20 Baking Soda Cleaning Hacks You Want to Know

You have the best cleaning agent right in your cupboards! It’s baking soda – a natural cleaning option that brings amazing results. Just give it a try!

Though it’s called ‘baking soda,’ it’s definitely not just for baking. Baking soda is a natural cleanser that has exfoliant and deodorizing properties, and it’s also extremely affordable.

You can use baking soda to clean several things around your house. The results may surprise you because baking soda does a better job than many high-end cleaning products.

The best part? There are no harmful chemicals involved, so you can keep yourself, your kids, and your pets safe from toxins.

Here are a few creative cleaning hacks you can do to use baking soda to its fullest potential. Remember: never mix chemicals. Stay safe!

1. Freshen Fruits and Veggies

You’ve probably seen products marketed as a produce wash. Skip these spendy sprays and make your own produce wash.

Scientific tests have proven that baking soda removes more pesticides than bleach or produce a spray.

Prepare a large bowl of water. Add a teaspoon of baking soda.

Soak the fruits and veggies for a few minutes in the solution. Remove them from the water.

Use a scrub brush to scrub off pesticides, then rinse under cold water.

Pat them dry. It’s best to do this when you arrive home from the store. This way, chemicals don’t sit on your produce for too long.

2. An Orderly Oven

Cleaning the oven is a chore nobody enjoys. Sometimes it’s difficult to get baked-on gunk and grime out of the oven.

A combination of baking soda and vinegar produces a chemical reaction. This penetrates the dirt and removes it.

Add ¼ cup warm water to ¾ cup baking soda. This makes a gritty paste solution.

Spread the paste inside of your oven. Avoid aluminum.

Leave the solution to sit overnight. Wipe it away with a wet cloth the next morning.

Afterward, spray the oven with a mixture of water and vinegar and remove leftover soda.

Check out more kitchen cleaning hacks here.

3. Drain Doctor

Plumbers don’t recommend pouring toxic drain cleaners down your drain. This can cause damage that could be expensive to repair.

So, what do you do to remove a big clog in your tub or sink? Grab the vinegar and baking soda.

Boil water on the stove or microwave. Begin by pouring the hot water down the drain.

Follow up with a cup of baking soda. Next, make a solution of equal parts vinegar and water.

Pour this down the drain. Let it sit for a few minutes.

Lastly, rinse it with hot water. Your drain should be clog-free; no chemicals necessary.

4. Stifle Smelly Sponges

Do you know how sponges get kind of gross after a few days? Instead of buying brand-new ones, clean your existing ones.

This allows you to get more life out of sponges. Use baking soda to refresh these scrubbers.

Add a quart of warm water to a bucket. Spoon in 4 tablespoons of baking soda.

Drop-in your smelly sponges. Let them sit in the solution for five minutes or so.

Remove them from the solution. Rinse them with fresh water.

Sponges should be odor-free and good as new! Repeat every two weeks.

This is a lazy girl cleaning hack you definitely should give a try.

5. Flawless Floors

Especially if you have pets, you may find that smells cling to the carpet. Give carpets a refresher with simple, basic baking soda.

Baking soda can deodorize your carpet and neutralize odors. Grab a box of baking soda and sprinkle it liberally over your carpets.

Allow the baking soda to sit as long as you can. Leave it overnight for maximum power.

Once you’re ready, vacuum up the baking soda as best you can. You’ll find that your carpet feels completely new, and smells are gone.

Check out more carpet cleaning tips here!

6. A Brighter Bowl

Those blue toilet cleaners not only smell awful, but they’re made with terribly toxic ingredients. Avoid this by using the natural cleaning power of baking soda to clean and deodorize toilets.

To attack your toilet bowl with baking soda, sprinkle a cup of the baking soda around the inside of your toilet.

Follow this up with a cup of vinegar. Then, clean something else for 20 or 30 minutes while the mixture works.

Use your usual toilet brush to scrub the inside of the bowl like you normally do. Flush, and enjoy a clean, white bowl.

Pro tip: Use vinegar and baking soda to clean the rest of the toilet, too. No chemicals needed!

7. Tidy Toothbrush

You just got over an illness, and you need to sanitize your toothbrush. Avoid harsh chemicals and use baking soda and vinegar instead.

Make a simple solution of a cup of water, two tablespoons of baking soda, and two tablespoons of vinegar. Soak the toothbrush in the solution for half an hour.

Remove the toothbrush, and rinse it under cold water. This will kill the germs on your toothbrush and make it ready to use again!

Try more of easy cleaning hacks like this one!

8. Brighten Your Whites

Are your whites looking drab and dull lately? Brighten them up and create crisp, clean clothes with the aid of baking soda.

Keep a box of baking soda next to your washing machine. Each time you run a load, simply add ½ a cup of soda when you add your laundry soap.

You’ll notice that your colors look brighter, and whites are less dull.

9. Sanitize Your Stove

After you cook, the stovetop looks like a battle zone. There are splashes of sauce or baked-on food.

Remove this from your stove and make it shine with baking soda and vinegar. Sprinkle baking soda liberally on the stovetop.

