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The Good and Bad of Cleaning with Baking Soda

May 23, 2016 By Dana White | 30 Comments

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The Good and Bad of Cleaning with Baking Soda at ASlobcomesClean.com

Baking Soda is awesome, y’all.

I use it all the time to clean stains off my counter tops. My somewhat-old-fashioned, non-granite counter tops.

Y’all convinced me here, and then I became a believer here.

But even though baking soda is perfect for cleaning a lot of things and is safe enough to use in cookies (which means you actually EAT it!) or for brushing teeth (Hubby tried this recently when we were out of toothpaste, yuck!), there’s a downside.

I’m not knocking cleaning with baking soda, but I think it’s important to understand what you’re getting yourself into before you start sprinkling everything in sight with the stuff.

I’d hate for someone to think they’re doing a quick kitchen clean up before a guest shows up and not leave time for the endless wiping required to remove the film left  behind before the doorbell is due to ring.

Oh. I just gave the downside away. Oops.

There’s a film. A film that doesn’t go away in one wipe, y’all. Or two wipes. Or sometimes even three.

I can deal with it on my baking-soda-colored countertops, but my shiny (other than the burnt on stuff that looks significantly worse in the picture than I ever noticed while doing this and which is therefore a project and post for another day) black stove, not so much.

baking soda stovetop film 2 at ASlobComesClean.com

I thought I was being all Cleaning Blogger Awesome when I cleaned that stove.

And then it dried.

baking soda stovetop film 1 at ASlobcomesClean.com

And I wiped it off again.

And then it dried again.

And I had to wipe it off again.

And then it dried yet again.

baking soda stovetop film 3 at ASlobComesClean.com

And my daughter exclaimed how terrible it looked and wiped it down again. And then again. She experienced that strange satisfaction that comes over you when you wipe away visible mess. And then she experienced the frustration of seeing the mess reappear when it dried.

Yes, crusty stuff had come off, but the magically re-appearing white film was getting ridiculous.

Finally, it looked ok.

But I’ve decided to stick to cleaning with baking soda on baking soda colored surfaces.

baking soda cleaning water dispenser on fridge at ASlobComesClean

Especially after I used baking soda to easily clean this severely-water-spotted-and-long-neglected water dispenser tray on my fridge. It worked, and the mineral deposits (aka ickiness) were mostly gone. But then, when I stepped back to admire my work, I saw the the area around the area I’d just cleaned. Ugh. Did you read the post about cleaning that stainless steel? I’d just cleaned it about an hour before this!

baking soda cleaning fridge front at ASlobComesClean.com

Yay for natural cleaners that really do scrub out stains and get rid of tough built-up messes. Boo for the mess baking soda leaves behind.

Do y’all have any tricks for me? Do you know the absolute best way to get rid of the film in one or two (or even three) wipes?

Obligatory Amazon affiliate links:

Baking Soda. Really. You can get all sorts of household goods on Amazon. Go here to see how I use it to save my sanity!

Microfiber Cleaning Cloths.

The Good and Bad of Cleaning with Baking Soda where did that white film come from at ASlobComesClean.com

--Nony

Related Posts:

Read Newer Post The After After Post About the Laundry Room
Read Older Post Dealing with Rust Stains on My Stainless Steel Appliances

Filed Under: Cleaning | 30 Comments

Comments

  1. Kiersten says

    May 23, 2016 at 11:34 am

    I use baking soda for a deodorizer in my bathroom, shoes, and the cat litter box. I also make a paste with it and clean out the inside of my tea cups so they don’t have that brown tint that comes from drinking black tea all the time.
    Kiersten @ Autumn Country Girl

    Reply
  2. Liz says

    May 23, 2016 at 11:40 am

    Vinegar rinse? Or really really hot water?

    Reply
    • J. says

      May 10, 2023 at 3:47 am

      Make a spray of vinegar and water. Works perfectly.

