Baking soda is well-known as a classic leavening agent in many of your favorite baked goods, but it’s got many more uses than just sprinkling into recipes. It also works as a powerful cleaner and deodorizer in the kitchen.

Baking soda (aka sodium bicarbonate) is multi-purpose, affordable, eco-friendly, and non-toxic, making it a great alternative if you want to reduce the number of chemical cleaners in your home. As a bonus, it doesn’t leave a strong odor like many leading cleaning products. Once you see how well it cleans, you may consider buying it in bulk. And you wouldn’t be alone. It’s no wonder many stores sell big orange-and-yellow boxes of an iconic brand in the cleaning aisle.

Sometimes sodium bicarbonate is all you need to help clean in the kitchen, but depending on the surface and how tough the stains are, you may need to boost it by mixing it with a natural acid, such as white vinegar or lemon juice. This causes a foaming, bubbling chemical reaction that helps loosen stains and grease.