In everyday amounts, bi-carb of soda is vastly less harmful than other common fungicides such as copper or sulphur, but it can still cause problems if it isn't used carefully. Sprinkle bicarbonate of soda into stinky trainers - and even your whole gym bag - and leave it. Just tap it out when you next need to use them 17. Keep flowers fresher for longer This is what Birtwhistle uses in her iron, rather than buying expensive distilled “ironing water” or using hard tap water, which can fur up an iron with limescale. She takes it from her water butt a litre at a time. “Boil it and, when it’s cold, add two or three drops of lily of the valley essential oil.” Make an all-purpose cleaner Sodium bicarbonate as a fungicide works by disrupting the ion balance in the fungal cells, which causes them to collapse. The biggest danger in using sodium bicarbonate on plants is the potential for foliar burn. This appears as brown or yellow patches at the end of the leaves and can be minimized by thorough dilution of the product. Is Baking Soda Good for Plants?

Spray your carpet on a small area, so that you can do a patch test. If all is well, continue using this method.Birtwhistle says citric acid will “dissolve limescale and kill germs. When you move away from bleach, you find all these stains appearing, because all you’ve been doing is bleaching them out, but the limescale is still there. Use citric acid to get rid of that.” She makes her own loo cleaner using 200g citric acid and 150ml water, emulsified with a squirt of eco-friendly washing-up liquid. “The only downside is you need to rinse your nozzle afterwards. Otherwise, it does crystallise there.” Restore shower screens If you get a lot of static cling in your washing, try adding vinegar to the wash cycle. Add half a cup and reduce static and lint. Of course, there are some very cheap spray cleaners on the market, but anything branded ‘natural’ or ‘organic’ usually comes with a higher price tag. You can make a spray cleaner without any harsh chemicals for a relatively low price. Wait for 15 minutes and then pour boiling water down the drain too, but only if your pipes are metal!

Birtwhistle says she “lived for years and years” with stains on the inside of her cast iron casseroles. “Then it just took a tablespoon of sodium percarbonate and a kettle of boiling water and it was clean.” Brightening whites Below you’ll find a few helpful tips that you should follow before using any of the products listed in the recipes to clean your carpets.Gonzalez AM, Townsend JR, Pinzone AG, et al. Supplementation with nitric oxide precursors for strength performance: a review of the current literature. Nutrients. 2023;15(3):660. doi:10.3390/nu15030660 You can also use bicarb to clean toilets. Just pour about half a cup of bicarb down your toilet and scrub. If your toilet has seen better days, use vinegar instead. It’s easy to throw a bottle of all purpose-cleaner into the trolly when doing your weekly shop, but have you ever considered making your own? Use vinegar and bicarb in a spray bottle. This is an extremely versatile mixture. However, one task it is great for is cleaning the fridge. The vinegar will clean, and the bicarb will neutralise any odours. You use this as a general cleaner too.

If you’re interested in doing a large scale clean, but you don’t really want too much hassle then the recipe below is perfect for you. All you really need is two core ingredients and you’re good to go!

5. Hydrogen Peroxide and Bicarbonate of Soda

If your cleaning sponges are a bit sad or smelly, leave them to soak in warm water and bicarb, and give them a good rinse through in the morning. 16. Stop shoes smelling Is baking soda good for plants? It certainly doesn’t seem to do any harm, but it isn’t the miracle cure for those mildew beleaguered roses either. Baking soda as a fungicide does appear to diminish the effects of fungal diseases on common ornamental and vegetable plants. Recent studies confuse the efficiency of using this common household item. The compound seems to prevent some fungal spore flare ups but doesn’t kill the spores. Sodium Bicarbonate in Gardens You can make your silver shine again with bicarb too. Make a paste of 3 parts bicarbonate of soda to 1 part water and rub your silver to remove tarnishes. Rinse it off, and it will shine once more. Removing stains on carpets can be a real challenge for any cleaner. However, bicarb and vinegar can even get these out too. Texture of carpet We compare the cleaned zones to an unstained piece of carpet to see if there has been an effect on the carpet's texture. We examine them directly after cleaning and then after the zones have dried.