How to Launder With Baking Soda

Just about every homeowner knows that a box of baking soda in the fridge can keep it smelling fresh. Anyone who bakes knows that a box of baking soda is a staple for the pantry. However, many don't know is that can use baking soda to clean their clothes and linens and keep them fresh. Here's how.

Instructions

1. Begin with your hamper. A lot of homeowners keep their dirty laundry baskets in their closets, which doesn't do much for the smell of the clean clothes that hang there. Take a handful of baking soda and sprinkle it over the dirty laundry to neutralize the aroma.

2. Rid your clothes of that "just got back from the bar" fragrance. To remove the smell of smoke from your clothes, soak them in a tub of water that contains 1/2 cup of baking soda per gallon of water. Leave the clothes soaking for an hour before washing; they will emerge smelling fresh. This technique also works on sweaty and chlorine-smelling clothes.

3. Stop buying expensive fabric softeners. If you add 1/2 cup of baking soda to your washing machine during its rinse cycle, the clothes will come out of the dryer softer and fresh smelling.

4. Leave the car smell in the driveway. When clothes stink of grease, oil and gasoline, seal them in a plastic garbage bag after first dusting them with baking soda. Remove the clothes after two days and wash them as usual.

5. Give your regular laundry detergent an edge. Before every load, add 1/4 to 1/2 cup of baking soda with the laundry detergent. This method also serves as a fabric softener and helps the detergent to do its job even better.

6. Hold the bleach. When that brand-new bright-pink shirt that you bought your daughter finds it way into the washing machine with your husband's tidy whiteys, make a solution of baking soda, detergent, water and salt in which to soak them. Your husband will thank you the next time he goes to the gym.

7. Banish mold from your washing machine. In between uses, sprinkle some baking soda into the washing machine drum. It will smell much cleaner and prevent mold from growing.

Tips & Warnings

• Suede can be cleaned with a soft brush and baking soda by allowing it to sit for a while and simply brushing it off.

• Save your leather items from being ruined by ink. Dust a bit of baking soda over the ink spot and allow it to soak up the ink. Repeat until the spot is gone.