Baking Soda, also known as Sodium bicarbonate, has become one of the most common cleaning agents at home. Thanks to its amazing cleaning ability while being dirt cheap, it’s now frequently stocked at homes to double as a cleaning agent and kitchen ingredient.
However, like many things, it has its restrictions. Continue reading below to learn about the things you shouldn’t ever be cleaning with baking soda.
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Hardwood
A lot of people probably already know this, but Hardwood should never be cleaned with baking soda. Because of its reactive properties, baking soda ends up deforming your hardwood and taking out its shine.
The wood sealants, varnish, and paint used in hardwood are susceptible to baking soda. Instead of using baking soda, sticking to soapy water and a ragcloth or a mop is the best way to go about when cleaning hardwood—especially floors.
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Marble and Quartz Countertops
Never never never clean marble or quartz countertops with baking soda. Although it could be tempting to use baking soda because it’s able to get rid of dirt and grease easily, there’s a high possibility it may end up damaging your expensive countertops.
As an alkali, using baking soda to clean quartz or marble can cause its sealants to wear over time, possibly causing the countertops to lose their shine. Instead of using baking soda, like hardwood, dish soap, water, and a smooth scrub with a little elbow grease will do the job as effectively.
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Items with Slits and Cracks
When used as a cleaning agent, baking soda leaves behind this white, dust-like residue as it dries. If you clean items with slits and cracks, it’s likely going to stay there without you noticing.
Although it’s not necessarily harmful to us, there is a chance that it might end up ruining your things. Even if it doesn’t, nobody wants a dusty spatula with baking soda residue.
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Aluminum
If you don’t want your aluminum items to look old, stale, and sort of rusty, then you have to avoid using baking soda to clean it. It can be tempting to use baking soda if your aluminum pots or pans end up with a lot of grease from all your cooking, but you should never do that. Aluminum reacts with baking soda and ends up oxidizing. This process ends up discoloring your aluminum cookware turning some parts of it yellowish or bronze.
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Gold Finished Silverware
It’s a no-brainer to say that silverware finished or coated with gold should be taken care of. Nobody probably uses it to cook, and it’s only occasionally used for actual dining. However, in the rare instances that it is and it ends up with grime, never use baking soda.
Baking soda is abrasive and using it will make tiny scratches on the surface. One these scratches are made, the baking soda may also end up corroding the silver. Nevertheless, a good scrubbing with dish washing safe soap and water will do the job.
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Glass
Last but definitely not the least on this list is a material lots of people tend to clean with baking soda. Whether it’s the glass window you have, or the glass covering on your oven, baking soda should never be used to clean it.
As established, baking soda is an abrasive. Using it to clean glass will likely result in scratches. Although you probably won’t notice the first couple of times, scratches are definitely going to be visible in the long run. As an alternative, vinegar works better if you want a natural cleaning agent.
Baking soda may be one of the most effective natural cleaning agents, but it still has its limitations. It’s important to not use it for materials it may end up damaging. Rather than risking damages, using cleaners intended for these specific materials is more likely to cost you less than repair expenses.