My guess would be saponification. Remember that previous generations used to make their own soap with lye & animal fat; lye, like baking soda, is an alkali.
Another advantage to using baking soda to put out fires is if you’re using it in a chemistry lab. It’s also a good way to deal with an acid spill, so if something goes wrong in the lab, you can just reflexively grab the baking soda and dump it on, without having to stop to think about what it was that just went wrong.
The trouble with saponification is that the pH isn’t really all that high. It’s certainly a reasonable enough explanaition, but I suspect something else. The cooking process on it’s own may leave free acids and other various functionalities lying around. Also, depending on the type of pan, a surface could react. Not necessarily remove the metal, but simply displace the grease.
I use baking soda as an aid in dishwashing. I’m the “automatic dishwasher” so I add a ¼ cupful to a tub filled with soapy water, submerge dirty dishes for a few minutes, wipe off crud, and rinse. Even dried on, heavily encrusted dishes emerge sparkling clean without a lot of elbow grease. I’m highly impressed.
The best part of using baking soda as an antacid is that it gives you carbonated burps! Those are fun. Best not attempted with a closed off esophagus, though.
I use baking soda to line my cat’s litter pans. I don’t use lining paper. Many cat deodorizing powders for cat litter contain baking soda. As alluded to previously, I sometimes mix baking soda and vinegar to get the reaction necessary for degreasing. I think you need the vinegar, not just the baking soda alone. The mixture releases the CO2 for vigorous reaction. Water will yield a milder reaction.
I also put a little baking soda in a cup of water and keep my toothbrush in it, changing the solution nightly.
Baking soda and vinegar can remove some carpet stains. The reaction of the base and acid is helpful for any cleaning.
I find it works well in removing odours from shoes too.
So could it be possible that those powders for foot odor are essentially baking soda or something very similar? It wouldn’t surprise me.
That too. When I did Security work and would walk around with heavy boots on 40+ hours a week, after a couple of months those suckers would stink pretty bad. So about every 5-8 months when I came home on my Friday, I would pour most of a box into my boots. swish around for full contact, then seal them in a paper grocery bag for the weekend. On my Monday, open bag, pour and bang out the soda, and wear the shoes again.
I’ve not used baking soda as a toothpaste (my dentist sister-in-law said not to), but I’ve used it for everything else on your list. It quite effectively put out an oven grease fire several years ago, to my intense relief. I remember thinking that I couldn’t quite believe it actually worked. I have a little fire extinguisher under my sink now, but honestly for a little fire (say, in a frying pan) I’d probably reach for the baking soda first.
There’s very little that’s happened in my kitchen that couldn’t be cleaned up with baking soda and vinegar. I run a little down the disposal every once in a while, too, to clean and deodorize.
People have been noting the abrasive properties of soda and vinegar for some time - Proverbs 25:20 mentions it.
And it’s dirt cheap. Love that.
Heh - google Zegerid some time. It’s Prilosec (omeprazole) with a tiny bit of sodium bicarbonate.
My doctor prescribed that last spring when I was having a bit of stomach trouble. I did a price check before I got the scrip filled… my copay after insurance would have been over 500 dollars a month (my insurance doesn’t like pricey newfangled drugs).
This, for 30 dollars worth of omeprazole and about a dime’s worth of baking soda.
So, for the drug company, baking soda is apparently viewed as a miracle moneymaking drug!
In that neighbourhood, baking soda (in concert with vinegar) is a great way to loosen sink clogs without resorting to heavy caustics. Vinegar first, add soda. I usually put the stopper in right away and fill the sink about halfway.
This reaction is also great if you’ve managed to burn something stubbornly into a pot.
I brushed my teeth for many years with plain baking soda, and didn’t damage my teeth any. (I still use Arm & Hammer toothpaste.)
I’ve been doing this for years, but I use the baking soda first, then add the vinegar. Does it make a difference what order they are in, and, if so, why?
I just do not see this one working. If the sink is not fully clogged, the CO2 released will just pass by and out the pipe vent stack, right? Afterall, only the top most of the clog or narrow is where the vinegar will meet the baking soda.
OTOH, just vinegar alone, left alone for awhile, will loosen up many things, since it is a mild acid.
Baking soda saved my wife, back when she was my girlfriend. I was on the phone with her while she was baking something in the oven, a pan of potatoes or something. She opened the oven, and went, “Oh oh oh, it’s on fire, what do I do, what do I do!”
I said, “Do you have a box of baking soda?”
“Yes, oh oh what do I do!”
“Throw the baking soda on the pan.”
“…hey, that worked. How’d you know to do that?”
Probably not (and come to think of it, I think I add the soda first too, otherwise it’s hard to get it all down there.)
It works a treat. It’s not like pressure needs to build up and POP the clog out -(it doesn’t) it just gently loosens it.
Wouldn’t be my choice for dealing with ten years of bacon grease and hair - but when it starts to take longer than it ought to drain, it usually works just fine.