Baking Soda, the scrubby wonder cleaner

From Nationaal Archief on Flickr

I hate housework. I can spend hours in the kitchen cooking, baking, experimenting and losing track of time. But when it comes time to clean up, I notice every single second of it.

“Properly done, housework can become an important health factor.” says The Home of To-Day from 1934, one of my vintage household reference books. ”The natural rythmic use of the body will – if practised – turn housework from jerky, wearing activity into health-giving exercise.”

Um, this may be true, but I can’t help but believe it’s just clever marketing to try to keep the housewife content!

I like trying vintage techniques for cleaning since they often use fewer chemicals, and reuse basic products for many things (so you have to buy less stuff.) But I’m still a sucker for modern technology. Handwashing dishes is fine, but would I use a dishwasher if I had one? Oh yes.

One vintage cleaning product I LOVE, is baking soda, and I’ve found another use for it – cleaning my glassware!

While getting ready to photograph my nettle tea making for the blog, I noticed my french press was looking a bit streaky, even after a good wash. (Oh just look at the care & attention I give to this blog for you, my dear readers…)

So I mixed up a paste of baking soda with just enough water to moisten it:

And then used this paste and a sponge to scrub the streaks on the glass jar…

E t voila! Streak-free french press for my tea making photos.

I haven’t tested baking soda on any very delicate glassware. It’s a mild abrasive, but still scrubby, so you might want to test it first on a small area before going after your best glasses.

Do you have other clever uses for baking soda?? Let us know in the comments.

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