Cleaning expert Sarah Dempsey from My Job Quote has shared six things you should never clean with baking soda – including gold plated cutlery and marble worktops
If you’ve ever turned to the internet for a cleaning hack, chances are you’ve stumbled upon a post suggesting baking soda.
This affordable kitchen essential forms a paste when mixed with water and is brilliant for various household chores, from banishing yellow stains on pillows to scrubbing bathroom tile grout. However, one cleaning guru warns that there are certain things you should “never clean” with baking soda, as it could potentially damage your countertops and appliances.
Sarah Dempsey from My Job Quote highlighted six items she would never advise cleaning with baking soda, due to its mildly abrasive nature which can scratch or harm certain surface.
Glass
Sarah advises against using baking soda to clean glass, recommending white vinegar or a glass cleaner instead. She explained: “Baking soda is an abrasive cleaner. This means that there is a chance it could scratch the glass that you’re trying to clean.”
Ceramic stove tops
Ceramic stove tops are another no-go. While baking soda can work wonders on most other stoves, it can easily scratch a ceramic stove top and leave behind a stubborn white film
Sarah has warned of the household blunders you could be making with baking soda and how it might ruin your posh surfaces. “If you have accidentally used baking soda to clean your ceramic stove top, you can remove the white film with white vinegar,” she advised.
Marble
For those with marble countertops or features, she warns against using baking soda, as it can strip the protective coating and leave your pricey marble exposed to scratches. It’s an expensive error to fix, with Sarah warning: “Over time, baking soda can cause damage to the protective layer on the marble and this will result in scratches beginning to appear on the marble.”
Wooden furniture
When it comes to wooden furniture, Sarah stresses that baking soda’s abrasive nature can do more harm than good. She mentioned: “Baking soda can be too harsh on certain types of wooden furniture or it could be damaging to any sealants or finishes on the wood,” and went on to explain: “If the sealant on the furniture wears away, this will ruin the piece of furniture.”
Gold plated cutlery
Gold plated cutlery is off-limits for baking soda cleaning – if you’re tempted to add sparkle to your tableware, think twice. Sarah explained the risks involved: “You should avoid using baking soda to clean anything with gold plating. Gold is a very soft metal that won’t be able to handle the abrasive nature of baking soda.
“The baking soda could cause scratches and damages on the finish, but it could also cause the gold plating to completely wear away.”
Anything with deep grooves or cracks
And for items dotted with deep grooves or cracks, steer clear of baking soda – its grittiness can lead to more trouble than you’d expect.
The last thing you should never tackle with baking soda is anything with grooves or cracks, as the powdery substance is notorious for leaving a white residue that’s tough to remove from nooks and crannies.
Items like your TV remote, computer mouse, keyboard, or even specific furniture pieces “should never be cleaned with baking soda”. Instead, Sarah suggests that these items can be effortlessly spruced up using a lightly dampened microfibre cloth.
