DIY 101: Baking Soda + Vinegar = Not So Much

crunched by Crunchy Betty on July 12, 2011
filed under Household

Ready, class? Okay!

Today we learn.

For our benefit, and for the benefit of all those crunchy goddesses (and men) who come after us. We learn so we can share. We also learn because if we stop learning we die. (Tom Clancy wrote something to that effect once. And who are we to question Tom Clancy? WHO ARE WE?)

Today’s lesson comes courtesy of mounting frustration on my part, because I keep seeing recipes for DIY fabric softener that uses copious amounts of both vinegar and baking soda.

Why is this bothersome?

Let’s learn!

Baking Soda + Vinegar = ???

Baking soda is a fabulous ingredient to clean with. Pots and pans scrubbed clean in an instant. Bathtubs shine.

Vinegar is also a stellar cleaning tool. Countertops are clean and disinfected. In the dishwasher rinse well, glasses are rinsed sparkly clean.

Amazing stuff, this natural cleaning. You’d think, putting these two hard-hitting ingredients together would leave you with something no man-made cleaner/softener could touch, right?

Not so much.

Remember this?

It's a volcano, Ma!

What childhood would be complete without the baking soda and vinegar volcano science project?

Remember how it exploded up into a creamy, bubbly, overflowing blob that eventually dripped onto Kyle’s shoes and you were all, “EWWWWW, GROSSS” and you and your friends giggled and talked about how dumb boys were but secretly you wondered whether Kyle would ever write you a note that said “yes/no/maybe” on it? Remember that?

Well, when that happened (the volcano, not the note), a chemical reaction took place.

Two chemical reactions, really.

From ThinkQuest:

The acetic acid (that’s what makes vinegar sour) reacts with sodium bicarbonate (a compound that’s in baking soda) to form carbonic acid. It’s really a double replacement reaction. Carbonic acid is unstable, and it immediately falls apart into carbon dioxide and water (it’s a decomposition reaction). The bubbles you see from the reaction come from the carbon dioxide escaping the solution that is left.

What’s left is a dilute solution of sodium acetate in water.

Not much of a super-power cleaning agent left.

In fact, it’s almost all water.

The sodium acetate (which is a salt) may offer a tiny bit of grease-removing ability, but it’s not much. Probably not enough to really notice. At all.

So, really, all you’re doing, when you combine baking soda and vinegar to make a cleaning agent, is cleaning with very neutralized water with just a teensy, tinsy amount of salt in it.

That’s not going to get your counters very clean, and it’s certainly not going to soften your fabrics much.

Oh My Gosh! I’m So Embarrassed

Have you succumbed to using one of these recipes you’ve found scattered throughout the internet? Have you maybe, ah, pinned one on Pinterest?

Not to fret. It’s a mistake most people make when they’re first learning DIY cleaning.

In fact! I even made the mistake myself way back when with the Best Homemade Bathroom Cleaner Ever . It uses very little vinegar, so only a small amount of the cleaner was neutralized, but still … I was silly.

I think the thing we can all learn in this is that these recipes have circulated, and they’ve been tried and loved, for years.

You know where the silver lining is in all of that?

Water is a more effective cleaner than we give it credit for. AND, the placebo effect in using fabric softener is alive and well.

Maybe we don’t need to use anything?

I’ll still be using this fabric softener, though, because the placebo effect is strong with this one.

Go Gently and Teach

I’m willing to bet a bunch of you crunchistas already knew ALL of this.

But it’s upon the smart and savvy lot of you all now to go forth and spread the word. Gently. Kindly.

So that the crunchy people who tread behind us do so with effective products and happy hearts.

And also so we don’t all just look completely clueless when the synthetic chemical product evangelists come a’ calling.

—–

What say you? Have you done this before? Do you have a recipe with baking soda and vinegar that you thought was doing a thorough job?

Or did you recall your volcano experiment and every chemical reaction your fourth grade teacher expected you to remember throughout your whole life?

—–

PS. The recipe I linked to above? The one on Pinterest. It is from Tipnut, which is one of my favorite sites on the internet. She hosts a plethora of tips – some crunchy, some not. But there are gems hidden all over her site … everywhere. So don’t be too hard on her. : )

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kylieonwheels

Hehe yeah I learnt that one trying to clean the shower. It was a bit of a moment for me – “whaddaya mean it’s not cleaning…??…but it’s fizzing…!!!??”.

