In the thread on products not used for their intended purpose, there has been a dispute as to whether baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) is effective at reducing odours in the surrounding air. So as not to derail that thread, I thought we could discuss the matter here.
So what’s the straight dope—does putting an open container of baking soda in a refrigerator, or in a room, actually reduce odours effectively? If it does work, what kind of odours can and can’t it get rid of? And is it true that the effectiveness is limited by the exposed surface area of the baking soda, or is leaving it in its original (opened) box good enough? Have there been any consumer or scientific studies done on this?
I’ll tell the same anecdote here as in the original thread; the house we bought was supposed to be non-smoking, but it started to smell terrible once we closed up for winter after moving in last fall. I tried all the commercial odour eliminators, but nothing really worked until I put little dishes of baking soda in every room. The nasty odour cleared up immediately when I did that.
I also use baking soda in my fridge, cupboards, and kitchen garbage pail. I haven’t tried just opening a box and leaving it; I use it with maximum exposed surface area.
Try it yourself. Find something fairly stinky–say, a patch of your carpet that has been well-used, a cushion that has been sat on too much, something textiley. Vacuum it. Smell it. Does it still smell pretty bad? Good.
Now sprinkle baking soda on it and rub it in. Leave for 15 minutes or more. Then vacuum the item again and smell it again. Has the smell changed?
I sprinkle baking soda inside my kitchen garbage pail (it’s a small pail and gets emptied frequently, but once in awhile a bag might leak, etc.), and keep a shallow box top with some in a dirty clothes hamper storage nook. I also sprinkle some on sponges for scrubbing when additional abrasiveness is needed.
Does anybody know the chemistry of what’s happening when a person uses the baking soda + vinegar treatment for odiferous pipes? (Pour a spoonful or two of b.s. down the drain; add vinegar; watch as it splutters and fizzes and deodorizes the pipe.)
My casual understanding is that the vinegar is reacting with the b.s., resulting in the release of carbon dioxide gas. But is what’s left over of the baking soda still an effective deodorizer, or is much of the benefit actually from using vinegar? Is vinegar used mainly to produce the fizzing and better distribute the b.s. throughout the pipe?
Leaving a box in the sock drawer or refrigerator does nothing. Most of the time, the people I see that do that already have immaculate houses. The fact that the refrigerator doesn’t smell has little to do with the box of baking soda. If you sprinkle baking soda on the floor and vacuum it up, you may get some smell relief. I think you more likely adapt to the smell. Even so, baking soda can only cancel the acidic smells and it can only absorb the smells that come into contact with it. It may have some ability to adsorb other smells. I’ll be happy to try the diaper pail experiment. I’m very skeptical.
I don’t usually think of that as terribly effective, unless it’s spread around or stirred fairly regularly. That said, my fridge was getting a bit smelly recently from a lot of spicy leftovers, and I stuck a mostly-gone box of b. s. in there as a sort of half-hearted effort until I could do something better, and it worked.
I also keep a shaker can of b. s. in the car and shake it every so often, it really does seem to help with the slight smell of smoking from the previous owner. I do other stuff too though.
I sure wish we had better evidence one way or another. I don’t like to discount peoples experience, but the chemistry makes no sense. I suspect something else is at work.
As for the diaper pail, the stench is unbearable to the point of making me gag and even spit up, but that is only when I’m opening up the container. As long as the container is closed, I don’t really smell it. I suspect that the smell is just too damned strong for something like baking soda to work.
In the fridge, could the effect be because the sodium bicarbonate is actually absorbing MOISTURE from the fridge air and so some of the odor that’s floating around in that moisture might become trapped?
Well, I’m a chemist and have no real idea how it works, but I’m pretty sure it does.
My football trainers all smell of, well, cat piss. No, I have no cats. Throwing them in the washing machine has no effect. An old pair of socks each filled with 2-300g of bicarb (NaHCO3) and placed in the offending trainers for 24-48 hours and they’re odour free. Until I wear them again…
Baking soda put down in a cat litter box before adding the litter is supposed to help with the odor. I have two cats and sometimes need a gas mask to empty the litter, even though I do use the bs. Perhaps it is just bs.
I don’t see how this is possible, since in order to get absorbed the water needs to come in contact with the baking soda. Unless you are circulating air through the box, this is not happening. Also, sodium bicarbonate is not particularly hygroscopic. Also, the top layer needs to be constantly exchanged.
The reaction produces CO2, water and sodium acetate. One use for which is a flavoring agent for foods such as potato chips.
I can’t see how it be a good deodorizer or as often touted, a drain cleaner.
