As the proud owner of both zero waste baking soda and zero waste vinegar I want to share with you four of the many ways I use it.
1. Sprinkling baking soda on the carpet (leave it for 10-20 minutes) and then vacuuming up deodorizes nicely. If you like smelly carpet deodorizer you can sprinkle down any spice or herb too. I suggest cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice.
2. Using vinegar as the rinse agent in our dishwasher. (Yes, I gave in and am using it instead of nothing)
3. Sprinkle a little baking soda to the bottom of our garbage can to keep it smelling fresh.
4. Almost totally zero-waste (because my salt isn’t zero-waste yet) Muscle Soother Bath – 2 cups baking soda, 1 cup Epsom Salts, and 1/2 cup salt mixed. Use 1/2 cup per bath. Most of the time I just use straight Epsom Salts or baking soda because I am lazy.
How do you use baking soda and vinegar to replace unnecessary chemicals?
~Stephanie
Less is more. -Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
I use baking soda as a scrub on counters and pots, sprinkle directly on object and scrub-a-dub. I clean my garbage bin every time I take the garbage out then spray it with vinegar and let dry. That takes away the yucky smell, I do the same with my food scrap green bin. I’m going to try vinegar in my clothes washer pre-wash for my towels, they seem to have acquired a funky smell. I’ll let all know how that goes (I use the soapnuts as a detergent).
Posted by Sarah Tobin | April 17, 2012, 12:23 amGreat ideas! How are you liking the soap nuts Sarah?
Posted by stephanieough | April 17, 2012, 7:36 amSo far so good
Some of the clothes have a funky smell, but I figure that those smells have been there for a while, just masked by my regular laundry detergent. I’m going to try the vinegar solution to see if that helps, can’t hurt! And there is a recipe for liquid soapnut solution that I can add essential oils to and make nice smells.
Posted by Sarah Tobin | April 17, 2012, 8:47 amThat’s a good point about the masking of odours by “parfum”. What ever that is. If the vinegar doesn’t work maybe baking soda would. You have a front loader? You could put it in the detergent slot.
Posted by stephanieough | April 17, 2012, 8:55 am