Baking Soda In The Bathroom

Hello again!

Last Wednesday I shared how I clean the kitchen with baking soda and vinegar. Today I want to share the cleaning power in the bathroom. I love to use it in my tub/shower, sinks and even the toilets! It is a simple cleaner that I don't necessarily have to open all the windows to allow the fumes to escape.

Bathroom:

• Tub/Shower:  I sprinkle some baking soda in the bottom of the tub and wet it with vinegar. Allow it to fizz and then spread it around with a sponge or a rag. Sometimes, I scrub it a little bit, just for good measure. I leave it about 5 or 10 minutes and when I come back it is ready to rinse! I rinse it well with water and no water spots or rings remain! I like to also use this on the walls of my shower. It rinses clean and doesn't leave my walls feeling gritty. I put some baking soda on my sponge and use vinegar in a spray bottle to activate it. Scrub it around, then I rinse like normal. I give this a 98% on effectiveness.
• Sink: Same process as the tub, just on a smaller scale. I love the quickness and the simplicity of it. 
• On the faucets and mirror, I just rub a bit of the activated solution around, rinse thoroughly and dry with a dry towel. Works like a charm!
• Toilets: The toilets can be the trickiest part for me to clean. I flush the toilet when I first get in the bathroom, sprinkle baking soda on the tub and sink, then sprinkle the bowl of the toilet with some baking soda. I spray vinegar on the baking soda to activate it, spread it with a toilet bowl brush and let it sit about 10-15 minutes. I like to make certain all the dirt, germs and everything else are killed. :) Once that is done, I give it another scrub, use some of the solution on the seat and rim and rinse well. 

Now, that the kitchen and bathrooms are clean, I think I'll show you the powers of baking soda on carpets and soft surfaces next week. Have you all used baking soda, vinegar or any other natural products to clean your house? How have they worked? Do you have any tips or tricks or suggestions to make cleaning easier?

Baking Soda As A Kitchen Cleaner

Hello again everyone!

Last week I talked about using baking soda to deter ants from entering the house. Today I want to show some of the cleaning powers of baking soda. Like I said last week, I try to use more natural cleaners. I use them more because I don't want to endanger Jianna and the boy I babysit than any other reason. I feel like if I use cleaners that can be found in a kitchen cabinet, if the kids happen to ingest a little bit it won't harm them as much as some of the chemicals we used before we became parents.

So baking soda as a cleaner... hmm. does it work? I will only share the things that I know work from experience. I will also share how effective I believe it to be. I love to use baking soda in the kitchen, bathrooms and even on carpeted areas. Today, I'll share my favorite kitchen uses.

In the Kitchen

• Bake-ware/pots and pans: I make a baking soda paste with a little bit of water and a dot of dish detergent and spread it on burned/baked on food. Let it sit for at least 10-15 minutes, although an hour or even a day works well, too. :-) It may not work if the pot is completely scorched (like if you forget about the rice you're cooking - not once, but several different days - and the bottom becomes a completely black surface more than once. Yes, that really did happen to me.) :-) , but it works pretty well on things that would be rather difficult to get off without using a lot of elbow grease. I grade this one as 85% effective.
• Stove/Oven: For an oven that just needs a little bit of a touch up or on the stove top it works well. On an oven that has seen better days, it doesn't work so well. I think it still works, but it isn't as effective as a store-bought oven cleaner. Make a paste and rub it over the eye,  stove or oven surface. For the oven, I scrub the baking soda mix into the grimiest parts of the oven. Then, I pour just a bit of vinegar onto the baking soda mix to amp up the cleaning power. The chemical reaction between the vinegar and baking soda makes it bubble and fizz. Then, I let it sit for a while (normally on the oven 1 1/2-2 hours). At this point I scrub the oven some more and see how clean it is by using a sponge to sop up the extra. If it isn't clean enough for my tastes, I rinse and repeat until it is nice and clean. It leaves a streak-free shine! I would rate this as 90% effective on a lightly soiled oven and on just about any stove top. 
• Clean That Sink!: Again making a paste of water and soda, I use a sponge or wash cloth to scrub the sink. I add a bit of vinegar, and it is disinfected. I wipe down the faucet and fixtures and then I rinse it all. Shine up the faucet with a dry cloth, towel or paper towel and no water spots! This one comes out at 95% effective. An added benefit of this is that any baking soda that "happens" to fall down the drain will also help unclog your drain when the vinegar is poured down it! :) Double duty!

Well, that's how I use baking soda in the kitchen. Do you have any other uses for baking soda that you have tried? What is your favorite kitchen cleaner?

Homemade Ant Deterrent

Hey Everyone!

On Wednesdays, I am going to try to share some of the things that work for us. I won't be linking up to Works For Me Wednesdays right now, but you can check them out and see some of the cool stuff that everyone else comes up with.

Because two little ones hang out in our house most days of the week, I wanted to find more natural ways to handle most household cleaning. One of those jobs is getting rid of ants. I don't like the ants marching one-by-one, or two-by-two, or any other way in my kitchen! (Do you know this childhood song?)

Ants tend to make a dash inside in the spring and then again in the fall here The ants I have seen are the tiny little ones that are more anoying than dangerous. I try to keep a pretty clean kitchen, but I have found two things that work together to keep the ants outside and to kill the ones I see inside. And they are both baby-safe! I use a barrier about 1/4-1/2 inch wide of baking soda (the normal, everyday baking soda, found in the baking section at the store) spread all the way across the window ledges and door ledges that the ants tend to use the most. If I find any in the house, like if I forgot to put down the baking soda and the ants found their way inside (oh, yes, it has happened!), I spray a bit of lemon juice (not dilluted at all, just straight 100% juice) on them and they die soon after.

I found this idea on a blog, unfortunately I don't remember which one. But I do know that it works!!

How do you get rid of pests at your house?