Amazing Baking Soda

My two favorite cleaners around the house are baking soda and vinegar. As of right now (prices keep hiking here for everything) both items are pretty cheap. The best part about baking soda and vinegar is that they are natural products and aren't going to kill your pets or children. Below are my favorite ways to use baking soda.

• Sprinkle baking soda on your stove top and add a small amount of hot water (I squeeze a bit out of a wash cloth) to create a paste. Scrub with a soft cloth and rinse. Don't worry if you don't get it all rinsed off perfectly; the bits of soda will dry into a powder that can be brushed off.

• Keep an opened box of baking soda in your refrigerator and another one in the freezer to absorb odors. After a couple of months, replace the boxes with fresh ones. Pour the old soda down the kitchen drain and rinse with water to keep the drain smelling fresher. Also, pour a box down the bathroom drains to do the same thing.

• Use baking soda to clean your toilet, bathroom sink, and bathtub. Make a paste of soda and hot water (add a tsp. of lemon juice if desired) and scrub the fixtures. Rinse thoroughly.

• I make my own powdered laundry soap with 1 box Borax, 1 box Super Washing Soda, and 1 bar of grated Fels Naptha laundry bar. When I want to boost my laundry with softer water, I add a half cup of baking soda to the load. You can add soda to any detergent for fresher, cleaner smelling clothes.

• Sprinkle baking soda sparingly on carpets before vacuuming for a fresher smelling carpet. This is especially great if you have pets (or children!) in the house. A word of warning: sweeping powders with your vacuum too often can burst the bag or clog the filter.

• This isn't a cleaning project, but I like to make my own baking powder with 1/2 tsp. baking soda and 1/4 tsp. cream of tarter. This is equal to 1 tsp. baking powder, but there is no aluminum in it.