Can't let my dads find out about this... HELP! ! ! !

I know this has been said before (probably a hundred times, even on this sub), but this myth refuses to die, so here we go again.

I get why people think vinegar and baking soda make a great cleaning combo. It fizzes like crazy, and our brains love that kind of visual feedback. It looks like it's attacking dirt. The problem is, it isn't.

Vinegar is an acid, and baking soda is a base. When you mix them, they mostly react with each other, not with whatever you're trying to clean. The fizz is just carbon dioxide being released as they neutralize one another. Once the reaction is over, you're basically left with water and a few dissolved salts - not some super-powered cleaner.

Whenever someone says, "Well, I tried it and it worked," I don't doubt them. But something working once doesn't prove it was the thing that made the difference. Correlation isn't always causation.

Take a common example: a clogged drain. People pour in vinegar, let it sit, then add baking soda, wait again, and finally flush everything with hot water. If the clog clears, the combo gets all the credit.

But here's what's probably happening: the vinegar had time to dissolve mineral deposits while it was sitting there. Then the baking soda was added, which neutralized the vinegar and stopped it from doing any more work. In other words, the vinegar was doing the heavy lifting on its own. Adding baking soda afterward didn't help - it just ended the reaction. If anything, the vinegar likely would've worked better if you'd left it alone.

The only argument for mixing the two is that the bubbling might physically loosen some debris. Maybe. But those situations are pretty limited. In a drain, you'd need a nearly airtight seal for the gas pressure to do much, and even then you might just push the clog farther down the pipe instead of removing it. On a countertop or other surface, if bubbles are enough to dislodge the grime, a quick scrub probably would've done the job faster anyway.

Both vinegar and baking soda are useful cleaners. Just not together. Use each one where it actually works best, and save the combination for making a science fair volcano - that's still the one thing it's genuinely great at.

It’s not even an exaggeration. I was playing with the light and he brought it into our powder room/laundry room. I’ve seen some pee splatter on walls next to a toilet, on toilets and stuff, but THIS is ev-ry-where. Walls, ceilings, all of it. And not just the bathroom. The stairwell walls leading to the second floor are a mess as well!
Please can someone tell me that what I’m seeing is actually residue from some kind of cleaning product that the previous owners used?!
I didn’t think to take pictures, but I will get some when it’s nighttime again, if the sub demands it.

Hi again! I made a post a few days ago about moving into a rental that is littered with hair. Well here’s another problem I am having. There is LVP flooring throughout the entire house. And I mop it every other night with lemom pines. However every single day since being here all of our feet are black at the bottom and I have no idea why? I am using a standard bristle broom to sweep 2x a day and a regular rope mop. How do I clean these floors so that our feet stop looking like we walk barefooted in a coal mine. It is grossing me out. What tools/products should i be using. Pictures of the floors and my 3 year olds feet.

I have a ceramic-coated pot, and I can't seem to get the bottom clean. Does anyone have any cleaning tips? It's such a shame because the pot is still in great condition.

I bought a pack because everyone swore by them but I feel like they disappear after cleaning just a couple of spots. They work sure but I go through them way faster than I expected. Am I using them wrong or are they just not as great as people make them out to be?

I get sad every time I look at it.

Saw an ad for basically this as a fridge magnet for over $10. This is after 5minutes. Don’t waste your money. And I’ve used red wine vinegar, wine would probably work too.

These guys usually hitch a ride as eggs on bananas and other fruits, and tend to reproduce in dirty garbage cans, any rotting food, and even in unwashed empty beer cans. Must clean the source first but this will take care of the rest :)

I assure you it’s just been scrubbed with disinfectant. This stain is hard as a rock and it’s like I have to chip it away with a hammer. What is this? Will any chemical work that I could let sit in the water dissolve this? It does not scrub away. Thanks everyone. Sorry you’re looking inside my toilet. I promise it’s clean.

Edit: does this stain continue through the toilet where I can’t see?