Live and learn, baby, live and learn!
Crunchy_mama

That fizzing is soooo deceptive! Oooooh look at the bubbles! It must be loosening all that grime and carrying it away… I wish it worked that way cuz it’s so much fun to make baking soda volcanos. I’d probably clean my bathroom all the time if it did.

that recipe on pinterest looks familiar, although I’ve seen it without the baking soda. I’ve heard vinegar works well as a softener and wrinkle releaser. I haven’t tried it, so I can’t say for certain.

Crunchy Betty

I do think, if you’re looking for the “reaction” to help you out, combining the two things works. Like with unclogging a drain or cleaning the garbage disposal. And it’s fun!

Or! If you use the vinegar to neutralize the baking soda – after the main cleaning has happened. (Like with your face, especially.)

I use vinegar and eucalyptus oil as my fabric softener. Like I said – may be the placebo effect, but I think my clothes are SO much softer and “nothing” smelling afterwards. Not so sure about the wrinkle releasing, though.

I could probably tell, if I didn’t leave my clothes in the dryer for 5 hours after they were done. Heh.

http://marybeth.bernheisel.org Mary Beth

Hold the phone! Does that mean The Best Homemade Bathroom Cleaner Ever, isn’t? I have my Amazon cart full of things to make it…Help a sister out!

Crunchy Betty

It still TOTALLY is, without the vinegar. Just skip that part (it’s optional anyway) and your bathroom will shine. Yay full Amazon cart with crunchy stuff!

Jen

I’m glad I’ve been specifically told. If I hadn’t, when coming across one of those recipes my common sense and experience would have flown out the window.

Another fun childhood experience is Mentos in Coca-Cola. That itself doesn’t exactly pertain to cleaning, except for the Coke. I read a story about a lady who put Coke in her ‘toilet of horrors’. And then it was a toilet of shiney awesomeness.

kaseyleilani

I can see why that would work given the science experiments with soda on teeth. Makes me even more scared to drink it, but less scared to clean my BF’s bathroom!

Jen

I know, right? Some instructions a little more specific: just dump your Coke in there and let it sit, thirty minutes to overnight. (Yup. That’s me, super specific. Mainly just because I don’t exactly know.)

kaseyleilani

Here’s a thought: does anyone know if can you use Coke to clean / unclog a drain?

http://vanessasmith.webs.com/ Vanessa

Wha – What? WHAT?! DOUBLEYOU TEE EFF?!?!?!?!?!

Well, damn. There go all of my beliefs and dreams. I mean, really, if baking soda and vinegar is the equivalent of salted water, WHAT does that say about the rest of the world? What about Bonnie and Clyde, Donnie and Marie, peanut butter and jelly, pickles and peanut butter, FRENCH FRIES AND CHOCOLATE FROSTIES?!?!?!?!?!

T_T Oh, what a cruel world it is…
http://groovy-mom.com Groovy Mom

I do sometimes pour vinegar over my baking soda when I’m all done scrubbing with it. Maybe it is just for dramatic flair. But, I do think it helps break the soda down to rinse off better.

As far as the laundry… I’ll stand by my vinegar in the wash for a rinse. It DEFINITELY helps with static cling and “softness” in my loads. I’ve noticed a marked difference w/o it.

Julie

I agree with using vinegar only as a fabric softener rinse. No need for anything else to be added to have soft laundry. As far as static, I do add static balls to the dryer for extra heavy sweatshirts and the like in winter, but for most loads, the vinegar rinse alone is enough to keep away the static cling.

http://mfarrington.tumblr.com M

I use the vinegar and baking soda as a mild cleaner for fake wood cabinets. It makes them look clean and the room smells better. I was pretty sure it wasn’t doing much of anything but they looked better to me.

I also use baking soda and lemon for the tub – let the baking soda sit and then scrub it with a lemon half. That really seems to get rid of gunk and grime on the tub and is gentler than the no scrub abrasives (that probably killed ten million lung cells from inhaling the chemicals) I used to use. There’s lots of fizzy with this cleaner, but I think the chemical reaction may be different.

Plus (and this is completely unscientifc) the fizzing makes me feel better.

Crunchy Betty

Hee. “Fizzing makes me feel better.”

One of my favorite ways to clean out the grody plastic coffee cup Skip insists on using (and literally turns black after a few months) is to pour some baking soda on top of a lemon and scrub the holy bejeezus out of it. Works like a charm.

I think there are certain times where, if you put both of those things together (the acid and the baking soda), you end up with the goodness of both at once as well as the fizzy fun. BUT it has to be done immediately. If you try to mix ‘em ahead of time and just use the solution? Eh. Water.

Amanda J.

I actually did know cleaners with B.S. + vinegar = nonsense. 3 years of Chemistry in college, which I loathed but now find I use frequently. I have made your bathroom cleaner, which is fabulous. At least your recipe said it was ‘optional’; I’ve seen others that claim you cannot clean without it.

