5 Household Uses for Baking Soda You Never Considered

Baking soda is cheap and really effective at many different things. Some people use it to keep bugs away, others prefer it for its scrubbing abilities and still others have a box in the fridge to keep odors at bay.

Whatever uses you had for baking soda in the past, we bet we have found a few that you have never even considered. Most people know that you can put baking soda in the vacuum to help freshen carpets and keep smells away. You may already use it in your cat's litter box to fight odors or perhaps you just cook with it as it was originally intended.

For less than $1, a box of baking soda can actually do so much more than just help you in the kitchen. You can use it throughout the house and garage for many purposes and when compared to the cost of traditional cleaners and deodorizers, it simply makes sense to grab a box of baking soda the next time you shop.

Freshen Mattresses

You can mix a bit of baking soda with your favorite fabric softener and sprinkle this mixture over your mattress to freshen the bedroom just a bit. Every other month or so, do this and let it set for about an hour. Vacuum it away and it will take odors as well as dust mites with it. You can simply keep the mixture in a mason jar or another sprinkle jar to have it readily on hand.

You may even want to store the jar in your closet or dresser to help keep your clothes smelling fresh all the time. Fabric softeners alone are great but the scent wears off after a while in the closet. This mixture ensures that your clothes always smell their best and it removes those nasty dust mites from the mattress that can cause allergies and other problems.

Clean Your Fireplace

Yep, you can even clean your fireplace with baking soda. Whether you are just buying a home with an old fireplace or yours needs a good deep cleaning, a mixture of baking soda and water will do wonders. You just have to make a thick paste of baking soda with just enough water to mix.

Apply the paste to the fireplace and use a scrub brush to scour away old stains and odors. The fireplace is a good place for odors to hang around and nobody wants the smell of dirty soot in their homes. This easy and cheap cleaning solution will take away those black stains as well as that sooty odor and leave your entire room looking and smelling great.

This is perfectly safe for brick fireplaces and baking soda can even remove black stains from coals that you may have on your carpet from accidents with the fireplace. Photo Oldschoolbuilders.

Clean Makeup Brushes

You can easily clean makeup brushes, hairbrushes, combs and practically anything else in your bathroom with just a couple of tablespoons of baking soda and some warm water. To clean brushes, just add the baking soda and water together in a small bowl. Add brushes one at a time and swoosh them around in the water so that the baking soda can do its job.
This is a great way to keep your makeup brushes fresh and clean and lasting longer. Instead of throwing them out when they become gunked up with makeup, just use a little baking soda and clean them up. This is also a great recipe for cleaning hairbrushes and combs. The baking soda will remove hairspray and other chemicals that may build up on your brushes and combs and leave them sparkling clean which is much better for your hair. Do this about once a month to keep all of your brushes in good shape. Photo: Txrockstarlibrarian.

Clean Your Automatic Coffee Maker

There is absolutely nothing worse than a cup of coffee from a dirty coffee maker. Need to clean your coffee pot? Baking soda works great. You need ¼ cup of baking soda and about a cup of warm water. Just pour this solution into your coffee maker like you were making a pot of coffee. Incidentally if you use a basket filter, this cleans it as well.
Once the cycle has completed, run 2 or 3 cycles of clean water before you make another pot of coffee. You can do this about once each week to keep your coffee maker good and clean. This not only cleans the inside of your coffee maker, baking soda is great for getting dried and burnt coffee off the inside of your coffee pot or carafe. You can add a little baking soda and just a small handful of crushed ice and swirl it around until the stains come out. Make sure that your glass pot is cooled off before adding the ice. Photo by Hadice.

Clean Your Oven

Okay, so you may already know that baking soda is a great oven cleaner but do you know how easy it makes cleaning that oven? You just have to spray your oven down with a little warm water, just enough to dampen the sides, top and bottom. Once you have it sprayed, just add a good thick layer of baking soda. You want the water and baking soda to work together to create a paste so if you notice any dry baking soda, spray it down just a bit.
Leave this solution on your oven for at least a couple of hours, and leave the oven off. After a couple of hours, you can return and wipe the baking soda solution away with a damp cloth. All of the dirt and grime from the oven should come off. If you have a lot of buildup, you may want to do this a couple of times to get it all but for most, one application should be plenty. Photo Ovenperfect.