What is the safest household cleaner?

What is the safest household cleaner?

The safest household cleaner is baking soda. This common kitchen ingredient has a lot of cleaning uses, such as eliminating foul odors and removing stains, dirt, and grime. It can be used alone or mixed with other common household products, depending on what you intend to clean.

Baking soda, or sodium bicarbonate, is a natural substance and works by maintaining the pH balance. It doesn’t only cover up odors but eliminates them, due to its capacity to neutralize bases and acids.

Baking soda is also typically used for baking and cooking. Once heated, the substance releases carbon dioxide that causes bread, cakes, and cookies to rise.

It is important to be aware of the chemicals and substances you use, especially inside your home. Many cleaning products contain ingredients that have been linked to certain health problems, including hormonal imbalance, respiratory failure, asthma, congenital disabilities, fertility problems, and more. Why put the health of your loved ones at risk when you can eliminate toxic chemicals and still keep your home clean?

Cleaning with baking soda

It’s affordable, eco-friendly, and best of all, it has many uses. Here are a few ways you can use baking soda when cleaning your home:

Baking soda as a deodorizer

Baking soda can neutralize acidic odors, such as sour milk and pickles, and basic odors, such as spoiled food and the smell of ammonia in diaper pails.

  • You can keep a box of baking soda in your pantry or the back of your fridge to eliminate gross or unwanted smells.
  • You can also put a box inside the cabinet where you keep your towels and sheets to keep them smelling fresh until ready to use.
  • Put some baking soda on the base of an empty trash can to neutralize the garbage’s smell.
  • Sprinkle baking soda all over the carpet to get rid of pet and food odors before vacuuming.
  • Put some baking soda inside a smelly rubber shoe. It will eliminate the smell if it isn’t too over empowering or, at least, make it less obvious.
  • Sprinkle baking soda on your pet’s sleeping area. Leave for 15 minutes before vacuuming.
  • Put baking soda on your upholstery or furniture. Leave for 15 minutes before vacuuming.
  • For mattresses, spread the contents of an entire box of baking soda on top while rubbing the substance in. If you haven’t been cleaning your mattress, it is best to leave it overnight and vacuum the next day. It is important to clean your mattress at least twice a year to get rid of any accumulated dirt and smell.
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Baking soda hacks for cleaning the bathroom 

You can use this substance to make all parts of the bathroom sparkly clean, fresh smelling, and free of clogs.

Grout cleaning

To clean the tile grout, add enough water to baking soda and mix well until you have a thick paste. Using an old toothbrush, scrub the grout with the soda paste until it’s clean.

If the dirt won’t come off, you can replace the water with hydrogen peroxide and make a thick paste. Hydrogen peroxide is non-toxic, but can have the same effect as bleach. Baking soda, on the other hand, will lift the dirt off the grout.

If hydrogen peroxide still doesn’t do the trick due to a massive pileup of dirt in the grout, you can add dish soap to the mixture:

  1. In a container, put a teaspoon of dish soap, 1/4 cup of hydrogen peroxide, and half a cup of baking soda. Mix well.
  2. Apply on the grout and leave for 10 minutes.
  3. Scrub the grout and wipe with a clean, damp cloth after.

Cleaning the shower

Showerheads clog over time due to the buildup of mineral and limescale. To get rid of clogs and remove hard water deposits from your showerhead, you can use a simple solution involving white vinegar, baking soda, dish soap and a plastic bag that will fit over the showerhead.

  1. Put a cup of white vinegar and 1/3 cup of baking soda in the plastic bag.
  2. Fit the bag over the showerhead, ensuring that the showerhead is soaked in the mixture, before securing the bag with a rubber band.
  3. Leave overnight.
  4. Rinse it off the next day and turn the shower on to get rid of any excess solution.
  5. Add a small amount of baking soda and dish soap to a damp microfiber cloth.
  6. Work into a lather and use the cloth to scrub the walls in the shower or bathroom.
  7. Do the same on the floor, but use a wet cleaning brush instead of a cloth.
  8. Rinse it all off.
  9. Wipe the area using a dry microfiber cloth.
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For shower curtains, you can sprinkle some baking soda on a damp cloth. Wipe the curtains with the cloth and rinse using hot water.

Read more: Never use baking soda to clean these 7 places

 Other uses of baking soda in cleaning

Here are the other things and areas in the house that you can maintain with the use of baking soda:

Clogged drains

If you have tried reaching the inside part of the drain using a stick or any long material with a hook on its end but did not find anything, a chemical buildup may be causing the clog.

To get rid of the clog, put a cup of baking soda inside the drain. Add the same amount of lemon juice. Cover the drain with any kind of stopper and leave for half an hour. Flush it out with hot water until the clog is cleared.

Toothbrushes

You can keep your toothbrushes clean by leaving them soaked overnight in a mixture of 1/4 cup of baking soda and 1/4 cup of water.

Stainless steel and Le Creuset cookware

Fill your stainless-steel cookware with water, place it on the stove, and bring the water to a boil. Stir in two tablespoons of baking soda. Turn off the heat and scrub away any leftover gunk using a wooden spoon.

Oven

Mix equal parts of baking soda and water. Gently scrub the inner part of the oven until it’s clean and free from grime and odor.

FAQs about cleaning with baking soda

What makes baking soda a good cleaner?

Baking soda is actually a form of salt. It is neutral and slightly basic. This is the characteristic of baking soda that makes it an effective cleaner. This is also the reason why the substance is edible to humans.

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Why does baking soda work better at cleaning dirt than a typical soap?

Both soap and baking soda are basic, but the latter is abrasive. Soap is less harsh since it contains fat molecules. This is why baking soda is more effective in eliminating stains and other particles from different kinds of surfaces.

Isn’t it a bad thing that baking soda releases carbon dioxide when heated?

No. It makes a good fire extinguisher for its ability to cut off the oxygen that ignites the fire. Baking soda also makes an effective pest control for ants and cockroaches. When ingested, baking soda causes the gas to build up inside the pests’ bodies until their organs fail, and they die.

Final thoughts

Baking soda makes a great cleaning substance at home, and it is also naturally safe and non-toxic. You can use it for getting rid of dirt, mildew, dust and stains, and it also effectively eliminates foul odors.

You can even use it in any area of your house without worrying about chemicals and their harsh effects.

What is the safest household cleaner?

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