Better to be silly and realize your silliness than, well, you know. We could all eat a little humble pie from time to time. We should correct common misinformation, lest we all end up like my drill sergeant father. 5’8″ with a 7’1″ ego. The rapture is more likely than him admitting he is mistaken during his lifetime.

Crunchy Betty

Ahh … Napoleon. I used to be rather close to a guy JUST like that.

Admitting our mistakes is the first step to perfection. (I just made that up. You can say it sometimes if you want.)

Corie

The only useful BS + Vinegar recipe I’ve ever heard of where these two worked together was to unclog a clogged drain. Pour baking soda into clogged drain then pour the vinegar. Let it foam until the foam dssolves and then rinse with super hot water. It’s worked for us when our drains have a mild clog. I doubt it will unclog anything that is completely stopped up though.

I have a question about all this vinegar talk though.. When adding vinegar to laundry as a softener, does it make the clothes smell anything like vinegar? I mean even in the smallest amounts? I deplore the smell of vinegar so if so i will just go without softener.

KarinSDCA

When you pour in the vinegar (which I put in the built-in fabric softener dispenser, but you can pour directly into the washer during the rinse cycle or use a “downy ball”), it smells like vinegar. Once your washer is finished, no smell.

That said, I use vinegar less for the fabric softening effects and more for the laundry-freshening effects. I add a scoop of baking soda to my whites and linens for fresher laundry, but I use the vinegar for the darker loads. I use less than half the detergent this way and still have great-smelling clean laundry (smells like “nothing”) fresh out of the washer.
Crunchy Betty

When I use it as a spray in the dryer, I don’t smell any vinegar afterwards, but the clothes have to be completely dry. One time I pulled them out a bit damp, and I could still smell it on one of the heavier sweaters.

It absolutely does help cut WAY down on static cling (we live in such a dry area, and static cling is a way of life), and I think it makes the clothes softer, too. But probably 60% of my love for it is totally placebo – and loving to smell the eucalyptus oil when I spray the bottle.

Liz

When I first read that post I started thinking that that was the recipe for drain cleaner. You pour the baking soda in your drain and follow with vinegar. Foams up and then follow with Hot water. I was wondering how this would work for general cleaning, oh well, probably put a bit of excitement in a few homes when they tried it!
Manda

I’ve never combined the two (except for my own amusement). I will use vinegar to dissolve any leftover BS though. I have a spray bottle that is the mix of water and vinegar that sanitizes (with a few drops of tea tree oil). I use it for everything pretty much. I use BS for stuck on things or grime.

((Sometimes, after I’ve used BS to clean my toilet, before I flush, I make a small scale volcano..for fun))

KarinSDCA

You wild girl, you! Cleaning toilets isn’t supposed to be fun, ya know. LOL

I think Manda’s tip would even encourage the menfolk to clean once in awhile…just don’t give ‘em your entire stash of baking soda! LOL

Crunchy Betty

Speaking of which … is it just me, or is the price of baking soda going up bunches lately? I had to stop buying Bob’s Red Mill because it was so expensive and I switched over to Frontier (a local natural foods store sells it in bulk, so you can just buy what you need). But it was still $4.10 a pound. That seemed like a LOT of money, once I weighed out a pound.

KarinSDCA

I compromise by buying cheaper baking soda for cleaning and the good stuff for eating/baking. I get 10-pound bags at Smart&Final for $3.xx. DH buys the good stuff at the health food store in the bulk spice area (a little different than the bulk flours/sugars area). He gets a scoop that lasts and lasts. (We put it in a glass baby food jar that is permanently labeled.) My 10-pound bag goes into a reused screw-top jar over and over and lasts a couple months.

KarinSDCA

And, since reading The Zero Waste Home and My Plastic-free Life blogs, we’ve been reusing the 10-pound bags several times. Working our way to less and less “trash” all around… one baby step at a time.

http://makeitbakeitbuyitfakeit.blogspot.com Stephanie

I get ours at CostCo… 13.5 lbs. A&H for $5.99. I split it between the housecleaning and the laundry.
Jen

I haven’t noticed any price change, but that’s because I’m not in charge of the shopping. If you’re having a hard time finding affordable baking soda, I know a company that sells quality kitchen supplies at reasonable prices, and super huge packages. I think they sell to the Utah/Colorado/Idaho area. (You live in Colorado, don’t you?) It’s called Alison’s Pantry. They probably have BS at a good price. If not, you can just buy a wicked tasty brownie mix to make yourself feel better.

