«Mix baking soda and vinegar…» It is a tip for cleaning at home that you will find many times on the internet. However, it doesn’t always make sense.

In fact, most of the time it doesn’t: cover a surface with baking soda, then pour a little vinegar on top and you’ll see how it immediately turns into a effervescent mixture.

This such a spectacular chemical reaction Maybe it will make you think that something is happening there that is capable of removing even the most stubborn stains. But it’s not that big of a deal… and sometimes you’ll be using more product than you really need.

It is not always a good idea to mix baking soda with vinegar

Science does not support that mixing baking soda and vinegar is a good idea for cleaning in most cases.

You just have to check what happens at a chemical level: when baking soda reacts with the acetic acid in vinegar, carbonic acid is produced, which quickly breaks down into water and carbon dioxidewhich forms the bubbles. Yes, carbonated water.

Does anyone out there claim that sparkling water is good for cleaning? The chemist Chem Thug has explained it very clearly and with a very graphic practical example on TikTok:

@chem.thug While it might seem like baking soda and vinegar are best buddies, when you mix them to clean something, you just end up with water and salt—which is not helpful. Use one or the other to clean, but not at the same time! #stitch with @mrsmessytiktok . . . . . #bakingsoda#vinegar#vinegarhacks#cleantok#cleaninghacks#foryou#scienceathome#chemistry#fyp#scienceismagic#scienceexperiments#chemistryteacher#chemistrylab♬ original sound – Chem Thug

Vinegar and baking soda, separately, are effective

This article It is not a criticism of the use of baking soda and vinegar as natural cleaning products. On the contrary, they are highly recommended if used separately and appropriately.

• Baking soda acts as a base with a pH of 9, making it very effective at removing grease stains.
• Vinegar, on the other hand, is a dilute acetic acid solution, which works as an acid with a pH of 2 and serves to effectively break down mineral deposits, such as calcium and magnesium, found in hard water and that stain faucets, glass and metal surfaces.

Their natural properties, low price, and virtually zero impact on the environment make baking soda and vinegar popular choices as eco-friendly and non-toxic cleaning solutions in homes. But when those materials are combined, the results are generally not good.

It can be of some help in unclogging drains.

To do this, add a good amount of baking soda and then the vinegar. The bubbles could help break down and move dirt. If the blockage does not resolve, you can use plumber’s wire or, better yet, you can dismantle the drain trap if possible and clean it thoroughly.

A mixture that works best: vinegar and cream of tartar

The reason people probably use baking soda and vinegar is that vinegar works well together with cream of tartar, also called potassium bitartrate.

cream of tartar found naturally in many plants and appears as sediment in wine barrels when it ages.

This substance is used in cooking to stabilize egg whites when preparing meringue or to whip a firmer cream.

You may not have used it in these preparations, but you have surely used it to make cakes and other pastry recipes. No? Yes, because Baking powder is a mixture of baking soda and cream of tartar.

When you mix vinegar with baking powder you get tartaric acid, which can be used to clean porcelain, aluminum, copper and brass. Maybe that’s why someone thought that if the yeast and vinegar mixture worked, so would the vinegar and baking soda combination.