We get a lot of questions about cleaners and best practices in septic systems, and this one is easy – it’s an emphatic “yes!”
Baking soda and vinegar are safe
Baking soda and vinegar are safe and effective cleaners for your household drains and, best yet, they are 100% safe for your septic tank and drain field. Bleach and ammonia-based cleaners (i.e. most of the cleaning aisle at the big-box stores) can be harmful to the good bacteria in your septic tank.
But baking soda and vinegar will not kill the healthy bacteria in your tank, keeping your septic system working properly much longer and with less maintenance required.
How to use baking soda and vinegar
So, you might be wondering how to use baking soda and vinegar to clean in your home. Here are some of our favorite methods to use these effective and inexpensive cleaners for your kitchen and bathrooms:
Clogged drains are a real hassle. It’s important to watch for signs of a backed-up septic system, but if that’s not the case, you can use baking soda to unclog stubborn grime from your drains, which might be leading to slight backups. Mix a few tablespoons of baking soda with a cup or two of hot water (you can also add white vinegar for a bit more punch).
Pour down your drain, wait a few minutes for the mixture to work, and then try running hot water or using a plunger. It’s a great way to avoid the large expense of a plumber’s visit and the hassle of unusable drains – so try it first!
These work as a toilet bowl cleaner as well
Amazingly, these natural cleaners work as a toilet bowl cleaner as well! For this purpose, we recommend a mixture of baking soda and liquid castile soap. You may have heard of castile soap but might not know why it has a cult-like following. Many people swear by the cleaning powers of castile soap, and how non-toxic it is – remarkably, it’s a vegetable-based soap, free of animal fats and synthetic ingredients.
It’s biodegradable (great for septics!) and, fun fact: gets its name from the Castile region of Spain. To cleana toilet bowl, generously dust baking soda in the toilet bowl. Add a few drops of liquid soap and scrub with a sponge or cloth – you’ll be amazed at the sparkle you achieve in no time.
Baking soda works as a great scrubbing agent for sinks, showers, tubs, and counters. It’s a clean effective and powerful cleaner that will help get your house sparkling clean without hurting your septic system or requiring septic tank maintenance afterward.
Add simple white vinegar and liquid castile soap to your cleaning arsenal and you won’t even miss the harmful standard cleaners you used to use, most of which were slowly harming your septic system.
You don’t have to harm your septic tank
Cleaning our kitchens and bathrooms is a necessity, but you don’t have to harm your septic tank to do it. Thanks for reading, and as always, call us anytime with septic tank questions or to schedule a septic tank pumping or clean. We’re happy to help.
