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You are in: Home > , > Cleaning Green: Baking Soda Power!

Cleaning Green: Baking Soda Power!

3 by Becky Striepe on January 5, 2010

Baking Soda. CC photo by Flickr user deedoucette

Last week, we talked about cleaning with vinegar, and it got such a great response, I thought it would be fun to take a look this week at vinegar's best friend: baking soda.

More than just a baking staple, baking soda is great for scrubbing and neutralizing odors. You can use it to replace lots of the toxic cleaners that you've carefully locked away out of the reach of children. Unlike those bottles full of chemicals, you don't have to worry about pets or kiddos getting into the baking soda.

Armed with baking soda, you'll never have to buy another toxic bottle of odor neutralizing spray again! Just sprinkle a little baking soda onto funky-smelling furniture or carpeting, wait 15 minutes, and vacuum it up. Ta-da!

Baking Soda. CC photo by Flickr user 12635485@N07Baking soda is also a handy replacement for chemical-laden soft scrubs. For a super-simple homemade soft scrub, just mix 1/2c baking soda with a few drops of liquid castille soap, like Dr. Bronner's. Stir it up, and you're ready to scrub tubs, tile, and sinks!

Three parts baking soda plus one part water makes a perfect scrub for polishing silverware.

If you're looking for a more gentle scrub for things like stove tops, shower curtain liners, pots and pans, or inside the microwave just sprinkle a little baking soda directly onto a damp sponge and you're ready to clean. If you're cleaning a super-stubborn dish with burnt on food, you might need to let it soak over night in a baking soda/water mixture.

Baking soda is like magic for basically anything stinky. Sprinkle it in the recycle bin between pickups or the dishwasher between washes. That stinky diaper pail can benefit from a sprinkle of baking soda, too! The damp sponge with a little baking soda above also works to deodorize whatever you're cleaning.

To clean tile floors, mix 1/2 cup of baking soda in a bucket of water and mop as usual.

There have to be other ways to clean with baking soda, so spill it, guys! What are your favorite baking soda cleaning recipes?

Image Credits:
Baking Soda. Creative Commons photo by deedoucette
Baking Soda. Creative Commons photo by stellets

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About the Author:

Becky Striepe is a green blogger and independent crafter with a passion for vintage fabrics. She runs a crafty business, Glue and Glitter, where her mission is to make green crafting and vegan food accessible to everyone! You can find .

Twitter Follow Becky Striepe on Twitter: @glueandglitter
  • http://ecomaidsofla.com/blog Alicia

    Mixing vinegar and baking soda in a spray bottle makes a great all purpose cleaner. It will fizz initially when its mixed but then you have a powerful all purpose cleaner great at removing even the toughest stains. You can also use baking soda to make your own DIY laundry detergent!

    • http://glueandglitter.com Becky

      Oh wow, I would never have thought to mix them! What proportion would you use? Any water in the mix?

      Also, do you happen to have a recipe for that laundry detergent? :)

  • Katie

    I’ve used baking soda and vinegar multiple times to clear clogged drains — it works just as well as Draino and Liquid Plumber without the noxious chemicals.