Baking soda is well-known for its use in a variety of baked goods. Lesser known is its myriad of uses as a deodorizer and cleaner! From bathroom to kitchen, baking soda will leave your household fresher-smelling and shinier than ever.
Take a look at these 20 incredible baking soda cleaning hacks to eliminate grime and odor and see for yourself.
If your silver is starting to look a bit tarnished, baking soda can help to renew its luster.
Just combine it with water, to create a thin paste, and leave all your silver to soak. Use lukewarm water to rinse it off.
Refrigerators hold lots of different foods, which makes for a variety of smells; not all of them pleasant.
Place an open box of baking soda in your refrigerator to remove unwanted odor.
Stinky shoes are a bit embarrassing, but they happen to everyone. Luckily, you can banish shoe odor with this baking soda hack.
Just sprinkle baking soda liberally on the inside of your shoes and allow it to sit overnight.
Come morning, shake the baking soda out, and your shoes will be smelling much fresher!
Scuff marks can be pretty hard to remove with just plain soap and water. To save yourself a bit of elbow grease, try sprinkling some baking soda on a rag, and then scrub your floor.
You can also create a paste with baking soda and water, place it on the scuff marks, and give it about 10-15 minutes to sit. This will make the task much easier!
Baking soda serves as a wonderful fabric softener, deodorizer, and brightener.
Just add ⅛ cup along with the detergent before you run your washer.
It’s hard to get carpets and rugs clean without bringing out the carpet cleaner. For times when you’re too busy to go through the hassle, baking soda is a lifesaver.
Sprinkle it on the carpet liberally and allow it to sit for 10 minutes to an hour. When you vacuum it up, it will have absorbed an impressive amount of oil and odor.
Crayons on the wall: dreaded by every parent, but an inevitable reality. Scrubbing it off by normal means, such as a wall cleaner, can have dubious results.
Fortunately, baking soda can be used to make removing crayons a lot easier. When used as a gentle scrub, it will make quick work of the wax!
Cleaning the oven can be a somewhat monumental task! Baked-on food can seem as stubborn as cement.
To soften this grime up, dampen the inside of the oven with a rag and then cover it in baking soda (the baking soda should be nice and damp).
Allow this to sit overnight, the grime will be much easier to wipe off.
Between cleanings, trash cans can develop a bit of a funk. You can nip this in the bud by sprinkling some good old-fashioned baking soda in the bottom of each can.
From here, it will absorb any odor from the can itself.
Simply vacuum up some baking soda, and it will freshen up your vacuum cleaner.
You can also add a few drops of essential oil, and the vacuum cleaner will create a pleasant fragrance when you use it.
Add a tablespoon of baking soda to your next dishwasher load to help fight soap scum and oil.
This will make your dishes shinier than ever!
Water just doesn’t feel like enough when washing produce from the store. After all, so many hands have touched it, and it’s covered in pesticides and wax.
Scrub fruits and vegetables with baking soda and water to get them squeaky clean!
Pet bedding isn’t usually machine washable, which can make cleaning it tricky.
To get rid of odor and oil quickly and easily, try dousing the bedding in baking soda. Allow it to sit for at least an hour.
Then, shake or vacuum the baking powder off to leave the bedding much fresher.
All that you need to refresh your mattress is some baking soda.
Just sprinkle it over the bare mattress generously (with extra on particularly stained spots). Let it sit for about half an hour. Then, vacuum the baking soda up.
It will take the oils and odors it has absorbed with it.
Baking soda can be a really effective way to deodorize a toilet bowl. Just flush the toilet, and then sprinkle it liberally around the sides of the bowl.
You can also put it on top of toilet cleaner. Allow it to sit for 10 minutes to a half-hour.
When you scrub it away, it will take with it not only grime but also odor!
Wooden cutting boards can’t be cleaned with soap, as it’s too harsh. They still get grimy and germy, however.
Use a paste made of water and baking soda to gently rub into the cracks and crevices of your wooden cutting boards.
This will leave them cleaner and more hygienic than ever!
If you’re having trouble removing the last bits of food from a pot or pan, baking soda might do the trick!
Simply sprinkle some over the baked-on food. Add just enough water to turn it into a paste, and let it sit for a few minutes.
Then, scrub as normal, and the food should come right off.
In between trips, luggage can get a bit musty.
Sprinkle some baking soda on the inside of the bags/cases and leave it overnight.
In the morning, your luggage will be fresh and ready for travel.
Fill a bowl with baking soda and water. It should basically be baking soda-water, not a paste, as it is meant to be able to evaporate.
Run the microwave for 5 minutes with the bowl uncovered.
At this point, you can wipe the microwave down as usual, and the softened grime will come right off.
Every once in a while, it’s smart to wash your toothbrushes or retainer.
You can do this simply by soaking them in baking soda and water!
As you can see, baking soda is far more than a cooking ingredient.
It’s a household deodorizer and cleaner with remarkable versatility and power.
Are there any of these hacks you want to try?