Spring Cleaning Edition – TRUE or FALSE?

If I told you that you could complete a laundry list of Spring Cleaning tasks using just one product, you probably wouldn’t believe me. I am a bit skeptical myself, but I am going to put it to the test for you! I am talking about baking soda. There have been some strong claims that it does an unlimited amount of tasks effectively. Lets break some of them down and try it.

It is said that dumping just 1 cup of baking soda into your load of laundry will make your detergent work extra hard for you. This seems like it would work by using the odor eliminating factor or the baking soda, along with the  abrasive paste it creates when wet. I would think the abrasiveness would fade away being that it is mixed with a much larger ratio of water. What else can it do? Let’s put them to the test,

Clean Wax and Dirt off of your Veggies and Fruit –

Use a little baking soda and water as a safe abrasive to remove excess dirt and wax from fresh fruit and veggies.

• TEST: I tried to use the most waxy fruits and veggies could think of, an apple and a cucumber. Normally I’d use some dish soap and a scrubbing sponge and get to work in making sure there’s no more dirt, wax or soap left on them, but this is a safer alternative that’s even quicker. 

• VERDICT: It’s TRUE! You don’t even need to use a scrubber and can literally just use your hands to swoosh it around and rinse.

Drain Cleaner, Clear that Grime –

This is a simple drain cleaning technique that takes a bit of upkeep. But does it pay off? To use baking soda as a drain cleaner, run the hot water a bit, and then sprinkle a little baking soda down the drain regularly to keep them fresh and clear of blockages.

• TEST: I really cannot claim this to be true OR false just yet. I’ll have to try it a few times, or maybe when my kitchen sink gets that smell after dirty dishes. I tested it in my bathroom sink, but it didn’t make a difference since it didn’t smell or get clogged to begin with.

• VERDICT: I’d say this would be a good ritual and may be true to keep a smelly drain from recurring or clogging. but I won’t know for sure until I keep up with it.

Make your Vinyl Shower Curtain as Good as New –

This claims you can simply add some baking soda to a damp sponge and wipe down your vinyl shower curtain and hand to dry, This seems too simple. Especially is there is mold or mildew build up on it.

• TEST:  I followed the directions by using a damp sponge and sprinkling the baking soda on the spots of the vinyl shower curtain. I scrubbed just a small area of the shower curtain, and then rinsed it off. You can definitely see the difference!

• VERDICT: This absolutely does work and it is TRUE it will remove the mold and mildew from the vinyl shower curtain. Personally, It is more effort then it is worth for me and I rather just spend the $5 to get a brand new one then scrubbing down the entire thing.

So Clean You’ll be Floored –

Just mop your tile floor with a 1/2 cup of baking soda in a bucket of warm water. To remove any scuff marks, just add some baking soda to a damp sponge and buff out the streaks. Make sure to rinse the sponge after each use.

• TEST:I added hot water to a bucket and dumped in a 1/2 cup of baking soda as called for. My mop was a little old and musty after dipped into the hot water, and even though the baking soda masked most of the smell, I wanted it to actually smell clean after I spent time mopping, so I added a couple drops of tea tree oil to the bucket.

  

• VERDICT: It is TRUE! It worked to clean my floor, but the one thing I didn’t like was that it left a haze over it, and did not have that nice glow I like. It was shiny while wet of course, but after it dried I had to go over it with mop & glow. The good news is, I used the swiffer mop to put the mop & glow on, and when looking at the pad after, there was minimal dirt on it, so the floor was really clean after one application of the water/baking soda and safe for my son and dog.

Before  After 

Carpet-Deodorizing Magic –

You can freshen carpets by sprinkling baking soda on them before vacuuming; Let the baking soda sit for a few minutes, then vacuum it up and breath in the freshness.

• TEST: We all have some sort of element in our homes that make our carpet not as fresh as we’d like. Mine is my dog. Although I love him, even he’d admit, he smells like a dog. I used it on the area that he lays the most, and literally just sprinkled a little bit around the area before vacuuming.

• VERDICT: It’s TRUE and it’s fast. It definitely made that section of the rug smell more fresh then others. This is something I’ll probably get into the habit of doing. I used to use the carpet fresh deodorizers before having children and a dog, but now I don’t feel they’re safe for my kids or dog who frequently crawl around on the floor and drop food and eat it. This is much safer.

Snuggle up to Fresh Linens –

Give your linens the natural, fresh linen scent by 1/2 cup of baking soda to the rinse cycle to help remove any odors.

• TEST: I don’t have a washer and dryer in my home, so this one is more difficult to do for me quickly without going to the laundromat. I figured, to really put it to the test, why not try a nasty, dirty, soaked sponge that smelled of mildew? So that’s what I did. 

• VERDICT: It is TRUE! Layering on the baking soda onto the smelly sponge immediately took away the foul moldy smell. I was so amazed and in disbelief I actually put it closer to my nose to see. And it smelled fresh. I would imagine this would also be the case with linen as it claims, and also if poured into a smelly shoe.

My personal favorite –

I also tried it on my refrigerator because the back of the Arm & Hammer bottle stated you can use it to clean appliances. Mine is a black gloss, not stainless steel so you may have another outcome. My 2 year old gets finger prints and food all over the bottom half of the refrigerator where he can reach as you can see in photo #1. I put a little baking soda on a damp sponge and cleaned that side of the fridge. I was horrified after I thought it was “clean” and it dried and had a white haze all over (picture #2) and I quickly grabbed a paper towel and started to “buff” it off. To my surprise, that’s exactly what it did! It buffed the black gloss back to a nice shine and was completely clean! This was by far my favorite use and I feel it had the biggest effect. It did take a little elbow grease to buff it out, but it’s worth it to not have any water marks after cleaning it.

Do you have any other tried and true baking soda cleaning tips? Please let us all know by leaving a comment below!

If you want to try it for yourself, click here for some free Arm & Hammer coupons;

http://www.armandhammer.com/Resources/SavingsCenter.aspx?CampaignId=Get+More+In+The+Savings+Center/#BakingSodaSpring2015