One of the less obvious uses for baking soda is a tip I picked up from a pair of college roommates. They were brothers, and not only were they on the football team but they were stereotypical jocks, in the sense that they considered wallpapering the living room with the boxtops from half racks of Schmidt. I'll never forget the party they threw when the animal on the box changed from an elk (No, it is very much not a deer) to a fish.

Well, being that they were hard-drinking jocks who liked to throw lots of parties involving large quantities of cheap beer and large numbers of other, equally hard drinking jocks, at least once a week somebody would vomit in the bathroom. Usually it'd happen at a point in the night when all involved were three sheets to the wind and incapable of properly cleaning the mess up. Puke, if not promptly cleaned up, leaves a stench that takes days to completely get rid of.

This is where the trick comes in... If the mess is promptly covered with baking soda, it not only stinks less and becomes less of an eyesore for the rest of the night, but it prevents the odor from lingering after the mess is removed.


I doubt this works as well on carpet as it does on tile and linoleum.