Deep-cleaning scrub — Great for soap scum and mildew. Mix 1 to 2/3 cups baking soda, ½ cup castile soap or other quality liquid dish detergent, ½ cup water, 2 tablespoons of white vinegar. Stir till dissolved. Spray on scum and mildew; scrub with scrubby sponge.
The Science: Baking soda is a bicarbonate (made of carbon) and vinegar is an acid. When the two combine, they react and create carbon dioxide, which causes the bubbles. With the addition of dish soap, even more bubbles are created as the reaction occurs.
All-Purpose Cleaner: Combine 1 teaspoon baking soda, 2 teaspoons vinegar, 1/4 teaspoon dishwashing liquid, 1 teaspoon lemon juice and 2 cups hot water in a spray bottle and shake well.
The combination of dish soap and vinegar is highly effective for a few different reasons. They're both excellent at breaking down tough grease and grime, but vinegar alone will simply run off of most surfaces, and dish soap is too thick to use on its own.
Simply mix equal amounts of white vinegar and Dawn dish soap in a glass spray bottle, give it a good shake, and you're done! Optionally, you can heat the vinegar in the microwave or on the stove until it's warm before adding it to the dish soap.
Ways to Use this Homemade Cleaner
This Dawn & vinegar cleaner will cut through soap scum, clean sinks, glass shower doors and also the toilet bowl. Just spritz it on, scrub and rinse. For tough soap scum build-up, spray the mixture on and allow it to sit for about 30 minutes. Scrub and rinse.
Pour 2 cups Dawn and 2 cups vinegar into a glass bowl. Stir; heat 4 minutes in the microwave; remove and stir again. Shake well to mix the solution. Use as needed on shower doors.
But common pantry essentials that are often used for cleaning — like baking soda and vinegar — shouldn't be mixed either. Unlike the bleach-ammonia mixture, combining soda and vinegar won't hurt anyone — but don't expect the mixture to do a good job cleaning, either.
Mixing baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) and vinegar (acetic acid) causes a chemical reaction that produces a salt (sodium acetate) and water, as well as carbon dioxide gas. In this demonstration, baking soda is placed in a balloon that is attached to a flask holding vinegar.
Some of the items in your pantry (like baking soda and vinegar) work as effective homemade all-purpose cleaners and, even better, cost next to nothing.
Baking Soda + Vinegar
We're calling you out, Pinterest: Although these pantry staples are handy on their own — both baking soda and vinegar can help clean all over the house — you should skip any DIY cleaner recipe that involves this not-so-dynamic duo. "Baking soda is basic and vinegar is acidic," says Bock.
2. Dish Soap And Baking Soda To Remove Hair Color. This method effectively fades semi-permanent hair color. The dishwashing soap's harsh detergents will considerably strip color after the first wash.
Can you leave baking soda in the drain overnight? It is safe to leave baking soda (and vinegar) to work overnight to unclog a drain.
All you'll need is one cup of white vinegar and one cup of baking soda. You'll be using these two ingredients separately, as using them together will only cancel out the effectiveness of each one, during two washes on the same load of towels.
Use your instincts; if it looks like one cup is going to cause too much fizz, use less or pour more slowly. Allow the fizz to sit for at least 20 minutes. See if it worked. Once the clog is broken up, the water level should go down.
What if The Baking Soda & Vinegar Hack Doesn't Work? If your drain doesn't unclog right away, repeat the baking soda & vinegar process another time or two. If you have a stubborn clog, sometimes the baking soda & vinegar trick just doesn't work. You may have to use a sink plunger to help push through the blockage.
Rinsing is not necessary! If you're simply using a vinegar and water solution to wipe and disinfect, you won't need to rinse. However, if there's also plenty of dirt and grime you're wiping away, you may also want to rinse with some extra water.
You should use a ratio of 1:2 baking soda to vinegar. In other words, if you're using ½ cup of baking soda, use 1 cup of vinegar, or if you're using a cup of baking soda, use 2 cups of vinegar.
Because dish soap is meant to break up oils and lift grease and grime from your flatware and utensils, there's no reason why it shouldn't work on the oily soap and human grease build-up accumulating in your tub or shower!
Many hotels use ammonia-based cleaning solutions because ammonia readily cuts through dirt and soap scum. Because of the way it dries, ammonia also decreases the possibility of streaks on glass.