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Dogestronaut1 t1_j6h0njx wrote

>it can also be used as a cleaner if you add baking soda to the mix

Please don't recommend doing this. It is useless. Baking soda is a base, and vinegar contains acetic acid which is an acid. When you combine a base and an acid, you get water and a salt. In the case of baking soda and vinegar, you get water, carbon dioxide, and a salt, sodium acetate. There is nothing special about this salt. Combining baking soda and vinegar for a cleaner just gives you salt water. Use one or the other, not both at the same time.

>Carpet Stain Cleaner: Create a paste with baking soda and a small amount of vinegar, then work it into the stained carpet fibers with your fingers. Allow the mixture to sit and dry overnight, then vacuum up any remnants.

Cut the vinegar and just sprinkle baking soda to remove odors. To remove stains, it depends on the kind of stain but you should try either making a baking soda paste with water or just plain vinegar. In either case, you should be blotting it with a paper towel or something absorbent rather than letting it sit.

>Drain Cleaner: Pour a cup of baking soda into your drain. Then pour about 1/2 cup of vinegar down the drain and cover it with a plate. Let the mixture sit for half an hour, and then flush it with hot water for several minutes until the drain runs clear.

Mixing baking soda and vinegar is only helpful when it's bubbling because the bubbles can help dislodge stuff you normally can't reach, like in a drain. In this case, I would say you probably don't need to let it sit for half an hour unless your goal is to clear a clogged drain by increasing the pressure with the released CO2 from the baking soda and vinegar combo.

>APC: For an all-purpose cleaner you can use every day, pour 1/2 cup of vinegar into a spray bottle and add a couple tablespoons of baking soda to it. Add 10 drops of tea tree oil and fill the bottle the rest of the way with water.

You will likely have similar results from filling a bottle with tap water and adding 10 drops of tea tree oil.

>Toilet Cleaner: Pour a cup of baking soda and a cup of white vinegar down the toilet’s drain. You should see it bubble up. Wait about 30 minutes and pour hot water into the bowl to see if it drains. It’s OK to repeat these steps if you see some loosening, but need a little more clog removed. The vinegar will also clean your toilet while you're doing this.

See drain cleaner for the part about bubbling. As for the last sentence, no, the vinegar will not clean your toilet while you're doing this because it will be deactivated by the baking soda.

TL;DR STOP MIXING BAKING SODA AND VINEGAR FOR CLEANING! They are both fairly good and useful cleaning products on their own, but combining them essentially gives you salt water. It is much cheaper and just as effective to sprinkle some table salt into tap water if you really want to use it.

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