I fear I am becoming like the Dad in the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding. You know the guy who goes around spraying everything and everyone with Windex 
MOVIE QUOTE:
“Toula Portokalos: My dad believed in two things: That Greeks should educate non Greeks about being Greek and every ailment from psoriasis to poison ivy can be cured with Windex.”
Since I discovered the “miracle” of baking soda
Today, as I contemplated what I could clean next, I noticed my nasty-looking utensils that are covered with hard water spots and thought….why not!?!? :-)
This time I decided to document with pictures. Although my camera phone
This is my “recipe”:
I put about 1/4 cup of baking soda in a small glass bowl and squirt in hydrogen peroxide until it makes a nice paste. Then I rub it on the offending dirt/stain/grease…whatever! I usually just use my fingers…but I also use a small sponge at times as well.
I’ve never used gloves and my fingers have never bothered me. As a matter of fact, this stuff seems to make them softer? Is that possible? lol.
SEE! I AM becoming like the Dad in “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”! Next thing I’ll be putting it on my zits! hahahaha. Probably not though. ;-)
And that’s today’s….
{ 37 comments… read them below or add one }
I have figured out that to keep the hard water spots from making my dishes look more dirty than when they went in, I do not use the pots and pans feature on the dishwasher, only normal wash. Also DO NOT use the heated dry, this is what is baking on the minerals in the water. So far it's worked great, and every time somebody pushes the buttons and I don't notice I once again have dirty dishes :(
Just tried this on a pan I was starting to think was a goner. My peroxide was expired (2008 – eye roll), but I scrubbed like my life depeneded on it (or at least my sanity) and all the gunk is gone! I have pinned a couple other "recipes" for future use. Love your site! Thanks!
Wonderful! Glad to hear it wpfarmgirl. :-) Thanks for stopping by!
I wanted to mention something about zits and blemishes. I have heard of using the baking soda mixture, but I have never personally tried it. I do know however, that toothPASTE really helps to dissolve blemishes fast. My sisters and I have used this for years when we didn't have facial cleaning products on hand.
If you dab a little toothpaste on each blemish and let it dry and keep it there for a bit (I personally have left it on overnight) it helps bring down redness and inflamation and seems to just suck the oil and gunk out. Usually in the morning the zit is ready to expel and then it dries and heals within a day and a half or so. On the plus side, it's gentle and it has a slight cooling sensation that can be really soothing if you have a painful blemish.
I do not think that the toothGEL works because now that I think of it, it must be the baking soda in the toothpaste that makes it work.
I noticed my fingers become soft after using Oxy Clean. My mom always said it was the chemicals taking off dead skin. Be careful with the Miracle Cleaner– might more powerful than you thought!! Gonna have to make some of my own
found you on Pinterest! Cannot wait to try! Pinning!!
As for the dishwasher….use TANG for one wash with an empty machine. It gets rid of ALL the stains in the machine. Has worked in several machines I have had over the years.
It worked pretty well for my nasty cookie sheets, but it sure made my wedding ring sparkle like new! I can't stop looking at my hand!
Awesome!
I'm not sure if you answered this already but what do you do after you put the mixture on the grease?
Do you just wipe it off with a wet towel/rag/sponge? Do you wash it off?
My dentist recommended using a paste of equal portions of baking soda and salt, and enough hydrogen peroxide to make a paste. Soda cleans, salt helps the gums, and the HP bubbles its way into all the nooks and crannies! Cant wait to try this on my cookie sheets!
I just used your all purpose cleaner to clean my oven, and now it's just like new! I also used it to clean gorilla glue off of my granite countertop (long story), and it took that off too. I've tried all kinds of things to get the glue off and none of them have worked until now, thanks!
I use baking soda as a facial scrub every night!!! And a baking soda, water paste to wash my hair everyday. You should try it!!
