Vinegar and Baking Soda, the dynamic cleaning duo!

Did you ever notice how dirty your oven gets? You have to ask yourself how all that grease splatters up and gets burned onto the oven door glass. I mean, look at it! It looks like rain drop lines of brownish yellow tears. Or something like that. And, if you’ve ever tried to clean it, you know that many tears will be shed trying to rid the oven of those greasy streaks. Until, that is, you try cleaning your oven with vinegar and baking soda. And it’s not only your oven that will give way to the dynamic cleaning duo of vinegar and baking soda. There are many other uses around the home to try this DIY solution.

What is it about vinegar and baking soda that make them great cleaning agents?

Let’s get into the chemistry lesson part of this blog post. Like a lot of great things that we consume and that have health benefits, vinegar is a result of the process of fermentation. Fermentation is a process that involves an organism converting carbohydrates into alcohol or acid. In the case of vinegar, there are two phases of fermentation: the first phase has yeast converting the sugar in the main substance into ethanol. The second phase has the ethanol converted into acetic acid. That’s an over simplification of the whole process but essentially, wine or apple juice (or even coconut water) are transformed by yeast into ethanol and then acetic acid.

Why is acetic acid an effective cleaning agent?

I loved the description, found here, when trying to understand the chemical process that renders vinegar such an effective cleaning agent:

Vinegar is usually a mixture of water and between 4 and 5% acetic acid. This versatile acid can mix with water, oil, alcohol and almost any other kind of liquid — even gasoline — reaching places that other cleaning products can’t. When dissolved in water, acetic acid breaks into two components, the hydrogen and the remainder of the molecule, called the acetate. The hydrogen will try to bond to any molecule that it encounters, acting like a third wheel that weakens the molecule’s structure. These hydrogens are great at cleaning stains made from alkali substances, like soap, urine, and limestone.

The acetate component has an extra electron that hangs off the molecule. The electron acts as a magnet to other atoms, especially metals, to make new molecules. For example, the acetate reacts with molecules in rust and grime and changes their makeup so the water can dissolve them. Acetic acid also gets rid of odors by killing off the bacteria and fungi that cause them. Its acidic nature destroys the cell structure of bacteria, and it stops fungi from turning sugar into energy.

Effectively, the acetic acid in vinegar has a type of Batman and Robin dual fighting dynamic. The hydrogen (Robin) attaches to the dirt and “weakens” it while the acetate then burns through the grime.

Again, super oversimplified, but fascinating. At least to someone who has a cleaning company and obsesses about getting surfaces and ovens clean.

But how can baking soda help clean my oven?

Baking soda and vinegar share a similar dirt fighting property and that is…they both are good at dissolving things. But while similar, baking soda and vinegar are opposites in terms of pH scale – or how acidic something is. As we mentioned, vinegar is very acidic, with a pH measure of 2 (1 being the highest and 10 being the lowest on the scale). Whereas baking soda has a pH of 9. That means, it’s not very acidic.

Baking soda provides a cleaning base, the ground level of support that upholds the complex superhero of vinegar. But it’s not just some passive base structure – baking soda is a cleaner too. It cuts grease, dissolves dirt, busts up yucky organic compounds with ease. And, it’s abrasive! When you clean with baking soda, you are scrubbing with abrasion – friction that helps rub away dirt. But gently.

Baking soda helps clean your oven by cutting through the dirt buildup, helping to provide gentle scrubbing power, and partnering with vinegar to bubble up grime with a one two punch.

We like to have either baking soda or vinegar be more dominant when we use them together. Equal parts don’t work as they will cancel each other out. It’s important to have the mixture be either more acidic or more basic (baking soda-ish). We prefer the more acidic blend of 2:1 vinegar to baking soda.

Besides the oven, where else can I use the dynamic duo of vinegar and baking soda?

Let’s first start with how we clean glass doors inside ovens, then we’ll move on to other areas of the house.

Glass Doors Inside Ovens
For the inside of the oven door:
1. Mix 1 part white vinegar with 1 part water in a spray bottle.
2. Sprinkle baking soda onto the glass door of the oven and rub to cover the whole glass surface.
3. Spray the vinegar and water solution onto the baking soda area. It should bubble which is good for helping cut through the grease.
4. Wait 30 minutes and scrub with a non-abrasive sponge. This is our favorite.
5. If the buildup is thick, repeat the process until the glass is clean.
6. Make it sparkle with a glass cleaner.

Hard Water Stains
Water stains form when minerals in our water deposit on the surfaces of faucets and toilet bowls. They might look like white chalk streaks or lines of brownish yellow stripes.
For toilets:
1. Just pour 1 cup of white vinegar into the bowl and clean with a toilet brush.
2. Don’t flush.
3. Then add 1 cup of baking soda to the bowl and another 1-2 cups of vinegar. This will cause some bubbling and foaming.
4. Let this sit in the bowl for about 10-15 minutes.
5. Come back and clean the toilet with a brush using the toilet water to spread the solution around to the stained areas.
6. Let this sit for another 30 minutes. Scrub again.
7. Then flush away the stains!

Clogged Drain
If your drain is not draining quickly (but isn’t completely blocked), try this baking soda and vinegar solve. It may help to loosen the clog and let the water drain faster.
1. Boil some water and pour it down the drain. This helps warm up the area.
2. Put 1/2 cup of baking soda down the drain.
3. Pour 1 cup of vinegar into the drain and cover it with a plug. Let this sit for about 10 minutes. If you hear fizzing, that’s good.
4. Pour more hot water down the drain after 10 minutes.
5. Repeat steps 1-3 until the drain is clear. You might need more than one time to have things flowing better.
6. To freshen things up, mix an essential oil like tea tree or peppermint or lemon with some warm water and pour down the drain afterwards.

These are just a few of the uses for the dynamic cleaning duo of vinegar and baking soda. They pack a powerful punch around the house. Whether it’s for wiping out greasy grime in your oven or unclogging slow drains, vinegar and baking soda act as a eco-friendly DIY team to get things done. At MaidxChange we love using natural products when we can and are completely open to utilizing your home made or eco-friendly cleaning supplies to.

Book a cleaning now and get your home sparkling and smelling great!