4 Ingenious Baking Soda Hacks

If you’re looking for some homemade cleaning solutions that can take on grease, grime, and odors just as well as harsh, chemical cleaners, baking soda will be your ingredient of choice. The best part is that you’ll probably have it and any other components that you’ll need in your house already. Check out these brilliant baking soda hacks to help tidy up your humble abode.

Dirty Grout

If dirty grout is taking your tile down a notch, try cleaning it with a mixture of baking soda and hydrogen peroxide.

What To Do:

• Combine baking soda with hydrogen peroxide to make a paste.
• Using a toothbrush, scrub the grout with the paste.
• Wipe the remaining paste away with white vinegar on a rag or paper towel.

Grimy Ovens

Few people look forward to cleaning their oven, and the less often you clean it, the more you probably dread it. Don’t worry--a baking soda mixture can soften the food and grime that has burned onto your oven’s interior, making the gunk easier to scrub away afterward.

What To Do

1. Combine baking soda, salt, and white vinegar until it creates a paste.
2. Wearing rubber gloves, coat the walls, floor, and door of the oven with the paste using a brush.
3. Here’s the tricky part: you’ll need to keep this coating moist for about 24 hours. You can do this by spraying it with more vinegar every so often.
4. Wipe off the paste as best you can.
5. Turn on your oven to 100 degrees Fahrenheit for 1 hour, then turn it back off and let it cool.
6. Here’s the fun part: once the oven is cool enough for you to comfortably touch it, spray it with more white vinegar, wipe away the last of the residue, and enjoy your spotless oven.

Slow, Smelly Drains

If you notice that your sink seems to be draining more slowly than it used to, you can try a solution of baking soda and vinegar to freshen it up and help it flow freely. (Note: this tip is only for slow drains, not clogged drains.)

What To Do

1. Pour 1 cup of baking soda into the slow drain.
2. Pour hot vinegar over the baking soda. Wait 10 minutes before the next step.
3. Pour boiling water over the baking soda and vinegar to flush everything down the drain.

Odors in the Air

If your kitchen garbage or cat litter box is starting to accumulate odors, baking soda can help freshen the air. Sprinkle baking soda periodically into your kitchen garbage can as you add more waste. For litter boxes, sprinkle and mix baking soda directly into the litter.