Do you think this will work on the bottom of a pot? My husband had the grand idea to deep fry some hot wings and splashed hot oil all over the pan and still continued to cook it baked the oil to the bottom of the pan. I have tried everything i can think of to try and save the pan. It's one of my favorites. I have an electric stove so the coil marks are baked in oil on the outside of the pan. Any tricks or advise would be wonderful. Thank you
I had a pot like that and I inadvertently cleaned it when making a batch of handsoap out of bar soap. Give it a shot…
I read a lot of the comments on this post (not all, but a lot) and I just want to say that the best thing I have found for hard water in the bathroom is a pumice stone! I had a BAD ring around my toilet and it took it RIGHT off! I have used that on my toilet ever since! Good luck!
hey noni, noni…would you believe I forgot to ask my dds! I have to go back next week. I promise I won't forget. ;-)
I had to add to the dialogue tonight (Thanks Patty!) because I found a "new" use for the 'miracle cleaner' tonight. I have been attempting to do a craft (I know, scary thought) and I needed some empty glass jars. I soaked the jars in hot water overnight to remove the labels, but there was still some very stubborn glue on a couple of them that would not come off! Out came my little bowl of MC from under the sink (I just add a little hydrogen peroxide to "reconstitute" it when I need it) and just rubbing with my fingers I was able to get all the rest of the glue off! I really do LOVE that stuff! ;-)
You can also clean your sterling silver jewelry with boiling water and baking soda! Came out of all the nooks and crannies those annoying "polisher cloths" can't begin to touch. :)
Jill,
Here is a hint for baked on stuck on pans. Put some hot water and dish detergent in the pan, then put some baking soda in with it and let it sit for about 15 minutes. What is stuck will come off w/ little scrubbing. I use this on my crockpot all the time and it works better than the expensive stuff you buy.
I am loving your blog but wishs I knew where to fine my URL for when I ask a question. I am not computer literate. About all I know is how to turn it on. lol
Helen
Helen-
Thanks for the tip. My crockpot is sitting in my sink right now-We had porkchops that left gunky stuff on the sides. I have not been able to get it clean. I’m going to go try this right now-by dish detergent do you mean the liquid handwashing type or the powdered dishwasher type??
My husband is a mechanic and he tracked grease all over our carpet…I tried everything I could think of, and still there were big globs of grease everywhere! As a last resort, I mixed up some miracle cleaner (which I use all over the rest of the house, so I figured…why not?) and rubbed it into the grease. After it sat for a few minutes, I used a brush to scrub the spots…and they came clean! Most of them came up completely after just one application, the rest came out after two (and one stubborn one had to be attacked 3 times) So amazing- you saved my living room carpet! Thank you for this, and the many other recipes I've gotten from your wonderful blog!
Helen…do you know how to add bookmarks? Thanks for the hint!
Megan…that is wonderful! A new way to use the miracle cleaner. :-)
Gina…thank you so much for that information! That makes perfect sense!
Looking forward to using MC.
Thanks for the tip! In my experience, your miracle cleaner also can be used to ENTIRELY remove the smell of cat urine from carpet, if you change it up a little bit: 1 qt hydrogen peroxide mixed with 1/4 cup baking soda and 1 tsp liquid soap (any kind). Vacuum, then thoroughly saturate the spot (you need to make sure there is enough to saturate the padding, too) with a spray bottle full of miracle cleaner. Wait for it to dry, approximately 48 – 72 hours, then vacuum again. I got down and sniffed the carpet afterwards and it was fresh as a daisy! Make sure to test a spot first to make sure the cleaner doesn’t bleach your carpet. It shouldn’t, but better safe than sorry. Anyone trying this should Google the recipe first, because there are a couple of other important disclaimers I can’t quite recall–it’s been a few years since kitty had an accident. So after that success I wondered how it would work on stinky gym shoes–again, it’s just perfect! I sprayed the inside of the shoes really well with miracle cleaner then vacuumed them out a few days later. It’s amazing!!!
I don’t know what the rest of you are doing/using but it didn’t work for me *sadness* I made up the paste and scrubbed with my fingers till my fingers began to tingle from the paste–owie!–and then I switched over to a sponge, like she said, and still no miracle. Believe me, I went after this for about 10 minutes, and then I just coated the paste on my pans (thinking “Maybe if I let it sit on there for about 5-10 minutes, maybe that will be a miracle???”).
But NO! Nothing. Zero. Zip. Zilch. When I started out, my pans looked like her before picture, and when I finally called it quits–in frustration & disgust–they were MAYBE, just MAYBE, one, at best, shade lighter. Oh, well, I guess not everyone can expect a miracle everyday. Better luck to all the rest of you. :)
Me too unfortunately, I had oil spill over onto the sides of my andondized calphalon pans and I hate the way it looks – was sooo hoping for a miracle – but it didn’t do anything for the oil marks.
