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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 + CO2I also wonder about the cost of using the oven, and whether it’s cheaper than just buying washing soda.
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 !When you put it that way, it’s not nearly as expensive as I thought.
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.
All ot does is make the fabric soft? Are yall wearing potatoes sacks?
If only millennials bought more fabric softener instead of avocados and coffee they would be able to afford a house.
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.
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.
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.
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”
probably uses too much. it has that effect, but it also makes them more fluffy
This new generation can’t do anything and spends money frivolously… This generation is too stingy and resourceful… Guys pick a damn lane.
They can’t afford fabric softener or washing detergents to clean those avocado stains.
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).
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.
Is it actually cheaper than buying dry detergent for cheap?
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.
probably most everything is a scam if you look close enough.
It also makes the clothes extremely flammable.
This feels like info that should be in the new Anarchist Cookbook.
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
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
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.
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.
usually they advise vinegar.
i use vinegar, but it’s not the same. softener contains some oily component that stays in the fabric after washing and makes it more fluffy. vinegar doesn’t do that.
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how much vinegar do you use for a normal load?
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Just finely crush about a half a bag of salt and vinegar chips and then toss 'em in
Wait can it fix crew necks that get a little shitty?
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.
I like both softener and dryer sheets ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I don’t, but dryer sheets are incredibly cheap too.
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.
Many clothes, especially athletic/athleisure fabrics, should not be washed with fabric softener. Check the label to be sure.
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.
Sounds like maybe you do understand the point.
im ok with buying a container of laundry detergent every few months
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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?
A bottle of softener costs 2 bucks and last you for so many washes (up to 100?).
What kind of fabric softener is that cheap for that much? My experience is that it’s way more expensive than that.
The saving is due to not using a useless softener - the point of this this thread
Why? It smells good. If you can’t afford a 2 buck softener at lease every 3 months (assuming a wash once a week) I’d say you have got much bigger problems
Oh it smells good? Idc, if I cared enough to perfume my clothes I’d do it at point of use.
It’s not the softener itself. It’s the softener plus a dozen other little luxuries that all add up.
Sure, but the point is that fabric softener is not necessary.
At the very least in the case of towels (any type), it is actually counter productive, because it makes the towels less absorbent.
On top of that, it means clothes absorb less sweat, which, at first glance, seems like a good thing, until you realise it means your sweat will now stick to your skin longer, because it can’t evaporate from your shirt.
What do you want your clothes to smell? What’s the point?
IMO fabric softener is utterly pointless but my main problem with it is that it can degrade some clothes faster.
https://fabrictopics.com/does-fabric-softener-damage-clothes/
I find it hard to believe that a $2 “fabric softener” smells all that good? Pretty sure it smells like cheap chemical fragrances.
Mmmm febreeze!
Sometimes I’ll be at the laundry detergent shelf at the shop and see a really low price, only to get disappointed by it being softener and not detergent. Shit be cheap, compared to detergent. Wouldn’t even use softener if it were free though, so can’t comment on how long it lasts.
Yeah same here
https://www.target.com/p/downy-april-fresh-liquid-fabric-conditioner-140-fl-oz/-/A-82823990
Here’s a typical fabric softener at Target. $13 before tax. Still not a lot, but it’s not nearly as cheap as $2.
Then the problem is with murica not with softener
