In alt.home.repair, on Fri, 16 Nov 2018 22:58:15 -0500,
wrote:

On Fri, 16 Nov 2018 19:01:13 -0700, rbowman
wrote:

On 11/16/2018 03:24 PM, arlen michael holder wrote:
My question is more toward figuring out WHY I see baking soda mentioned as
a panacea for almost everything from baby rash to automotive leak repair.

It is a deodorizer.

http://bestcarpetcleanerreview.net/h...t-really-work/

There are Glade makes some carpet powders with a fragrance but I find
the fragrance cloying so straight baking soda is better. The Arm &
Hammer 1 lb. boxes suggest opening it and putting it in the refrigerator
to deal with food odors.


I did have luck using it to deodorize a rug. (Dog puke, dog **** etc,
puppies are a bitch)
I pressure cleaned the rug, hung it the sun for a few days with no
real joy, then I broomed in a pound or so of baking soda. let it sit
in the sun all day and vacuumed it out real well. It was as good as
new.

That's great.

Not baking soda but a similar story. The steam radiator was dripping
and instead of telling me so I'd call the landlord, my obnoxious
roommate took MY thermal blanket from the closet and just used it to
soak up the water. I only learned this after I kicked him out. I took
up the blanket, saw the water=damaged parquet floor because the blanket
made more wood wet than would have been, and the mildew smell from the
blanket was terrible. Took it to a laundramat and washed it and it
smelled just as bad. Put it in a dryer until dry, or maybe a little
longer, dont' remember, and it smelled good as new, and it never smelled
bad again. Sunlight has big advantages and is free but I lived in an
apartment and had no yard.