I so can not thank you enough for this! I put in on my flat iron and it worked wonderfully! I’ve had my flat iron for, oh, 5 years now, and although I use it maybe 3 or 4 times a month, that’s still pretty gunky! I try not to have product in my hair while I’m using it, but, well, it happens, right? This took it right off in about 30 minutes! Thank you soooo much!
I tried this on my cookie sheet, it wasn’t as bad as yours and it didn’t do anything. Maybe a video demonstration would be nice so we can see how you did it! :)
I have a wonderful recommendation for trouble with hard water on dishes. When I moved to the country with well water 2 years ago, all of my dishes started getting so chalky & white in the dishwasher. I tried several things, and finally found 2 products that work wonders.
The first is just a heavy dose of phosphates, but if you don’t mind that, then it’s Glass Magic by Finish. Here is a link… http://www.amazon.com/Finish-Glass-Dishwasher-Performance-Booster/dp/B000UCI09G
The other is a more natural product called LemiShine. I believe it works just as well, so I use this (since I like the “natural” aspect of it. http://www.amazon.com/Lemi-Shine-703074228744/dp/B0047528HM/ref=sr_1_3?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1334880360&sr=1-3
Each of these is a powder (or granular) product. You just add it in with the detergent & run the dishwasher as you normally would. It’s amazing the difference. I will sometimes have a few spots on clear glass, but it beats the heckoutta having a completely cloudy, scummy, chalky, disgusting film on every dish!! I sware by the stuff, and won’t run my dishwasher without it.
Am I the only one who thinks having to go over something several times to clean up all the residue makes this just inconvenient? Maybe I’m only supposed to be using the MC as a spot treatment for tough spots? I cleaned my bathroom last night and spent more time getting the powder up than I did cleaning and then the counters still felt kind of gritty. Advice?
I used this mix when our dog was a puppy. Gets/ lightens urine stains from wood floors.
Ah, BAKING SODA.
I have been making my own cleaning products for years.
I discovered about 6 or 7 years ago that baking soda could be purchased much less expensively in 50 pound bags at an agricultural supply store. If they don’t have it on hand (depending upon where you live) they can order it for you. We live in a more suburban than farming region, however we do have an Agway three towns up.
Sometimes the brand is Arm & Hammer sometimes another. Please be advised that this is NOT food grade, it is AGRICULTURAL ONLY. Do not have your children start mooing by making a mistake.
Must not be eaten or cooked with for humans. I have no idea why and I never went so far as to call Arm and Hammer.
When I began my bulk purchasing of baking soda, it was 11 cents a pound versus $1.00.
Probably depends upon where you live and I am sure that the price has gone up a bit since then as gas and diesel has.
If you are interested you could probably get someone or a few someones to go in on a bag.
I first heard of you, Jillee, when a friend sent me your link and recipe for citrus enzyme cleaner. I am patient (or at least for that recipe felt I was), so it is still brewing in a glass bottle near kitchen sink. Luckily, we have had a bit of a cold spell, here in CT. I do wonder about this brewing in the hot and humid weather.
Can’t wait for it to be done and have been saving some spray bottles for that day.
Happy Cleaning and Making It Yourself to all.
Cheers,
Ruth
PS instead of Jet Dry and those sort of products for dishwasher, I have been using white vinegar. It has been many years now and I find it to work just as well. When I switched I just re-used the little Jet Dry container and filled it with vinegar. I suppose if you like the thicker consistency you could add glycerin but I wouldn’t waste the $.
Just used you “Miracle” Cleaner on my kitchen counters, bathroom floor around our toilet and the bathroom sinks. Works so great! My husband was quite impressed with the results as well! Love your site. Thank you! :)
Love this! I started investigating the baking soda/peroxide combo after I read this. You can use a mixture of baking soda/hydrogen peroxide to gargle with! (you can also help dilute it with water if your gums are sensitive) Just don’t swallow lol. It is supposed to kill gingivitis, prevents cavities and whitens your teeth!
You can also make a paste from the baking soda/peroxide and use a toothbrush to scrub the stains off of your sneakers!
Has anyone tried this on a glass/ceramic cooktop? I’m dying to try it on mine, but I’m afraid of scratching it
I dont no if im doing something rong but it did work on my pans, maybe there to bad for it to work, :(
LOVED this! Used it tonight on my very burnt, disgusting burner plates and it worked like a charm! They are now shiny and clean. This is a new favorite in my house, thank you!
I have to say too, that this did not work for me either. Can you shed some light or a turtoial?
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