• @[email protected]
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    4 months ago

    You don’t need to go up to 400°F to decompose baking soda into washing soda. Decomposition starts around 122⁰F (50⁰C) and is complete at around 250⁰F (120⁰C)

    Depending on the thickness you put in the pan you may want to put the oven around 300⁰F so to speed up the process.

    You can safely go to higher temperature as it won’t ever be overcooked.

    details

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_bicarbonate

    Heating to transform (baking soda) sodium bicarbonate into (washing soda) sodium carbonate does remove moisture but also removes carbon dioxide :

    When sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) is heated, it undergoes a decomposition reaction to form sodium carbonate (Na2CO3), water (H2O), and carbon dioxide (CO2).

    The reaction can be represented as :
    2NaHCO3 + heat → Na2CO3 + H2O + CO2

    • @[email protected]
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      34 months ago

      I also wonder about the cost of using the oven, and whether it’s cheaper than just buying washing soda.

      • @[email protected]
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        4 months ago

        P = = oven average power ~1kW=1/1000MW
        C = = electricity cost ~50 to 200 $/MWh
        Δt = = process time duration ~1.0h
        Total = P x C x Δt
        … so, a few cents maximum, right ?
        … it’s more the time and effort you put in !

    • @[email protected]
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      4 months ago

      You can also do it in a pan on the stove top. Basically just heat up the baking soda over medium-ish heat. Once it gets hot enough, it’ll “bubble” as the carbon dioxide and water is driven off as gas. Once it stops “bubbling”, it’s done. It’s a bit faster than the oven method, but it’s more active since you have to stir it regularly.

      You can also weigh the powder before and after heating it to see if it’s fully converted* to washing soda. The resulting washing soda should weigh about 1/3 less than the starting amount of baking soda.

  • @[email protected]
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    434 months ago

    If only millennials bought more fabric softener instead of avocados and coffee they would be able to afford a house.

  • @[email protected]
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    134 months ago

    Borax gives me rashes, but I’ve used laundry bar soap or just the super sensitive skin liquid stuff. I use vinegar instead of name brand fabric softener because it’s cheaper and the other stuff gives me a rash. Nearly all of the store bought laundry stuff gives me rashes.

  • @[email protected]
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    84 months ago

    Fabric softener kills elastic and lots of clothes (including even jeans) have elastic in them. Yeah, you can do separate washes, but ain’t nobody got time for that.

    • @[email protected]
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      94 months ago

      Not heard of that one. The main one I know is it makes towels less absorbent, my partner’s mum uses it and it’s like trying to soak up water with a plastic bag.

      • mycelium underground
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        84 months ago

        Yeah when you coat all the fibers of the towel with slightly modified rendered animal fat, then they won’t absorb water. The long hydrophobic tail on the tallow dimethyl ammonium chloride molocule really doesn’t want to mix with water. It’s almost completely insoluble in polar solvents like water.

        Why make things soft by addressing the initial problem(residues and hard water salts in deposited in the fibers when the clothes dry) when you can just coat the whole thing in fat and call it “clean” and “soft”

      • lurch (he/him)
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        14 months ago

        probably uses too much. it has that effect, but it also makes them more fluffy

  • @[email protected]
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    214 months ago

    This new generation can’t do anything and spends money frivolously… This generation is too stingy and resourceful… Guys pick a damn lane.

    • @[email protected]
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      64 months ago

      They can’t afford fabric softener or washing detergents to clean those avocado stains.

  • @[email protected]
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    474 months ago

    I’m not sold on that homemade detergent. Soap tends to leave insoluble residue, especially when you have hard water. There is a reason why almost everything uses synthetic detergents (though it might also be because those are cheap).

    • @[email protected]
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      24 months ago

      Yeah, I’ve never understood the point in using a different soap as the base of a different soap. I make my own laundry soap out of basic shit I get from Walmart, and it works great.

        • @[email protected]
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          4 months ago

          Good question, but I’ll admit I’ve not actually run the exact figures. I’m actually doing this for health reasons rather than monetary, since one of my partners is allergic tio life.

          But to your question,I might have spent the cost of 1.5 large boxes of laundry detergent ($30) for the 4 items that go into it (Baking soda,Epson salt,washing soda,sea salt), but given the fact I can buy in bulk, I wouldn’t be surprised if it ends up being cheaper. In the last 6mo I’ve made the laundry soap twice and haven’t put a huge dent in my ingredient stock. I wouldn’t be surprised to find I get more than 200 washes out of the base ingredients, which would definitely be more economical than the premade stuff.

