Baking Soda in the Home

Handy to Know | Part 4

Welcome back to part 4 of our series on baking soda. In this post we bring together my top 10 uses for baking soda in the home.

Barbecue grills

Its great to barbecue or as we call it in South Africa, braai. There’s nothing quite like the taste of meat cooked over a fire but when it comes time to clean the grill everybody runs. Try cleaning it by mixing up a paste of equal parts of bicarb and water. Apply this with a wire brush, wipe clean and dry with a cloth. This will de-grease and clean the grill.

Batteries

Baking soda can be used to neutralise battery acid corrosion on cars.

Carpets

To eliminate food and pet odours sprinkle a handful of bicarb on your carpets and rugs. Leave for a while and vacuum.

Kitty Litter

As much as we love our cats ( I have 3 remember) the smell of that kitty litter is enough to send anyone over the edge. Baking soda absorbs kitty litter odours. Cover the bottom of the litter tray with bicarbonate of soda and then add a layer of the kitty litter on top.

Car Interior

Sprinkle some baking soda on the floor mats in your car to get rid of musty smells. Leave for a while and then vacuum off.

If you carry your pets in your car and have upholstery seats, sprinkle some bicarb on the area where they sit to keep odours at bay.

Rust Remover

When you have rusty tools, gates or other equipment cover the item with bicarb and then pour white vinegar over it to make the solution bubble. When the bubbling stops scrub the rust off with a stiff brush.

Vases

Flowers tend to leave a residue on vases and other containers. If this happens mix 4 tbsp baking soda with some warm water and allow to the vase to soak in the mixture. After about 30 minutes rinse and wipe clean.

Pet bowls

If you feed your pet outside sprinkle bicarbonate of soda around the bowl to keep insects away.

Brass Door Knobs

To clean brass door knobs sprinkle a small amount of bicarb onto a damp cloth and rub gently.

Puppy Training

If you use newspaper on the floor to help housetrain your puppy this will end up smelling bad. To minimise the smell sprinkle baking soda onto the were newspaper once the puppy has used.

These are my great top 10 tips for using baking soda in the home. Not only is it inexpensive but it also avoids the use of hard and toxic chemicals. Making baking soda part of your cleaning kit makes such sense.

Please join me in part 5 of this series when I delve into my top 10 money-saving health and beauty tips for baking soda. After all we all deserve a little pampering don’t we.