Is Baking Soda Enough to Clean Your Dishes? Let’s Talk About It

I recently came across a video from Paul Saladino where he said he uses baking soda to clean his dishes.

And of course… I had to try it.

Honestly?
At first, I really liked it.

It felt like everything got clean easier. My hands weren’t dry like they are with regular dish soap. It just felt… simple.

But the more I thought about it, the more I realized there’s a piece of this conversation that isn’t really being talked about.

So let’s break it down.

Why Baking Soda Feels Like It Works So Well

I get the appeal. I really do.

Baking soda:

• scrubs really well

• cuts through grease physically

• doesn’t have fragrance or harsh ingredients

• is gentle on your hands

So when you use it, your dishes look clean. They feel clean. Your sink looks clean.

And that’s where a lot of these videos stop.

The Part No One Is Explaining

There’s a difference between:

• cleaning

• and actually making something safe to eat off of

Baking soda is great at removing food and buildup.

What it doesn’t do well is handle bacteria.

And that matters more than we think—especially if you’re cooking real meals at home.

Raw chicken, eggs, meat, all of that leaves behind things you can’t see. And just because a plate looks clean doesn’t mean it’s fully clean.

That’s where soap comes in.

Dish soap helps break things down and lift everything off the surface so it can actually rinse away.

What People Did “Back Then”

There’s this idea online that people used to clean everything with super natural methods.

But even way back, people were still using some form of soap.

It might not have looked like what we have now, but the goal was the same:
something that could actually break down grease and properly clean dishes.

Baking soda was more of a helper, not the main system.

My Honest Take

I’m all about being mindful of what I use in my home.

I’ve switched a lot of things over, and I care about ingredients.

But I’m also not willing to mess around with food safety.

That’s just not the place I want to experiment.

So for me, I’m sticking with dish soap.

That said, I did like using baking soda—and I think there’s a place for it.

What I’m Doing Now

This is what feels like the best balance for me:

• baking soda for scrubbing stuck-on food or grease

• a small amount of dish soap to actually wash and rinse

It uses less product, feels better on my hands, and still makes sure everything is properly cleaned.

Simple, realistic, and it works.

Final Thoughts

If you’ve seen videos like this and felt like you’ve been doing everything wrong… you haven’t.

There’s just a lot of information online that only tells part of the story.

Not everything labeled “natural” is automatically enough.
And not everything with ingredients is something to be afraid of.

You don’t need to overcomplicate this.

You just need something that works—and makes sense.

If anything, take this as your reminder:

You’re not behind.
You’re just learning how to filter through the noise