      Reply
  3. Melanie says

    May 23, 2016 at 12:26 pm

    Wipe down with a little bit of vinegar on a rag or paper towel. Just a little, you don’t want a foamy reaction, but just enough to dampen the rag. Vinegar is awesome for all streaks!

    Reply
  4. Corrie says

    May 23, 2016 at 12:27 pm

    I use baking soda to clean my ceramic stove top too, and I do get a film (and it does make a big mess with baking soda…but it’s the best way to get it clean for me!).

    But, then I spray my homemade glass cleaner on it, and the film goes away. I just add 2 cups water, 1/2 teaspoon Dawn Dish Detergent, and 1/4 cup Distilled White Vinegar to a spray bottle to make the cleaner.

    I actually use this glass cleaner to clean the stove when it’s not a complete mess (and not in complete need to baking soda).

    Reply
    • Courtney Banks says

      July 17, 2016 at 5:17 am

      I love your idea for DIY windex.. I live in a place where it is very expensive. I’m always looking for an alternative.

      Reply
  5. Elizabeth says

    May 23, 2016 at 12:33 pm

    Fire hose!

    Thankfully, all my kitchen and bath stuff’s white besides the stainless steel sink, and it’s a whole lot easier to just rinse the hell out of that. Now that you’ve made me think about it, I’m now wondering just how much of that film’s all over my stove, bathroom sink, bathtub, etc. that I just don’t notice.

    Reply
  6. Lydia purple says

    May 23, 2016 at 1:00 pm

    I was gonna suggest to try either dish soapy water or diluted vinegar. I would also suggest to first wipe of the main residue of the baking soda and gunk it cleaned and then use a fresh cloth with plenty of water to wipe down. In some cases where I used lots of baking soda it took me also a few wipes but not what you described… Maybe you just used a lot of baking soda. Using less b. soda with vinegar (for doubled effect on surfaces suitable for this) and letting it soak longer may give you the same cleaning results without that much residue. For my oven which is usually the worst case baking soda requiring task I also use a plastic scraper first to get as much baked on gunk off as possible, followed by a couple hour long or overnight soak with baking soda and vinegar. Then it’s mostly just wiping it off, scrub a little bit where necessary and clean up with a fresh very wet cloth.

    Reply
  7. tyf says

    May 23, 2016 at 1:26 pm

    The vinegar solution sounds like a good rinsing method. After rinsing and drying, try wiping away any remaining residue with a DRY microfiber or terry cloth towel.

    Reply
  8. Amy Solomon says

    May 23, 2016 at 1:33 pm

    After cleaning, dry the surface and buff it. No more film.

    Reply
  9. Celeste Coffman says

    May 23, 2016 at 4:49 pm

    I’ve only ever used it with vinegar, truth be told. I think that would probably work since I’ve not had the residue issue happen before. Best of luck!

    Reply
  10. Julie says

    May 23, 2016 at 8:51 pm

    I was going to say spray it down with vinegar (ESPECIALLY on your glass stove top), because as awesome as baking soda is, it’s double awesome when you use with vinegar. Promise.

    Reply
  11. JenniferP says

    May 23, 2016 at 9:02 pm

    I use Oxi-Clean laundry spray to clean especially greasy stuff off of my glass stovetop, works great and it leaves it beautifully shiny!

    Reply
  12. Stephanie says

    May 23, 2016 at 9:38 pm

    Norwex cleaning paste is the best for glass cook tops!!

    Reply
  13. JoDi says

    May 24, 2016 at 10:12 am

    The key to getting rid of the film after you’ve wiped and rinsed (with water or vinegar) is to wipe the cooktop with a clean dry cloth. Even the cooktop cleaner leaves a film like the baking soda if you don’t buff it with a dry cloth after cleaning and rinsing.

    Reply
  14. Melinda J Rivera says

    May 24, 2016 at 9:45 pm

    I used to clean with baking soda and vinegar too. Cheap and natural but dang that stuff is the herpes of cleaning! I learned about Norwex! Cleaning the majority of my home with high quality microfiber and water and get 99% bacteria off the surface instantly! Wam Bam. Winner in my book.

