Thanks to Sarah with Nature’s Nurture for this awesome tip! Link to her blog is below.
We’re turning baking soda into washing soda this week! A good number of my homemade products require the use of washing soda, but for every item I post that uses washing soda, I always get a few comments asking where you can find it. It’s true, sometimes it’s a little hard to find – even I had trouble the first time around. (It’s usually in the laundry aisle or can be found on Amazon, by the way.)
But for those who live in rural areas, or without large grocery stores, it’s still hard to track down. So in my search for the best place to buy washing soda for one of our readers, I stumbled upon this idea from Penny at Penniless Parenting that you can actually turn baking soda into washing soda, simply by baking it!
The difference between baking soda and washing soda is water and carbon dioxide. Seriously. Baking soda’s chemical makeup is NaHCO3 (1 sodium, 1 hydrogen, one carbon, and 3 oxygen molecules). Washing soda’s chemical makeup is Na2CO3 (2 sodium, 1 carbon, and 3 oxygen molecules). When baking soda is heated up to high temperatures, it breaks down to become washing soda, water (steam), and carbon dioxide.
So, the steam and carbon dioxide are released during the cooking process, leaving you with… washing soda! See? Now, don’t I sound all smart and science-y? 🙂
The process is really simple. Just heat your oven to 400 F (or 200 C), sprinkle some baking soda on a shallow pan, and bake it for about half hour, until it changes composition. You should also stir it up occasionally, just so that it bakes more evenly.
So how do you know when it changes into washing soda? That part takes a little more work; just a closer, watchful eye. Once you know the differences between the 2 sodas, you’ll be able to tell in no time. Penny breaks it down like this: Baking soda is powdery, crystallized like salt, and clumps together. Washing soda is grainy, dull and opaque, and is separate grains. You can see the difference below: baking soda on the left, and washing soda on the right.
That’s it! See? I told you it was simple! Now you can go make liquid laundry detergent, powdered laundry detergent, and dishwasher detergent, without worrying about where to score your next box of washing soda. http://naturesnurtureblog.com/ttt-turn-baking-soda-into-washing-soda/
It’s Kristina Bee with Anointed By Abba! 🙂 Isn’t that fabulous?!? I love to add washing soda to my white loads with lemon oil and peroxide for super duper bright whites! And I can’t always find it, even in a big city like Phoenix so, this is very good to know!
If you haven’t had the chance to read about the dangers of fabric softener in post #1 of our laundry series, please click here. Our mission is to educate ourselves on what we are putting on our bodies, because IT DOES MATTER!! Believe me, I taste the essential oils that go on my SKIN! Also, we don’t want to forget this stuff gets in our WATER SUPPLY, and therefore our food.
We use essential oils on Smart Sheep Wool dryers balls and in Laundry Scenting Spray (post #2 – also a wrinkle-reducer!) instead of commercial softeners. Less expensive BY FAR, and better for everyone. If you can’t get rid of softener completely (GUILTY!), reduce it. You can do that! 🙂 Click on the affiliate links or the pictures to order these or other similar products from Amazon.
We still have a bunch more to say about laundry. Stay tuned!
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