Soooooo much baking soda. Help!

September 7, 2021 5:50 AM

For Reasons, I have several pounds of baking soda. What can I do with it that doesn’t involve baking, a craft, or a science experiment?
posted by bookmammal to Grab Bag (26 answers total)

Pour it into your drains and add vinegar to clean ‘em out.

Or clean your silver: Crinkle up some tin foil, sprinkle the foil with baking soda, put tarnished silver pieces on top, and pour boiling water over ‘em, and watch the tarnish transfer to the foil. (Don’t do this on pieces where the patina in crevices is valuable, it takes that out too.)
posted by Andrhia at 5:56 AM on September 7, 2021 [6 favorites]

You can turn pasta into (an approximation of) ramen noodles.
posted by gauche at 5:57 AM on September 7, 2021 [1 favorite]

Get rid of smells in the fridge.

So many kitchen cleaning uses.

I have used it after spills on the carpet and on a mattress (cat urine), but apparently also works to deodorize carpets.
posted by DoubleLune at 6:06 AM on September 7, 2021 [1 favorite]

If you have a dishwasher and it's been a while since you cleaned it, take the trap apart to rinse the gunk out (this may be fairly gross) and run an empty cycle with one cup of white vinegar sitting on the top rack. Sprinkle one cup baking soda over the bottom of the dishwasher once done and let it sit overnight. In the morning, run one more empty cycle. Do this every month or two and you'll rarely have a mildewy dishwasher and you'll have no trouble using up baking soda.
posted by superfluousm at 6:27 AM on September 7, 2021

Neutralize the white crud around a car battery.

Can also be used to amend soil (increases ph).
posted by Mitheral at 6:46 AM on September 7, 2021 [1 favorite]

In addition to the ramen point above, SE says that baked baking soda keeps indefinitely.
posted by ftm at 6:59 AM on September 7, 2021 [3 favorites]

Baked baking soda (Sodium Carbonate) is also sold as "washing soda" which is a laundry booster similar to borax.
posted by ArgentCorvid at 7:14 AM on September 7, 2021 [4 favorites]

I add it to the kitty litter boxes. (Did you get the several pounds in bulk somewhere? I rarely find it it in quantities bigger than a pound and would love to buy several pounds at once in less packaging.)
posted by wicked_sassy at 7:19 AM on September 7, 2021

Response by poster: wicked sassy—I am cleaning out my parents’ house of 25+ years and found several very large boxes. Have no idea how or why they were bought…
Thanks for the suggestions so far, everyone!
posted by bookmammal at 7:22 AM on September 7, 2021

If they've been sitting in your parents' house I would DEFINITELY not cook with it.

All the cleaning advice is exactly what I was going to suggest - here's another list of uses, including a DIY surface scrubber, floor wash, a gentle cleaner for painted walls, grout cleaner, etc.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:36 AM on September 7, 2021 [2 favorites]

I always like to have a bunch of baking soda around, for general kitchen and bathroom cleaning purposes. I also put some in the washing machine with my laundry along with the detergent, or in the sink along with the soap when handwashing (masks, etc.).
posted by theatro at 7:39 AM on September 7, 2021 [2 favorites]

Baking soda is a very effective deterrent for ants.
posted by effluvia at 7:43 AM on September 7, 2021 [2 favorites]

Costco sells it in 13.5lb bags for under ten dollars and I would concur that it keeps indefinitely.

It can be mixed with dish soap into a thick slurry and applied to grungy tub walls. Leave it sitting until you need the tub again, then scrub it off with vinegar and rinse the residue with water.

I've read that the thing with the dishwasher can be rough on your door seals, just fyi.
posted by teremala at 8:03 AM on September 7, 2021 [1 favorite]

Bake some to make washing soda and boost your laundry.
It's not as effective on smells in the fridge as people think, but that was a brilliant marketing move.
It's mildly abrasive and can be used for cleaning.
That silver polishing trick removes patina and leaves a weird texture.
Add to drains then add vinegar - it will create bubbling action that is fairly effective. Wait a few minutes, then follow with very hot water.
Ants. interesting.
Give most of it away on freecycle or a buy nothing group.
posted by theora55 at 8:11 AM on September 7, 2021

This is not fun, but I'd just keep it on hand to extinguish grease fires.
posted by aws17576 at 8:41 AM on September 7, 2021 [3 favorites]

A healthy solution in your garbage disposal helps keep it sweet--fill the sink with a few inches of water first, then turn on the disposal and let it drain.

