Use Baking Soda as a Deodorizer Around Your House
Do you have kids? Pets? How about a house full of kids and pets? If so, chances are your house might start to smell a little musty from time to time and left unchecked, that musty smell can ripen into full-blown stink. I have six kids, five of them are boys (BOYS!), plus a dog. I know that smell. The bad thing about that smell is that if you live in it, you don’t smell it as much as your visitors do. What?! It’s true, though. The odor receptors in your nose get used to the smell and adapt to it. Your brain then classifies that smell as a normal smell and you no longer smell it. Unless you have been away for awhile. Like when you go on vacation and come home to a smelly house. Have you ever noticed that?
Baking soda to the rescue! Luckily, neutralizing odors with baking soda around your house is easy and cheap. Baking soda is sodium bicarbonate, which is an alkaline compound. In simpler terms, it’s a chemical compound that neutralizes acidic odors. It’s a safe, natural alternative to commercial deodorizers and room sprays which could be full of chemicals. If you’re into green clean, then baking soda is perfect for you. Here are 14 of my favorite ways you can use baking soda around your house to freshen things up!
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1. Baking Soda Deodorizes Carpets
Again, back to the kids and pets. If you have kids or pets, you know how quickly your house can become smelly. Your carpet is the main source of that smell! To freshen it and give it a good dry cleaning, sprinkle it with baking soda and let it sit overnight and then vacuum thoroughly. You should replace your vacuum cleaner bag if it has one, or empty the canister before using the vacuum cleaner again.
2. Baking Soda Absorbs Odors in Your Vehicle
Like the carpet in your house, your vehicle’s carpet and cloth upholstery absorbs odors and will eventually start to smell stuffy. Or if you tend to eat in your car, your car will start smelling like your food. Ever eat a burger with onions in your car? That onion smell lingers long after all evidence of that burger is gone. Try sprinkling baking soda directly onto your vehicle’s cloth upholstery and carpet and let it sit overnight, then vacuum thoroughly. Replace your vacuum bag or clean out your canister before using the vacuum cleaner again. No one will ever know you ate that burger last night!
3. Absorb Refrigerator and Freezer Smells With Baking Soda
Have you ever opened your fridge and gotten a face full of onion or garlic smell, or maybe even something worse? Talk about an appetite killer! Put an opened box of baking soda in your refrigerator and freezer where it will not get knocked over and spill. Or you can buy the Arm & Hammer Fridge-N-Freezer baking soda that has the spill-proof boxes. Just remember to replace the box every 30 days.
4. Baking Soda Neutralize Shoe Odors
I don’t care what kind of shoes you have or how expensive they are, if you sweat in them they are going to start smelling sooner or later! Sprinkle baking soda in your shoe and let it sit for 15 – 20 minutes then shake it out. For stubborn odors leave in overnight.
5. Use Baking Soda in Your Closets
Does your closet smell stuffy from all those clothes you have? Winter coats that aren’t in use right now, maybe? Place an open box of baking soda in your closet where it will not get knocked over to neutralize those odors. Or you can buy the Arm & Hammer Fridge-N-Freezer baking soda that has the spill-proof boxes. Replace the box every 30 days.
6. Baking Soda Neutralizes Stuffed Animal Odors
Does your child have a favorite stuffed animal that they carry around or sleep with all the time? Eventually, that stuffed animal will start to smell, no matter how well loved it is. Sprinkle it with baking soda and let it sit for the standard 15 – 20 minutes and dust or brush it off thoroughly. Try vacuuming it if possible. Repeat if necessary.
7. Use Baking Soda to Absorb Odors in Pet Bedding
Generally, our pet’s beds are too big to throw into the washer when they start to smell. So what can you do to freshen them up when they start to smell a little? You can sprinkle their bed with baking soda to help eliminate those unwanted odors. Leave on for 15 – 20 minutes and then vacuum thoroughly. Repeat if necessary.
8. Baking Soda Neutralizes Litter Box Odors
Unless you toilet-train your cat
you are going to have a 
litter box that smells. While you can fork out a little extra money to buy the fancy Arm & Hammer Cat Litter Deodorizer, you can do the same with a plain ole box of baking soda. Cover the bottom of the box with baking soda and then pour fresh cat litter on top. Scoop daily and clean out and replace with fresh baking soda and litter once a week for regular nonclumping litter and every 2 or 3 weeks for clumping litter.
9. Use Baking Soda in Your Garbage Cans
Your garbage can be a huge source of odors that may plague your home. Help keep the bad smells at bay by sprinkling baking soda in the bottom of your garbage cans before you put a plastic bag in. Once a week, dump out the old baking soda and replace with fresh baking soda to keep your cans smelling fresh.
10. Freshen Up Sports Equipment Bags With Baking Soda
Gym bags, yoga bags, baseball bags, golf bags, they all tend to start stinking the more you use them. To help absorb and neutralize those inevitable odors, empty your bag and sprinkle baking soda in the bag, zip it up and swish the baking soda around so that it coats the inside of the bag. Let it sit overnight, then in the morning shake all of the baking soda out.
11. Eliminate Odors in Drains and Garbage Disposals with Baking Soda
Whether it’s your disposal, sink or tub drain, you can keep them from developing an odor by periodically pouring a 1/2 cup of baking soda slowly down the drain while simultaneously running warm water. Here’s a tip – every 30 days you nizagara replace the box of baking soda sitting in your fridge, freezer, or closet, right? Instead of throwing them away, use them to freshen all of the drains in your house!
12. Clean Cutting Boards With Baking Soda
To get rid of the stinky smells that accumulate on your cutting boards, such as onion and garlic, sprinkle it with baking soda, scrub thoroughly and rinse with hot water.
13. Reduce Musty Lunch Box Odors With Baking Soda
Lunch boxes will eventually start smelling like our lunches. They just naturally absorb those smells. If you find those odors unpleasant, you can place an opened box of baking soda in your kid’s lunch box and store upright so that the box will not spill. This is also a good idea when summer starts and our kid’s lunch boxes are put away until school starts again in the fall. Once again, you can buy the Arm & Hammer Fridge-N-Freezer baking soda prednisone that has the spill-proof boxes instead.
14. Freshen Toilets With Baking Soda
Toilets… Remember when I said that I have five boys? Need I say more? Freshen your toilet and absorb odors by pouring a cup of baking soda in the water and leaving it for an hour before flushing.
There you have it! 14 fabulous ways to freshen your home with baking soda. Do you a favorite way to use baking soda in your home? I would love it if you would share it with us in the comments below!
Want some more great baking soda tips? Check out my post on the Top 10 Reasons You Should Add Baking Soda to Your Personal Care Routine Today.
