9 Ways to Use Baking Soda Around the House
Every homeowner has this simple yellow box sitting in their refrigerator or cabinet. What yellow box? Well, good old fashioned baking soda of course. Many homeowners know that baking soda can be useful around the home for more than just cooking but not many know just how versatile baking soda can be. Here are 9 ways to put that old box of baking soda to work for you.
9 Ways to Use Baking Soda Around the House
- Drains and disposals are usually the culprit when you can’t find the source of a smell in a kitchen. Mix together about a quarter cup of baking soda and vinegar, add a pinch of kosher salt and toss the mixture down the drain followed by running hot water.
- Scrub your smelly food containers with a mixture of baking soda and hot water to rid them of yesterday’s lunch stench.
- Mix together a solution of 1 cup of water with 2 tablespoons of baking soda. Microwave the solution for 3 minutes followed by a thorough wipe down to clean and deodorize your microwave.
- Add a cup of baking soda to your dishwasher and run it empty on the rinse cycle to eliminate leftover odors.
- Ovens are often ignored and chemicals to clean them can be harsh and caustic. Ditch the cautic spray and wipe down your oven with paste of ½ a cup of baking soda plus a few spoonfuls of water. Let the paste sit overnight then scrub away to a clean, fresh oven the next morning.
- Baking soda can even be used to prevent smells. Soak any raw fish in a quart of water and 2 tablespoons of baking soda for an hour to eliminate that fishy odor.
- Composting is great for the garden and the environment but not for noses. Add a layer of baking soda at the bottom of your compost bin and regularly toss in handfuls to mitigate some of the more offensive odors.
- Use the same step above for your recycling and trash containers.
- All that gunk that builds up on your oven’s hood can also lead to offending odors. Wipe it down with a paste of ¼ of baking soda, a smidge of dishwashing detergent and hot water to clean and freshen.
Where there’s odor, there’s baking soda to eliminate it. Use these tips to get everything in your home smelling fresh and look for other uses around the house as well.