    Reply
  15. Kylee Compton says

    May 24, 2016 at 11:59 pm

    I have not read all the comments, but NORWEX microfiber cloths work amazing wonders. They clean better than ANYTHING I’ve ever seen. I have no doubt that the residue would be gone with 2 swipes of an Envirocloth and one swipe of the glass cloth to dry it to a shine. And I don’t even sell them, but I’m a true believer! Totally worth the cost. BEST RAGS EVER!!!

    Reply
  16. Jane says

    May 27, 2016 at 9:43 am

    I have to recommend using vinegar to rinse too. I think the vinegar dissolves the baking soda. I use baking soda and Dawn dish liquid to clean my glass top stove and then rinse with vinegar and water. The addition of Dawn really gives the baking soda extra cleaning power. It’s great on baked on grease, such as gets on the glass pane of the oven door.

    Reply
  17. Beth says

    June 25, 2016 at 7:17 am

    For stainless steel try olive oil! Shines it up like nobodies business!

    Reply
  18. Danielle Gregory says

    July 12, 2016 at 7:00 pm

    skip the baking soda for that kind of stuff, baking soda is best used as a scouring powder (like, for your bathtub). for kitchen counters and stove, spray it with peroxide and wipe (this is not only cleaning, but also disinfecting). if you have nasty burned/stuck on stuff on your stove, spray it with peroxide and let it sit while you clean the rest of the kitchen, then wipe it off. for the fridge/mineral deposit mess, vinegar is best. i promise you, i have 90% of my household cleaning supplies down to peroxide, baking soda, and blue Dawn.

    Reply
  19. Carroll says

    August 18, 2016 at 6:32 am

    I too love love love baking soda. I go baking soda crazy and sprinkle it all over my house. I believe in its anti fungal properties and abhor fungi. Anywho after baking soda was literally everywhere in everything I turned to my other favorite VINEGAR. Just mist it or use a vinegar dampened rag and POOF chemistry at its finest. Baking soda gone. Spic and sparkly surface left behind. Just not on natural stone. I use my dr bronner dish soap mixture there with a microfiber cloth.

    Reply
    • Teresa says

      September 13, 2016 at 7:48 pm

      Norwex fans, I found e-cloth is a very similar product but much less expensive! The polishing cloth is a dream for things like this.

      Reply
  20. May says

    November 13, 2016 at 6:30 am

    Finally someone who tells the truth about how difficult it is to rinse baking soda! A vinegar rinse, as other people suggested, should work fine. Also, use as little baking soda as required in the first place.

    Reply
  21. Linden says

    March 12, 2017 at 3:23 pm

    You know how vinegar and baking soda fizz? Spray it with vinegar! It will break down the baking soda and make it easier to clean off.

    Reply
  22. Dana Esneault says

    February 5, 2018 at 2:31 am

    I tried cleaning my oven with the baking soda and you are 100% right, no, 500% right!!! All I had was this huge mess that by the time I was maybe halfway thru I was in tears….literally. I will clean with something totally different next time….if there is a next time! Hahaha

    Reply
  23. Cindy says

    November 2, 2018 at 8:20 pm

    Just peroxide. Spray it on my wipe off.

    Reply
  24. Linda Harwood says

    November 25, 2019 at 7:16 am

    I need advice about cleaning car seats and carpet is baking soda going to work as i would like to use it on its own.

    Reply
  25. Geena says

    May 9, 2023 at 6:22 pm

    Would wiping down with a microfiber cloth take away the film?

    Reply
    • Geena says

      May 10, 2024 at 12:29 pm

      Actually, I clean with baking soda, wipe away the bulk of it with a very wet paper towel and then dry with a microfiber cloth. My cooktop is clean and shiny.

      Reply
  26. zidane says

    February 14, 2025 at 12:46 am

    this article is very useful, thank you for making a good article

    Reply

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