I use baking soda for lots of cleaning around my house and especially in the kitchen. A few shakes in a dirty pot for soaking overnight, as a mild abrasive to scrub the sink with, as a deodorizer in the compost pail that sits on the kitchen counter or sprinkled into the garbage can. It’s also a great alternative to silver polish for cleaning sterling silver. My last shaker jar sat under our sink and got knocked over regularly. It wasn’t quite cute enough to sit out on my kitchen window sill next to flowers or fresh herbs. And, even though there are worse spills than baking soda to clean up, I was on the hunt (at garage and estate sales, of course) for a cuter glass jar so I could have it be front and center of my kitchen sink, easily accessible all the time.
How to Make a Baking Soda Shaker for Cleaning
Materials needed:
- Glass jar – check estate sales or garage sales for a pretty one if you’d like but really any glass jar will do.
- A top for the glass jar that can be drilled or nailed into.
- Drill (or nail and hammer) to make holes.
- Baking soda – to fill the new shaker.
Start with a jar that’s clean, dry and labels removed. Then, mark on a piece of paper the pattern of holes to cut.
Mark the top of the shaker with your pattern. A pencil didn’t show up on mine so I had to use a permanent marker.
Drill the holes being careful not to drill any fingers. A nail with a hammer works well here also (but remove the top from the jar before hammering).
Do the drilling or hammering with the glass out-of-the-way. We don’t want our cute glass jars getting broken!
Here’s what didn’t work out for me. The circle on the inside of my lid was glass. I thought it was wax or plastic (yes, I even had my reading glasses on but I still couldn’t see!) and the drill wouldn’t go through it. I finally had to pry it out with a screw driver once I cracked it. The old Ball lids (one piece construction) don’t seem to be for sale any longer but I really like how they look. I think they make really great lids for baking soda shakers, don’t you?
Surprise! It’s glass – not wax or plastic.
It was a quick clean up and then I filled my jar up with baking soda.
This big bag of baking soda is from Costco. I keep it in my laundry area because I like to add baking soda to my washing machine loads, too, as needed.
I love how it looks on the window sill in my kitchen and it’s within reach of whoever is doing the dishes after dinner – preferably one of my kids!!
And, because it’s actually clean – a view of the kitchen sink! The window sill is complete with a vase full of fresh cilantro, too.
That’s it – a baking soda shaker ready for cleaning dishes, the sink or freshening my smelly compost pail. Very Go Gingham!
What are your cleaning tricks in the kitchen? Do you have baking soda shaker?
Go Gingham related links:
I love it when my kids cook dinner – and clean up
How my recipes are organized – finally – this project took me years to accomplish!
The “coat closet” in our kitchen – really, they’re just hooks
Frugal grocery shopping and slowing down for family eating
Here’s a little video of me using my last shaker from my appearance on AMNW last December:
http://swfs.bimvid.com/bimvid_player-3_2_7.swf?x-bim-callletters=KATU
Go Gingham 
I love this idea, Sara! We clean with baking soda too, but our shaker got all clogged up and we couldn’t get the top off. Since then we’ve just muddled through by just tilting soda out of the box. Not efficient.
I love your old fashioned mason jar and how pretty it looks on your kitchen windowsill. You have officially inspired me!
Amy
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Thanks, Amy! I love the blue color, too. I found 3 of this color blue jar on my last shopping trip with friends to “the bins” (Goodwill outlet center) and have been enjoying them so much this summer with cut flowers from our yard – or from my neighbor’s yard 😉 with permission, of course! The jars I found are all the larger size and 2 of them match but they’re all the same pretty blue. I think they need to bring back that color!
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Wow this is awesome! It is the simple things in life that make things easier and happier. Like this! The jar looks so pretty, and I have never thought to do this. I am actually going to Costco today, funny enough, and I have a jar I can use. I have never thought to sprinkle bs on just about anything. Thanks!
