Not Just For The Fridge Anymore

Cleaning with chemicals is both expensive and potentially damaging to the environment—not GREENE, not FROOGLE. But you can be both by using baking soda. And here’s HOWE:

Let’s start in the kitchen (since that’s where we make the biggest messes) Use a paste of baking soda and a little water to gently scrub stubborn stains from dishes, countertops, and the inside of your dishwasher. Add a tablespoon or so to a quart of water, wring out a sponge or cloth in the solution, and wipe down the inside of the fridge. When you’re done, put an open box in that nice clean fridge. Bet you knew that one already.

In the living room or bedroom, sprinkle on carpeting or upholstered furniture and leave for fifteen minutes before vacuuming to remove odors. In cases of spills on upholstery or carpeting, clean up as well as you can, let it dry, and sprinkle with baking soda. Leave it on for at least fifteen minutes and then vacuum. Remove marks from painted walls, gently, with baking soda on a damp sponge. Wipe with a soft, dry cloth.

On a quick side-trip to the laundry room, pre-treat grease stains with a paste of water and baking soda. Add baking soda to laundry loads to freshen clothing, to diaper pails and laundry hampers, pet bedding, and litter boxes for odor control.

In the bathroom, use that box of baking soda like cleanser. Sprinkle it in the toilet (let it sit for a half-hour or so and brush), sprinkle some on mildew (on grout, in the tub, around the sink, or wherever) let it work for a while, and scrub with a brush, scrubbing sponge, or an old toothbrush. If you have a fiberglass tub or shower, make a paste with baking soda and dishwashing liquid, and apply with a sponge or cloth. Baking soda won’t scratch like cleanser, and it’s gentle on both your hands and the environment. When the bathroom is shiny and sweet-smelling, run a bath and add baking soda—it’ll soften your skin. And you deserve a soak in the tub after that hard work!

Want more jobs for your baking soda? Here are 61 uses!
Like me, you may not use all 61--I’m not sure when I’ll need to scald a chicken, for example.


And just in case you’re one of those horse’s mouth kind of people, visit the website for Arm and Hammer, the company who makes baking soda, at which you'll find lots more uses.

And please share your own favorites!