps unclog and dissolve stubborn muck within your pipes.
For more stubborn build-ups or hair clogs, use the Zip-It, an ingenious tool available at hardware stores for a mere dollar. Employ it as your trusty ally in the battle against debris, allowing your baking soda and vinegar regimen to maintain the pristine cleanliness, free from unwelcome odors.
This is my go to tool for bathroom sinks, and I keep these on hand.
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Use Baking Soda to Clean Everyday Surfaces
Can Opener: The remnants of culinary endeavors often cling to can openers. Concoct a paste with two tablespoons of baking soda and a teaspoon of water, summoning an old toothbrush as your trusty wand. With a wave of your paste-coated brush, liberate your can opener's blade from its unsavory deposits.
Dishes with Baked-on Food: Sprinkle some baking powder and a little water to form a paste to help break up the baked on food.
Sinks and Tubs: A dash of baking soda in a sink can give you just enough abrasiveness to clean stubborn stains. Do not use on Stone Resin tubs.
Stained teacups and coffee mugs: Fill with 1 part baking soda and 2 parts water and soak overnight; rub with a sponge and rinse.
Scuffed walls: Erase crayon marks by applying a baking-soda paste (equal parts baking soda and water) to white painted walls (baking soda may dull colored walls). Let dry before brushing it off with a clean cloth.
Microwave: Mix a few tablespoons of baking soda with water in a microwave safe cup. Boil in the microwave for a few minutes. The insides of the microwave will be damp and easy to clean with a paper towel or dishcloth. This has the added benefit of removing odors that may be clinging to your microwave oven.
Baking Soda as a Deodorizer
Carpets: Bid farewell to lingering pet odors by generously sprinkling baking soda onto your carpet before embarking on a vacuuming mission. The result? A refreshed carpet that mirrors the essence of pristine cleanliness.
Upholstered furniture: To remove odors, sprinkle baking soda on the fabric, then vacuum.
Use Baking Soda to Clean Tougher, Greasier Stains
Garage floors (and other concrete surfaces): Pour baking soda generously on oil and grease spots and sprinkle with water until a paste forms. Let stand overnight. The next day, scrub with a damp brush, hose down, and wipe clean.
Garden tools: Dip a moist stiff-bristled brush in baking soda to scrub trimmers, clippers, and more. Rinse, then place in a sunny area to dry. (Don't use on aluminum tools.)
Grills and barbecue utensils: To combat tough grease stains, dip a moist stiff-bristled brush in baking soda and scrub away.
Stove burner grates: In a dishpan, soak them in 1 gallon warm water and 1/2 cup baking soda for 30 minutes. Rinse and dry.
Special thanks to Marianne B. and Jean B. for providing information for this article.
I was really getting into the ‘greatest school project’ , I remember those days very well. can picture the classroom and school mates now. Wow you brought back some memories.
Then you mentioned the word cleaning! phooey. Are you sure the Kermode won’t explode? Ha….
Interesting usages, I’ll have to try it. wonder if it’ll work on the humidifier we have to run 24/7? it gets so much build up from the yucky water here that it’s like rock build up. The cleaning instructions say use vinegar but I might as well try some soda with it, ya think?
Lee
.-= Lee ´s last blog ..Quite Puzzling it is | Amazing Wiz Kids Thinking Outside the Box =-.
Ha ha…no it won’t explode. I have done it before. I have used it in all my drains, too and it cleared them. BTW, I was one of those deprived children that had to grow beans. ;( lol
I don’t see why you couldn’t use it in a humidifier. I have used bleach to clean them in the past, but that bleach smell stays for so long…maybe the vinegar smell would evaporate away faster. Maybe you can swish around the baking soda/vinegar combo in it…otherwise it would take a lot to fill up a humidifier to do the work. Good luck!
I never thought a simple science experiment could be of great used to other application. There are really tons of useful ideas that i can used for your blog thanks. Now i will reminisce my childhood and doing something helpful at the same time.
What great tips! (And how you manage to make the idea of cleaning toilets sound like FUN, I don’t know, but you do!) I’ll have to give some of these a try.
Is that volcano photo one of Chris Lund’s? Looks like it. He’s a fantastic photographer.
.-= Holly Jahangiri´s last blog ..Mother, Touchstone, Friend =-.
Thanks Holly. It is a stock photograph and Chris Lund isn’t the contributor, but it does look like his style. I love the color. LOL if it makes cleaning toilets a little more fun, I am all for it. 🙂
BTW I just read your book “A Puppy, Not a Guppy” to my four year old last week and she loved it! Adorable story! I love all the fish facts and information in the back. I learned a lot myself.
Very useful cleaning tips. Didn’t know this before. Thanks for sharing.
Wow! This is one of the coolest posts I’ve read in a while… I’m going to try the baking soda and the vinegar in the shower. We’ll see if it clears the drain! Thanks!!!
I use baking soda to clean some of the stuff at home but I haven’t tried sprinkling it on my carpet before vacuuming. I must try it one of these days because the warmer weather with high humidity is causing my carpet to give off a damp odor.
Great advices,Melinda. I like to see that people prefer natural alternatives over expensive chemicals. I already heard for some methods regarding baking soda.In fact, my nephew uses it to clean pet urine from the carpet, just the way you described it. He sprinkles the place with baking soda, leaves it to soak and then vacuums it. Problem solved!
I use it for cleaning refrigerator by mixing four tablespoons of water with baking soda ( this is for making the paste out of it), and then just clean up the interior with it.
I often clean my tubes with just hot water. I just open it for a minute or two and everything is clean.