Twelve Jobs Baking Soda Does Brilliantly (and Four It Really Doesn't)

Every "100 uses for baking soda" list is padded. Most of those hundred are the same three ideas rewritten, and a few of them plainly do not work. Here is the version with the padding taken out.

Twelve it does brilliantly

1. Scouring pans, sinks and hobs. A damp paste, five minutes, a cloth. Gritty enough to shift baked-on food, soft enough not to scratch stainless steel or enamel.
2. Freshening the fridge. An open tub in the back. It neutralises the sour smells rather than covering them. Swap it every few months.
3. Rescuing trainers and gym bags. A tablespoon in each shoe overnight, tip it out in the morning. Genuinely startling the first time.
4. Bins. A sprinkle in the base under the liner. Costs nothing, works all week.
5. Carpets and sofas. Sprinkle, leave fifteen minutes (or overnight), vacuum properly.
6. Boosting your laundry. A few tablespoons in the drum helps detergent work, especially in hard water. Not a replacement for detergent.
7. The overnight oven. A thick paste spread on the glass and floor of the oven, left overnight, then scraped off. Slower than the spray, and far less unpleasant.
8. Tea and coffee stains in mugs. Wet the mug, a spoonful of soda, thumb, ten seconds.
9. Dishwasher and washing machine funk. A cup in an empty hot cycle.
10. Cleaning silver. Foil in a bowl, hot water, a heap of soda, drop the silver in. The tarnish transfers to the foil. This one genuinely looks like magic.
11. Mopping up acidic spills. Vinegar, a car battery, something sharp-smelling. It fizzes while there is acid left and stops when the job is done.
12. Pan fires. A box near the hob is worth having. Tipped over a small pan fire it smothers the flames. Never water on burning oil — and for anything bigger than a pan, get out and call the fire brigade.

Four it really doesn't

Where not to use it

Aluminium pans (it discolours them), polished marble and sealed stone (the grit dulls the finish), antique silver with deliberate dark detailing, and anything with a delicate gloss. And never mix it into a container with bleach or other cleaning products — mixing cleaning chemicals is genuinely dangerous.

The sensible setup

A cheap bulk bag under the sink, a small shaker jar for sprinkling, and an old toothbrush. That is a cleaning kit that handles most of a kitchen for the price of a coffee.