Ah, the good old combination of baking soda (or bicarb soda, or sodium bicarbonate, if you want to sound fancy) and vinegar.

It's the kitchen cleaning trick we all know and love, but it turns out that it may not be the ‘miracle fix-all’ cleaning hack you thought it was.

According to Alisa Sannikova, a research chemist from Novapharm Research, the combination of these two substances isn't that effective— it could even lead to a watery mess!

'If you combine them before you start cleaning, you're just using vinegar-flavoured water because the reaction will be over by then,' Alisa tells 9Honey Living.

Vinegar and baking soda cleaning hack may not be as effective as you think. Credit: Apartment Therapy

'Not very effective at all.'

The fizzing reaction you hope will lift dirt and gunk from a surface is also not as effective as you think.

According to Alisa, it can only help you loosen stubborn muck if you can get the reaction to start inside the patch of dirt.

'The easiest way to do this is to mix the bicarb with some water to make a thin paste, rub it into the dirt and leave it to soak in for a while,' Alisa explains.

This is what happens when vinegar and baking soda are combined together. Credit: honey.nine.au

'Then put the vinegar on top of it – once you've given it a chance to penetrate and fizz a little inside the dirt where some of the bicarb is, you can then try scrubbing it off again.'

So, what should you do instead? It seems it could actually be simpler and more effective to use baking soda and vinegar separately.

Baking soda is great for breaking down proteins and grease on surfaces, and vinegar can neutralise odours, and dissolve minerals when used as a mild acid.

It's not just great for descaling in your kettle, but also as a helpful tool for dealing with mould.

'It can kill some types of mould spores, though, which is great since most mild disinfectants can't,' Alisa says. 'Just make sure you dry porous items out thoroughly after using vinegar on them — if they stay waterlogged, new mould can start growing pretty soon and the vinegar won't be able to stop that.'

When it comes to bicarb, one of Alisa's top cleaning tips could really help boost the cleaning power of this common kitchen ingredient.

'Not using too much water in your bicarb so that it stays as a paste keeps a lot of the bicarb undissolved, so those tiny crystals help you scrub away dirt by being a very mild abrasive when rubbing the paste on a surface,' Alisa suggests.

Key Takeaways

• Combining baking soda and vinegar for cleaning purposes is ineffective, according to Alisa Sannikova, a research chemist.
• The fizzing reaction from baking soda and vinegar offers limited cleaning benefits, and the two ingredients are better used separately.
• Vinegar has uses such as neutralising odours and dissolving minerals, but isn't a general disinfectant, however, it can kill some types of mould spores.
• Bicarb soda is effective as a mild abrasive and is useful for breaking down proteins and grease on surfaces when used in a paste form.

So, fellow members, there you have it. Don't think you have to stick blindly to the combined baking soda and vinegar hack, but rather experiment and find the best combination of household tricks to fit your cleaning needs.

 

[MariaG]

Don't care for bi-carb and vinegar to clean. I don't like the residue.
I have occasionally used the combination to give the sink a bit of a boost if it's a bit whiffy.
My choice is cleaning vinegar. Cheaper and less additive.