Everything about Baking Soda and Cleaning – How to clean with baking soda?
Sara Idenfors
How to clean with baking soda
Baking soda is a versatile and effective cleaning agent that can be used throughout the home. It is gentle, environmentally friendly, and perfect for anyone who wants to clean without harsh chemicals.
Here are some ways to use baking soda for cleaning:
- Against bad odors: Sprinkle baking soda in the trash can, shoes, or refrigerator to neutralize unwanted odors.
- Cleaning surfaces: Mix baking soda with a little water to make a paste and use it to scrub the kitchen counter, stovetop, sink, or tiles. Gentle but effective.
- Clean the oven and baking trays: Sprinkle baking soda over the surface, spray on a little water, and leave it to work overnight. Wipe off with a cloth or sponge.
- Freshen up carpets and sofas: Sprinkle on a thin layer of baking soda, leave it for 15–30 minutes, and vacuum it up.
- Drains and sinks: Pour a few tablespoons of baking soda down the drain, follow with vinegar, leave it to work, and then rinse with hot water.
Baking soda also works well together with soft soap – for example, when scrubbing the kitchen counter or when you want extra scrubbing power.
Tip! Always keep a jar of baking soda ready in the cleaning cupboard – it is a natural cleaning agent that works for almost anything.
Why baking soda works so well for cleaning
Baking soda has many uses; here we cover tips related to cleaning, laundry, and hygiene. No home remedies or beauty tips—our baking soda is intended for cleaning and laundry.
A baking soda solution is mildly alkaline, or basic—in other words, the opposite of acidic. A 1:10 water solution (9%) is mildly alkaline (pH 8.3), while a 1% solution has a pH of 8–8.6.
Baking soda tips—here’s how to use it!
1. Ants do not like baking soda: If you have ants in kitchen cabinets or other areas, sprinkle a line of baking soda where you suspect the ants are getting in.
2. A tip you may have seen on TV shopping: Sodium bicarbonate removes tarnish from silver and copper (the oxide) through electrolysis, without damaging your valuable items. Here’s how:
Place a large piece of crumpled aluminum foil in the sink or another stainless-steel container. Sprinkle over 10 ml (2 tsp) of sodium bicarbonate. Add the items. Sprinkle over more sodium bicarbonate. Pour in 1 liter of boiling-hot water; it will begin to bubble as carbonic acid forms. Allow to cool, rinse, and dry. (For silver plate and brass, weak acids work better (citric acid, vinegar, wine vinegar, ketchup, cultured milk.
3. Clean the thermos: Pour hot water into the thermos, add a couple of teaspoons of sodium bicarbonate, and let it stand—the thermos will be easy to rinse out after 15–20 minutes and will be completely clean inside.
4. A stainless-steel sink can be wiped with sodium bicarbonate on a damp cloth to make it really shiny.
5. Remove bad odors: Easily remove cigarette smoke odor by placing dry sodium bicarbonate in a bowl in the room. It also removes odors such as diesel, garbage, and so on.
6. Sweat odor in clothes: When sweat odor refuses to leave the fabric, add two to three tablespoons of baking soda to the washing machine. Note that baking soda also has a bleaching effect. Baking soda can also be used when washing whites to help keep them white.
7. Urine: Sprinkle baking soda and, if desired, a little lemon oil where the cat or dog has urinated—vacuum it up the next day).
8. If you have accidentally scratched a wall or a child has drawn on it, try mixing water and baking soda in equal parts and gently scrubbing with a sponge.
9. Make white shoes white again. Sprinkle baking soda over the shoe, dab with vinegar, and let the bubbles do the work.
10. Yellowed appliances/plastic: Make a solution with 1 part baking soda and 4 parts water. Apply the solution, let it dry for about 10 minutes, and then wipe it off.
11. Dry-cleaning alternative: Sprinkle baking soda over the mattress topper, leave it there, and then vacuum it up.
12. Accident, urine in the bed: Wash the sheets immediately, try to absorb as much as possible with paper towels, then sprinkle a generous amount of baking soda on the mattress and vacuum it up the following day.
Baking soda is approved by the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation as a Good Environmental Choice alkaline substance. KRAV-approved acid/base/salt.
______________________________________________________________________________
- How can baking soda be used to clean silver and copper?
By combining baking soda with aluminum foil and boiling-hot water in a stainless-steel container, tarnish can easily be removed through electrolysis.
- How can baking soda help clean a thermos?
By filling the thermos with hot water and baking soda and letting it stand for a while, it becomes easy to rinse out and is cleaned inside.
- What can you do with baking soda to remove bad odors from a room?
Placing baking soda in a bowl in the room helps absorb and neutralize unwanted odors, such as cigarette smoke or garbage odors.
- How can baking soda be used to deal with sweat odor in clothes?
By adding baking soda to the washing machine, sweat odor can be effectively removed from clothes and the color of white laundry preserved.
- Is baking soda environmentally friendly?
Yes, baking soda is approved by the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation as a Good Environmental Choice and is KRAV-approved as an acid/base/salt. It is an environmentally friendly alternative for cleaning and laundry!
can be ordered here