I tried 10 baking soda cleaning hacks to see if they really work

Baking soda has been touted by numerous guides as the number one cleaning agent to have at home. I’ll admit, I’ve always been sceptical of its cleaning prowess — ‘huh. Isn’t that powdery fluff only an occasional necessity in baked goods?’

But what do I know? So I’ve decided to put those claims to the test, cleaning everything from bathroom grout to the kitchen sink.

Here are the results.

Claim 1: Removes stains on bathroom taps

Method : Sprinkle baking soda on tap. Use a wet sponge to scrub away stains.

Results : Success! Although the really stubborn stains needed a bit more elbow grease.

Claim 2: Removes coffee and tea stains in mugs

Method : Make paste with equal parts of baking soda and water. Use sponge to scrub.

Results : Complete success! No more having to reach out for a magic sponge the next time I want to remove these stains.

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Claim 3: Deodorises smelly kitchen sponges

Method : Soak smelly sponge in a solution of 4 tbsp baking soda + 1-litre water for two hours.

Results : Didn’t work. My sponge still smells like last night’s pasta. BUT it did look cleaner.

Claim 4: Brightens tile grout

Method : Make a paste out of 1 part water and 3 parts baking soda. Apply it onto grout. Leave to rest for 10 mins. Then rinse.

Results : This did brighten my grout somewhat, although I think you will need to do a little bit of scrubbing to remove the stubborn stains.

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Claim 5: Deodorises fridge

Method : Place baking soda in a small bowl and leave it in the fridge.

Results : I could definitely smell the difference. My refrigerator usually reeks of whatever raw meat I place in there, but just a couple of hours after placing the bowl of baking soda in there, there was zero smell. Incredible.

Claim 6: Freshens up white towels

Method : Place ¼ cup of baking soda in a pail of water. Soak towel in pail overnight. Then wash in normal load.

Results : Stains on my white towel faded just a twinge, but it still didn’t look as a good as new.

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Claim 7: Cleans kitchen sink

Method : Sprinkle baking soda on a half of a lemon and use it to clean stainless steel sinks.

Results : A sparkling clean sink that smells great! Although it was difficult to get to the edges of my sink with the half lemon during cleaning.

Claim 8: Remove burnt marks on stainless steel pot

Method : Make a baking soda paste and scrub on the burnt marks.

Results : Burnt marks didn’t dodge, despite extra elbow grease.

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Claim 9: Toilet bowl cleaner

Method : Sprinkle about a cup of baking soda onto the sides of the toilet bowl and wash it off with about two cups of white vinegar. Leave it for approximately 15 mins and then scour the toilet bowl with a toilet brush.

Results : My toilet bowl has never been cleaner. Bonus: The baking soda reacted with the white vinegar to produce a fun, fizzy chemical reaction (see video).

Claim 10: Removes smell on silicone spatula

Method : Soak spatula in equal parts baking soda and water overnight.

Results : Didn’t remove smell. 

So turns out, baking soda does have a ton of cleaning abilities! While not all the purported cleaning hacks worked, most actually did. I’ll definitely be keeping a box of baking soda on hand the next time I’m doing housekeeping.

This article was first published in Renonation.sg.