    • @[email protected]
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      14 months ago

      That brought me back, I was on IRC in 1994 and someone shared the link to a website of the anarchists cookbook. And that is the first site I remember visiting… My brain says it was probably a Geocities site, but so much of the internet was that I can’t recall

  • 𝓔𝓶𝓶𝓲𝓮
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    4 months ago

    As you know I am disgustingly wealthy being top 50 richest abigender as seen in shlorbes magazine but I am still going to use this recipe

    This is how you save for the superyacht

  • 🇰 🌀 🇱 🇦 🇳 🇦 🇰 🇮
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    4 months ago

    How do I make my own fabric softener tho? One of the things it does is condition the fabric like you condition your hair, to keep its strength and retain its shape. Like if your shirt’s neck has become a little stretched out, wash it with some fabric softener and it usually fixes that shit.

    I’d DIY my own if I could. I’ll probably start using this detergent recipe, too.

    • @[email protected]
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      14 months ago

      Fabric softener mostly just deals with the leavings of hard water on your clothes and in your machine. So anything that does that same job would work. Lot of people say vinegar is a good idea. I don’t know but a little bit of CLR might actually work too.

  • moonlight
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    144 months ago

    Am I the only one who likes fabric softener? For me it was a game changer to go from wrinkly, stiff clothes to softer, less wrinkled clothes.

    I definitely don’t use it every wash, but I do think it makes a real difference.

    I wouldn’t be caught dead using dryer sheets, though. That’s a scam.

    • @[email protected]
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      84 months ago

      IDK anything about it, but I’ve read “softener bad” a few times so I’ve just stopped putting it in and honestly haven’t noticed.

      My partner does though so now when she sees or hears me doing laundry she reminds me to use the softener.

      • @[email protected]
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        54 months ago

        Many clothes, especially athletic/athleisure fabrics, should not be washed with fabric softener. Check the label to be sure.

        • @[email protected]
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          24 months ago

          athletic/athleisure fabrics

          I really don’t understand the point of that trend. Unless you’re competing at a high level, your clothing doesn’t matter at all.

          That said, it makes average women’s bodies look incredible. So maybe that’s why.

    • @[email protected]
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      94 months ago

      Yeah I don’t use fabric softener or dryer sheets but a good value size jug of detergent is worth it to me. My wife and I both work two jobs., I don’t want to spend any time grating soap.

      • @[email protected]
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        4 months ago

        I’d recommend powdered detergent instead. It’s usually far cheaper per load since you aren’t paying for them to ship you the water that’s in the liquid detergent.

        You also don’t need to follow the ‘load size’ guidelines listed on the scoop, as only the bottom line or two is really adding anything to most loads.

        Relevant Technology Connections Video

        • @[email protected]
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          44 months ago

          With my washer I get undissolved detergent if I don’t mix it with water before adding clothes. It’s not a huge deal but sometimes I’m tossing it in in a hurry and my teenagers don’t take the time to do it and then complain. Also teenagers can be very smelly and I have a little loyalty to a brand that seems to do a better job on the smell than others I’ve tried. I second your recommendation though for most people. I used to have a job doing laundry and the powdered detergent we used with the commercial washers worked great.

          • @[email protected]
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            34 months ago

            Add a 1/4 cup of distilled vinegar where you normally put in bleach. Vinegar is really good at removing smells, cheap, and doesn’t leave a residual smell on the clothes

    • @[email protected]
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      54 months ago

      Yeah, I just looked it up. The name brand that I buy is $23 for 132 fl oz. With the way I use laundry detergent, at 0.5 oz per cycle, that’s 264 cycles for $23. Less than $.10 for the name brand stuff, maybe less for a store brand.

      I have kids so I run 2 batches per week, but that’s still 20 cents per week for a family of 4. Not sure that’s worth making my own.

  • im sorry i broke the code
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    144 months ago

    This thread is so wild I swear. A bottle of softener costs 2 bucks and last you for so many washes (up to 100?). A bar of soap cost one buck, then you have to factor in the time to prepare the softener, the other ingredients and whatnot.

    Where is the saving?