Add vinegar to a spray bottle and spray over the baking soda. Use a clean sponge or cloth that‘s damp to wipe the mixture away.

Don‘t use a wired sponge on a glass top; this could scratch it.

10. Spotless Silverware

Use baking soda to shine up silverware. To get it clean, grab a piece of aluminum foil, too.

All you need to do is boil water. Add one tablespoon of baking soda and a piece of foil to the boiling water.

Drop-in silver one or two pieces at a time. In a few minutes, the tarnish will be gone.

Remove the silver with tongs and let it cool. Polish it dry with a clean microfiber cloth.

11. Clean the Bathtub Without Back Pain

Make a DIY bathtub cleaner that does the work for you. This homemade hack can even get up soap scum, mildew, and mold.

Mix up 2/3 cups baking soda, ½ cup of water, and ½ cup of liquid soap. Add in two tablespoons of vinegar.

Pour the mixture into a plastic spray bottle. Use it all over the tub.

Let it sit for a few minutes, then work on scrubbing gunk out with a heavy-duty sponge. Rinse with water.

Check out more bathroom cleaning tips here.

12. A Sparkling Sink

Your sink sees a lot of action. Therefore, it gets pretty dirty.

Shine it up with baking soda. Sprinkle the soda inside the sink.

Use the spray bottle with vinegar to cover the soda. Scrub the inside of the sink.

If the drain is clogged, use vinegar and baking soda to unclog it. Rinse with water.

Pro tip: Use a lemon or orange rind to freshen and deodorize. Rub the rind all over the sink after you rinse it.

13. Hygienic Hairbrushes

There‘s no other way to say it; hairbrushes get pretty gross. Make brushes brand-new again with baking soda.

First, remove hair from the brush by scraping the bristles with a comb.

Fill a bowl big enough to hold your brushes. Add 1 tablespoon of baking soda.

Drop brushes inside and soak them for up to an hour. Remove them and rinse.

14. Scrub Away Wall Marks

Whether it‘s a small smudge or sticky spot, little black marks are annoying. Make them disappear with baking soda.

Add just enough water to make a paste. Apply it to the marks on the wall.

Rub the paste in with a soft sponge. Then, use a damp cloth to remove the paste.

Pat the wall dry, and the marks should be gone.

15. Disinfect Your Dishwasher

If dishes aren‘t getting clean or your dishwasher has a weird smell, get rid of it. Use baking soda to disinfect your dishwasher for clean dishes.

This is probably the simplest way to clean your dishwasher. Fill a measuring cup with vinegar and leave it in the top rack.

Sprinkle baking soda along the entire bottom of your dishwasher. Run a cycle.

Wait till it stops, then wipe the inside of the dishwasher. Grime should go away!

16. Clean Up Your Cutting Boards

There are two ways you can clean cutting boards. The first is to sprinkle baking soda on the board.

Slice a lemon and use it as a scrubber to scrub the board with the soda. This helps deodorize it.

Rinse it clean. The second way is to make a paste of baking soda and water.

Scrub the board with the paste, then rinse it clean. Either way, you end up with sparkling clean cutting boards.

17. Simple Shower Curtain Sanitizing

Have you ever noticed the grime at the bottom of your shower curtain? Sometimes it‘s water spots, sometimes soap.

Eliminate it and make your curtain look new again instead of buying a new one. Throw a fabric shower curtain into the washing machine with a towel.

Add a cup of baking soda to the wash cycle. Then, add a cup of vinegar to the rinse cycle.

For a plastic curtain, scrub it with a mixture of baking soda and vinegar, then rinse it. Or, you can also put a plastic shower curtain in the washing machine too.

18. Deodorize Drawers

Drawers can develop a musty smell over time. Reinvigorate them with the magic of baking soda.

You can do this in several ways. You can place an open box of baking soda in each drawer.

Or, you can put a small bowl or sachet filled with baking soda in the dresser. The baking soda absorbs the odors, and they‘ll go away.

For a new dresser that smells weird, you can gently wipe out the drawers with baking soda and a cloth.

19. Freshness is in the Air

This one is fun. Choose your favorite essential oil, whether it‘s lavender, vanilla, or orange.

Make your own DIY air freshener with a cute Mason jar. Fill the jar up to about halfway with soda.

Drop-in 10 drops of essential oil. Cover the jar with a breathable fabric.

You can dress these up with different colored fabrics. Tie a ribbon around the top so they look nice.

The baking soda absorbs odors. The oil adds a natural, fresh scent that isn‘t chemical-based or overwhelming.

Get more smell hacks like this one here!

20. Erase Sweaty Shoe Smells

There‘s nothing worse than smelly, dirty, sweaty shoes. Baking soda to the rescue!

The simple power of baking soda will remove smells from your shoes. All you have to do is sprinkle the soda inside your shoes.

Let them sit overnight. The next day, shake the soda out of your shoes.

Pro tip: Avoid using baking soda on leather shoes. Use this in sneakers or even sandals.

Conclusion

Did you like any of these soda cleaning hacks? Share them with your family!