(Why is it I always seem to be advertising stuff I like here? Am I a slave to corporate America? Do I even know what that means?)

Manda

I’d never clean if I couldn’t make it fun LOL

KarinSDCA

I have found that static and wrinkles can be avoided by turning the heat down on the dryer and/or reducing the amount of time you dry your laundry. Static can also be eliminated by ditching the non-natural fabrics (or at least removing them from each load before the dryer stage). Air-dry your fleece and microfiber items. They dry pretty quick and last longer that way. Bonus: It gets rid of the static problem in the other laundry.

I toss laundry in the dryer for a few minutes to remove the “crunch” factor (LOL at the play on words there!) and then line-dry linens in the sunshine and air-dry clothing upstairs in the breeziest room. Sun-dried sheets smell amazing! The benefits are numerous: clothes last longer and look nicer with NO ironing; bedrooms smell nicer and occupants sleep better; towels shed less and last longer and hold their color longer. I use baking soda in white loads or vinegar in dark loads; not both…LOL

kylieonwheels

Another benefit – UV is a great killer of all things germy.
Crunchy Betty

I think I’m going to grab some thick twine or rope tomorrow and start line drying some of my clothes. I’ve put it off, because my “backyard” is visible to 100% of the people walking down the main street in Manitou, and … weird. But maybe I can find a place to hide them.

You just made it sound SO nice. I must try it!

Manda

Manitou’s weird…they wont think twice about your undies
KarinSDCA

Start with your sheets. The results are simply sensual…all five senses, but especially your sense of smell, will be delighted! It’ll convince you to line-dry other things, too.

FWIW, darks will fade in the sunshine, so I air-dry them inside. Find a breezy room for best results or create it with a ceiling fan and windows…like I do…LOL

Enjoy!
Myword5

In the “old days” women would hang their sheets on the outside of the rotary clothes line, and hang their “unmentionables” (underwear) on the inside lines. The sheets would hide the underwear from view. Me, I keep some nice underwear to hang on the line for show, and hang my real underwear on a rack inside where no one can see!

http://makeitbakeitbuyitfakeit.blogspot.com Stephanie

Thanks for calling our attention to how these things really work (or don’t work). I’d heard of BS+Vin together as a drain cleaner (kind of a drain-o volcano), but I haven’t tried it myself yet. Probably ‘cuz I heard somewhere about their canceling each other out. I use them *separately* for cleaning and/or scrubbing various household surfaces and I almost don’t even need anything else. They’re simple, cheap, and they work.

Manda

That’s another one I do. I love making sink volcanoes. I’m not sure it actually works but placebo effect + volcano makes me happy anyways LOL
Manda

Oh and it does deodorize at least

http://agoddessinprogress.blogspot.com heather

Its the best way to get soap scum out of the shower, for me anyway. i’m still using a regular, animal fat chemical ridden soap & shampoo for that matter.
carrie

I stopped using fabric softener before I cared about toxic chemicals, because I never noticed a difference (other than good ol’ Colorado static electricity), and because I learned from the clothing company I worked for at the time that fabric softener can damage fabrics. Plus why spend money on them? Now because of the narsty chemicals (a reality tv show where someone was addicted to eating them stated they contain nerve toxins and carcinogens), I am glad I don’t. Plus, for static all you need is a misting bottle full of water to dissipate the electricity.
annterp

So it must be the baking soda that cleaned my nasty oven before I poured the vinegar on it? It sure did make it nice and sparkly.
http://sleepatpeace.blogspot.com/ Ruth C

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! So glad you myth-busted this one. I have read a number of blog posts by over-eager DIY cleaners who seem to think there’s something magic in the bubbles when you mix vinegar and baking soda. I guess they just weren’t paying attention in high school chem class when they clearly taught us that if you combine an acid and a base you wind up with an exothermic reaction (sometimes a dangerous one), water and and salt.
Amie Humphrey Facendola

I just came across this post and am curious to explore the fabric softener idea further… (I have a need to “soften” some of my husband’s underwear.) What I’m wondering is, does hard water result in clothes being “hard”/rough? If so, the sodium acetate may in fact work as a fabric softener since it might soften the water. Without getting into TOO much chemistry, hard water is a measure of Calcium and Magnesium in the water. Some salts can be used to help remove those minerals and thus “soften” the water. I am just not sure if sodium acetate is one of those salts and also I am not sure if using softer water will actually make your clothes softer. Additionally, I have no idea how just vinegar in the wash would help and I am very hesitant to add it my washing machine since it’s acidic and it’s my understanding that this can harm the pipes and hoses. So, I am left wondering… Does anyone teach a “Chemistry of Cleaning Products” class?