The other thing to be careful of with baking soda is combining it with something acidic, like vinegar or lemon juice. As the chemicals combine with that satisfying fizz, they form a gas. If you combine them in a sealed container, like a soda bottle, it could potentially explode and harm you.
Lemons are acidic and therefore contain antiseptic and anti-bacterial properties, plus they cut grease, dissolve soap scum and hard water deposits and can be mixed with baking soda and vinegar to make a nifty cleaning paste.
This base reacts with the acid of the vinegar (its scientific name is acetic acid), lemon juice and pop. This causes a chemical reaction called an acid- base reaction. This chemical reaction produces carbon dioxide gas when the carbon in the baking soda reacts with the oxygen in the vinegar, lemon juice or pop.
You can use lemons and baking soda instead of drying cleaning. Try this trick at home: soak a yellowing shirt, blanket or pillow in a lemon juice and baking soda solution. When the fabric lightens rinse with cold water and air dry. Mix baking soda, lemon juice and water and use it to scrub your kitchen and bathroom.
Vinegar is acidic and basic soda is basic, so the by-products are sodium acetate, carbon dioxide, and water that are not toxic. The mixing reaction causes the baking soda to foam up and produce carbon dioxide gas.
Lemon juice is an acid. When you mix an acid and an acid no reaction happens. You are simply combining two very effective cleaning ingredients into one product. The lemon also helps mask the smell of vinegar, if you are averse to the smell of vinegar.
Anything with deep grooves or cracks
Baking soda leaves behind a white, dusty residue after it dries. Therefore, you should never use it to clean surfaces with deep grooves or cracks because the residue will get left behind and can build up.
Baking Soda + Vinegar
"Baking soda is basic and vinegar is acidic," says Bock. "When you put them together you get mostly water and sodium acetate. But really, just mostly water." Plus, vinegar causes baking soda to foam up. If stored in a closed container, the mixture can explode.
Start off by mixing 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and 1 tablespoon of baking soda. Next, moisten a cotton ball with the mixture and apply directly to your face in a gentle circular motion and leave on the skin for 15-20 minutes..
The mixture quickly foams up with carbon dioxide gas. If enough vinegar is used, all of the baking soda can be made to react and disappear into the vinegar solution. The reaction is: Sodium bicarbonate and acetic acid reacts to carbon dioxide, water and sodium acetate.
Lemon juice is a great degreaser.
Lemon juice and vinegar also make a great degreaser, so the next time you're facing a greasy stovetop, you know what to do. Mix 1/2 cup of lemon juice and 2 cups of white vinegar in a spray bottle to make your own degreasing kitchen spray.
In a bowl, dissolve 170 grams of baking soda in 3 or 4 tablespoons of warm water. Add a few drops of lemon juice, which has a degreasing power, mix and soak a sponge in the mixture. Spread the mixture well on all surfaces of the oven, and scratch hard where the dirt is most encrusted.
Baking soda and vinegar, when mixed together, can form a chemical reaction that looks sort of like an eruption. This chemical reaction can help clear your toilet and any pipe clogs that you might have.
The Watch-outs of Adding Vinegar and Baking Soda to Your Laundry. Although vinegar and baking soda are safe to use in both regular and HE washing machines, they are considerably less efficient than high-performance laundry detergents at delivering an outstanding and odorless clean.
When life gives you lemons, clean that dirty grout! The high acidity in lemon juice eats away at stubborn stains and discoloration in grout. Soak your grout with lemon juice, leave it on for ten minutes, and wipe down your grout and tile with a damp cloth.
Make a baking soda paste with water and spread over tile and grout. Leave on overnight and spray with vinegar in the morning. Follow with your regular morning shower and rinse off any baking soda/vinegar residue. No scrubbing needed!
If you use it quickly and rinse it off, you might be fine, but allowing a baking soda mixture to sit on the surface for too long can cause it to oxidize, which means that the surface changes color.
Baking soda contains sodium, which, in high amounts, can affect the heart. One 2016 case study notes that overdosing on baking soda has caused heart arrhythmias for some individuals. There have also been cases of baking soda overdoses causing cardiac arrest.
Using a clean mixing bowl, mix together 3 parts warm water with 1 part white vinegar. Soak a clean sponge in this solution and apply the sponge directly to the baking soda stain. Place pressure on the affected area with a dry towel. Repeat steps # 1-3 until the baking soda stain disappears.
White vinegar has a pH reading of around 2.5 and lemon juice has a pH reading of about 2 to 3. Both products have a high acidity level which makes them equally good for cleaning.