You don't need to buy most things for your laundry
You don't need to buy most things for your laundry
cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/58998407
Fabric softener is a scam
10 comments
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I don't think I've ever used fabric softener. -Gen Xer
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i used it until i learned that it's basically just perfume liquid that dissolves your clothes slightly
miss me with that shit
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It's also ridiculous how many products are just trucking water around from one place to another with a little big of active solution mixed in. We need more 'just add water' products available.
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The homemade laundry detergent is so fucking good, though. No joke. My clothes have never felt cleaner. But can someone explain, if washing soda is just baked baking soda, why can't you just use the baking soda directly? If it's just to remove the moisture as they say in the pic, why bother doing it, since you're dumping it into water?
Also, get yourself a downy ball if your washing doesn't have the fabric softner section, and use vinegar. I love the way our laundry feels once we switched to vinegar.
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Baking soda is NaHCO3 , Washing soda is Na2CO3
Baking soda is (incorrectly) called "Bicarb" because there is twice as much Carbonate (CO3) per Sodium (Na). Heating it causes some to be released as water and carbon dioxide:
2 NaHCO3 → Na2CO3 + H2O + CO2
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Can you use it on colored clothes? Borax acts as bleach so I'm a bit skeptical.
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In my experience, yes. HOWEVER, I'm one of those "welcome to the laundry gauntlet" type people. I do not care for my clothes the way I should. Everything just get washed with little regard, unless it's something hand made crochet or knit. But I've never noticed any bleaching or white spots.
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I think it's a chemical reaction that dislodges the Hydrogen from the molecule. OP said "until the water evaporates". Seems to check out with the formula.
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Also the "extra" carbonate group is dislodged as carbon dioxide:
2 NaHCO3 (baking soda) → Na2CO3 (washing soda) + H2O + CO2
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Collect some horse chestnuts, smash 4 with a hammer and put them in an old sock. Throw the sock and nuts in the wash. It's a free replacement for unscented detergent.
You can also make detergent from English Ivy and a bunch of other plants.
10 comments