Comments on: Baking Soda: My Favorite Frugal Substance

By: tentaculistic

tentaculistic — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 19:52:25 +0000

I recently found out about baking soda, when I had deeply baked-on food stains on casserole dishes that I couldn’t get off, even with scratching with a knife point… Google told me to put baking powder and lemon juice, it foamed up, I left it in place and then later used a scrubby sponge. Voila – perfect casserole dishes! It worked for clear Pyrex, and porous ceramic. woohoo!

By: catarina

catarina — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 14:24:32 +0000

Great article and most importantly, the comments and additional info. Will try cleaning my stained toilet and try on the drain.

By: Ben

Ben — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 02:12:25 +0000

I agree Baking Soda is fantastic. BUT be careful, in very concentrated form i.e. paste with only a small amount of water it is very alkali and some people may have quite a strong reaction to it on their face, or scalp (as I found when using it to remove hair wax, it worked wonderfully, but I then had a couple days of my scalp shedding skin).

By: Julie

Julie — Sat, 30 May 2009 14:46:58 +0000

Do they sell Arm & Hatchet in the States? I live in Beijing and that’s what I buy here, but I thought it was just a knock-off Chinese branded item. The world gets smaller everyday!

By: Janet

Janet — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 23:44:30 +0000

I have recently heard of the wonderful ideas of baking soda, and to boot Arm and Hammer doesn’t use any Aluminum in it either, so you are safe of that. This is a multi purpose if I ever did see so…my husband gets HORRIBLE chafting in the summer and some winter months, he soaks with Epsom salt water and put baking soda applied to the area and leaves it until starts to burn a little washes it off and GONE, the next day he feels great!
The U.T.I, that is the truest, but this only works for E-Coli bacteria, it can actually make it worse if it is another type of bacteria…..however 90% percent of UTI’s are because of E-coli and it does work wonders for yeast infections as well…………about half a teaspoon, very important to dissolve it GOOD, then drink all or at least half the cup and with-in minutes no kidding you will feel better. Also great for heart-burn, provided you aren’t taking any other medication already for GERDS……..it truly is a miricle product, and it is also helps bake and clean and wash clothes….and great for anyone who has to take iron liquid supplements, my daughter did and she brushed her teeth three to four times a-week with B.S and beautiful white coloured teeth back! Neat posting….

By: Leah Eggers

Leah Eggers — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 17:14:35 +0000

i just used baking soda to clean up my embarassingly dirty linoleum floors. a regular mop with pine-sol wasn’t working. thank you!

By: Brianna

Brianna — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 03:36:34 +0000

Wow. Never in a million years would I have expected one little thing to have such a life-changing power. I’m off to get one of those BIG boxes of baking soda . . . and I’m going to give it a try as deoderant as mentioned above. Too cool! Thanks for opening my eyes to the power of something so natural and environmentally friendly.

I have been using it with vinegar for drain cleaner for years – that IS a great use!

By: Sue Kaufman

Sue Kaufman — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 20:03:24 +0000

I have used baking soda successfully to neutralize pet smells, including urine, in my carpet. 1 small box did my living room. I sprinkle it all over, and then vacuum.

Love your article, thanks!

By: Sandy

Sandy — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 19:20:05 +0000

Thanks to whoever wrote about using Baking Soda as a deodorant. This morning, I gave it a try, and usually by midafternoon, I’m needing an extra dose of deo….not today! And I wore a synthetic blouse that usually has me sweating (and smelling!). So thanks for the latest life-changing bit of info!

By: Mary

Mary — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 13:14:17 +0000

I bookmarked this site, there is so much information, I would like to have the hard bound copy.

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 07:38:57 +0000

My fave recent use for baking soda is cleaning out my FryDaddy deep fryer. It’s been covered in gross congealed oil drips since the first week I used it, and I’d tried everything to get them off. I finally tried baking soda and water and results were almost immediate. I was so excited to see the shining metal that I ran it up to my roommate to show it off!

By: Jamie

Jamie — Sat, 31 May 2008 20:10:34 +0000

I love posts like this. Baking soda, vinegar, salt, etc. My favorite use is scrubbing down my tub. Not very original idea, but man does my tub shine after that. :)

By: Michael G.R.

Michael G.R. — Sat, 31 May 2008 06:55:53 +0000

So much to learn to become a baking soda Jedi…

By: julie

julie — Sat, 31 May 2008 00:00:47 +0000

for scouring powder i mix 4 parts baking soda to one part powdered laundry detergent. it really soups it up. it works great in the kitchen and bathroom. even de-grimed by kitchen cabinets. and best of all it makes a great deck wash if you mix it in water.

By: K12Linux

K12Linux — Fri, 30 May 2008 22:58:44 +0000

silver: The photo is of a knock-off brand from China. It’s from flikr and since it’s under CC license, Trent could use it.

By: smash

smash — Fri, 30 May 2008 21:41:40 +0000

baking soda + hyrog peroxide – I tried everything to clean a badly stained steel thermos, i was about throw it out and then tried this…i have never seen anything work so well it was spotless – the gook that came out was kind of gross :)

By: jim flynn

jim flynn — Fri, 30 May 2008 19:32:17 +0000

The book is not really free to download, it is free to look at. He says the donation (donation to me means given freely not required) is for paying for downloads. Nope, not at that price, he is out for a profit which is admittedly not much but a profit none the less. So be honest, say what you are after, and this is possibly worth the cost.

By: HebsFarm

HebsFarm — Fri, 30 May 2008 17:14:03 +0000

H-bomb it only recently occurred to me that microwaving a wet rag for a few seconds was quicker than running water in my kitchen sink, waiting for it to get hot, although I have wondered which practice is more economical? And which would be more environmentally friendly? I know this is minutiae, but sometimes Trent gets fascinated with these little details and reports back to us.

By: H-Bomb

H-Bomb — Fri, 30 May 2008 15:41:29 +0000

Non-chemical tip learned from working in food service: For the microwave I usually just take a rag and get it completely wet and throw it in and start it up for a few seconds. The moisture will loosen everything up and a a quick wipe with the hot rag will get it off easily. Be careful though the rag will be extremely hot and steam will billow out when you open the microwave door.

By: Amanda

Amanda — Fri, 30 May 2008 15:40:37 +0000

Another thing you can do with baking soda is dump about 1/2 cup down a drain and follow it with 1/2 cup of vinegar. Let it sit for about 3 hours and it cleans out your pipes. You never have to buy draino again! I do it right before bed so it can sit all night and it works great!