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Thank you, Fabiola! Yes, get a big bag of baking soda. It really has so many uses…you can even brush your teeth with it! I sprinkled some in my kitchen sink and down the drain overnight just last night and it works while I’m sleeping, too. Can’t wait to see how yours turns out!
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I love this idea! I’ve been on the lookout for pretty jars/bottles to store baking soda and vinegar in. Thanks for the inspiration.
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Julie, you are so welcome! Using any old jar is fine but having a pretty one almost makes the cleaning fun – almost 🙂
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Nice shaker! I’ve never seen a solid top like that for Ball jars. Good find. It looks great on your sill.
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I know, Heidi, I love the top. It would be great if Ball made more of them. I checked their site and they don’t but it would be a good item for them to bring back.Thanks!!
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I love your shaker… so pretty! I keep a shaker by my sink as well. I found a glass parmesan cheese shaker at the dollar store. So far it’s been perfect for baking soda!
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Terri, that sounds like a great shaker idea! Love the re-purposing angle and it was a good price, too 😉 Thank you!!
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Hi
I like your idea of a baking soda shaker. I use it a lot too for cleaning. I’m curious about how you use it to polish silver though? Do you just make a paste with baking soda and water?
For some reason, I polish a lot of silver!
thanks
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Hi Maria,
Yes, make a little paste of baking soda mixed with water and rub it into the silver. It doesn’t work as well as silver polish but it comes in a close second. Sometimes, I even add it to my silver polish if I have something that really needs cleaning because I should polish my silver more often! I also use it on a belt I have that has a silver buckle. An old toothbrush is really useful for little crevices when using baking soda instead of/with silver polish, too. Thanks for asking and leaving a comment, Maria.
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Count me in as another who loves this idea! I always try to just sprinkle it out of the box or bag and always end up with more than I need. This is going on the project list for sure!
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Brenna, I’m so glad! It won’t last long on that project list because it’s super easy. Finding the right jar and lid may take you longer 😉
Thanks!
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Such a good idea, Sara! I am now officially on the look-out for a cute jar with a metal lid (sans glass insert!). Thank for the great pics!!!
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Thanks, Annie! It’s super easy and with your skills in handling power tools, you’ll be done with this in no time 😉
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Hi, I found a couple of the lids at a garage sale this summer on vacation.
Wasn’t sure what I would do with them. Now I know.
I have a sugar shaker that I put cornstarch in and keep in the bathroom.
It works like powder only I like the cornstarch better.
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Hi Linda! Great find on those lids. Good idea on the cornstarch. I may try that although I like the baby-powder-ish smell of my powder. Thanks for leaving a comment. Can’t wait to hear how your shakers turn out!
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That looks great Sara! I’d prob just use a parm cheese shaker or a protein drink shaker from the dollar store but instead, we take the used boxes of baking soda from the fridge/freezer and place on the counter by the sink and sprinkle liberally from the box. If a bit more comes out then anticipated, its OK b/c its already been used to keep my fridge smelling clean. We use to shine the sink, lift stubborn stains off pots/pans overnight and to deodorize the compost bin – it still works!
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Helen,
That’s great that you re-use the baking soda from your refrigerator, also. You’ll laugh at my post next week – it’s all about soaking pots and pans in baking soda! Thanks, Helen.
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Fantastic idea. I have just the jar. I’m going to set this up tonight. Can’t wait to read more.
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Thanks, Taylor! Please let me know how it turns out… 🙂 I just used mine to sprinkle baking soda in the bathtub, too, but I was careful not to drop my sweet little jar.
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Love this idea, especially using it to freshen up my compost bucket. We’ve only been composting for about 6 months, so I’m always looking for tips. I’m so glad I found your blog. You have lots of fantastic tips.
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Rachel, good job composting! It can get stinky – especially during the warmer months of the year. I’m so glad you found my blog, too! 🙂 Thanks for leaving a comment!
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