I've used it to clean brass, brush my teeth (back when I had teeth), also help calm an over-acidic stomach.

By the way, although it's great for cleaning around the poles of a battery (or the chamber that holds various AA or AAA batteries and such), take care to not neutralize the acidity of your car battery.
posted by mule98J at 9:47 AM on September 7, 2021

When combined with cyanoacrylate glues you can make a pretty darn strong gap-filling adhesive compound. Useful in a variety of repair situations.
posted by aramaic at 10:01 AM on September 7, 2021 [1 favorite]

If you know someone with a pool, baking soda can be used to balance the ph.

For wicked_sassy - we buy it in bulk at the warehouse club stores (i.e. Costco).
posted by miscbuff at 10:56 AM on September 7, 2021

Do you have problems with moss/algae where you live? (We sure do in the Pacific NW.) You can sprinkle it on moss and it will kill it, just be careful because it can be bad for some pets. I've used it on my concrete steps and in a doormat that developed moss in the little plastic loops; the moss dried up and I could sweep it away.
posted by kitten kaboodle at 11:49 AM on September 7, 2021

My teenaged son says:
Put out a fire.
Change the pH of a lot of water.
Cut a huge amount of cocaine.
I'm pretty sure that the idea that baking soda somehow magically eats odors is nonsense created to sell baking soda.
However, when I have to clean a smell out of something, I'll dust the surface with baking soda and then pour vinegar onto it, and the reaction seems to remove smells very effectively. I have no science to back this up.
An old girlfriend was told by a friend that if you eat two tablespoons of baking soda a day it changes the pH of your blood and makes you want to smoke a lot less. The science behind this one is very shaky, but she said it worked well for the first day. After that she couldn't make herself eat the stuff again.
I believe that English Sherbet powder is mostly powdered sugar and baking soda, with a bit of flavor. If you're into making candy this might be worth a try.
posted by AugustusCrunch at 12:13 PM on September 7, 2021 [2 favorites]

It's the best cleaner out there so save it and use it over time. Clean the oven, the sink, the toilets, the stove. You can use 1 cup wash + 1cup white vinegar rinse for towels to soften them up or for new sheets/blankets to soften them in cool water washes.
posted by PetiePal at 12:24 PM on September 7, 2021 [1 favorite]

It's not as effective on smells in the fridge as people think

However I have found that sprinkling some on top of any garbage that may become stinky does help reduce (though not eliminate) the smell.
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:31 PM on September 7, 2021

Is it coarse? It might be for grit blasting instead of eating.
posted by tinker at 2:07 PM on September 7, 2021

Boil your pots and pans in water + baking soda for a half hour on low simmer and they come out so clean! Nest the small pot in a bigger pot, bigger pot in a giant pot for inside / outside clean.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 3:52 PM on September 7, 2021

Can also be used to amend soil (increases ph).

Do not do this, even if your soil is acidic. It's an excellent way to deplete your soil of calcium, as bicarbonates can cause calcium to precipitate from soil particles and then sodium binds to those particles instead. Sodium is bad for soil: it causes soil structure to break down making it much more difficult for water and gases to move through soil (roots need air). Salty soil water makes it harder for plants to take up water as it increases osmotic pressure. This is physiologically stressful for plants, causing them to use more energy, and may lead to wilt or death. It's why you don't water plants with salt water.
posted by oneirodynia at 5:52 PM on September 7, 2021 [3 favorites]

you can use a hot bath of baking soda instead of lye to give homemade soft pretzels the proper brown color.
posted by ArgentCorvid at 8:48 AM on September 8, 2021