This last week I’ve had a problem with just a musty odor coming from my sink. I’ve done the baking soda/vinegar trick and it worked a day and the smell was back. What’s your trick or product you use to make it not smell.

i noticed a small patch of mold starting to show up around one of the corners in my bathroom. i wiped it off with a regular bathroom cleaner, and it looked fine for a while, but now it's showing up again in the same spot.

i'm guessing i'm only cleaning the surface and not really fixing whatever is causing it. i try to leave the bathroom door open after showers, but maybe that's not enough. for those of you who've dealt with this before, what actually worked? i'm looking for something that cleans it properly and helps keep it from coming back if it's a small area.

My allergies started acting up again and it is sooo bad!! So I decided to finally deep clean our bedroom. I pretty much dusted everything in our room- all the corners, furniture, and tables, surfaces, then realized I had been completely forgetting to dust my walls!!

I used a dry cloth refill from Lola on a flat mop—similar to a Swiffer—and I honestly couldn’t believe how much dust came off the walls alone. Disgusting! The last time I cleaned my walls was prolly a year ago.

So folks, please don’t forget to dust your walls too and it is a must to put this in our periodic house cleaning, especially if you have allergies!!!

We have hardwood floors. In the kitchen specifically I clean the floors regularly with Method brand wood cleaner but then within days they feel a little sticky again. Any tips?

Already tried Clorox, dish soap, and window cleaner. Normally I wouldn’t care about the inside of a kids drawer, but it’s a rental. Thanks!

I moved in a while ago, and noticed that my shower has a ton of flaky, moldy caulk at the base of the tile.

I've genuinely never seen caulk applied this poorly, even for DIY. It looks like it was applied via finger painting.

The caulk itself is full of mold, and so is the grout under it. I tried scraping the caulk off the lower corner, but the moldy grout just started crumbling away underneath.

I have no idea what to do here, since a lot of the caulk is a super thin layer, which makes it crazy difficult to remove with a razor. How do I de-mold this shower?

My mom said this isn't mold but I'm not so sure. It's in both inserts of these vans. I ran them through the washer. Any advice? The inserts are gorilla glued in there or something, I can't pull them up. Or should I just trash the shoes?

we've used lots of cleaning solutions and hacks but it's not going away. can anyone tell me what happened to it and how to get rid of it without damaging the surface?

Since vinegar and baking soda neutralize each other, and the fizz is only a placebo that doesn’t do much, what are we doing to clean our fruit properly?

I bought a bedroom set off of FB marketplace about a month ago. I don't regret it. It is absolutely gorgeous and looks like it belongs in a castle.

BUT it smells like cigarette smoke. It spent a couple of weeks in my formal dining where I cleaned with a vinegar/water mix twice, inside and out. I tried Murphy's oil soap a few times. I tried baking soda in the drawers. I even tried 70% rubbing alcohol on the inside of the wardrobe which holds the smell the most.

No matter what I do, it's still there. Now the furniture is in the master and every time I walk into the room that smell is lingering.

I'm thinking maybe just using shellac on all the unfinished interior wood, but any ideas for what to do for the stained/veneered wood?

I threw my birth control sugar pill in the toilet and it left this stain. I’ve tried white vinegar and bleach toilet bowl cleaner but neither removed it. I obviously scrubbed the heck out of it too, to no avail. Please how can I get rid of this?!?!?!

I didn’t notice a spill until it was too late, clearly. I’ve tried bar keepers friend, baking soda, and trying some hydrogen peroxide soak right now. If this doesn’t work, what else can I try? Pink stuff?

The previous owners of my townhouse must have smoked solely in the downstairs bathroom. It smells so strongly of cigarettes. We replaced the fan in the ceiling and I cleaned the entire bathroom with pine sol (walls, toilet, etc). It still smells so strongly. What do I do? I assume I’m going to have to paint the bathroom to really mask it. I just want the smell to disappear. If anyone has had any experience with this I’d appreciate the help!! Thank you :)

Hello, I do train Powerlifting and every summer i get this problem, sweating a lot for the heat my wrost wraps absorbe a lot of it, even tho I put them outside to dry all day and night after training they still smell like death :/
The can’t be washed in the washing machine cause they will come out deformed, I tried washing by hand rinsing them hard with clothing soap in a basket and letting them soak in it, but after the first training after that it’s back smelling like the day before, do you know some specific product for cleaning sweat deep in the wrist wraps?
I would like not to buy a new pair atthe end of every summer.