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| Homemade washing soda. Note the graininess. Compare to the baking soda picture below. |
Fortunately, washing soda is fairly simple to make at home, not to mention frugal as well. For example, you can get a 12 lb bag of Arm and Hammer baking soda for the same price as a one pound of fancy washing soda from Thrive Market.
Homemade Washing Soda
IngredientsBaking Soda
Instructions
1. Fill a wide baking dish with baking soda.
2. Heat in the oven at 400 degrees until all the baking soda becomes washing soda. Occasionally mix it so that this process happens faster and more uniformly.
3. Use as needed!
See- told you it was simple! 1 ingredient. 1 step.
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.
By cooking your baking soda, you can easily and safely get washing soda without needing to travel to far flung places to buy it, and you can make as much as you need at a time and don't need to lay out a lot of money on buying washing soda. (If you buy baking soda in bulk as I do, you can make washing soda especially cheaply.)
 |
| Baking soda on the left, washing soda on the right |
But if you don't believe me that you'll know immediately, the differences between the two are this:
Washing soda is grainy, baking soda is powdery.
Washing soda is dull and opaque, baking soda is crystalized like salt and reflects light, i.e. it is semi shiny.
Washing soda is separate grains, baking soda clumps together.
 |
| Baking soda. Note the differences between how it looks and how the above washing soda looks. |
Now, what do you do with your newly made washing soda?
Save it for tomorrow when I'll teach you how to make homemade laundry detergent!
Have you ever bought washing soda? Have you ever seen it in a store? How does the price differ between washing soda and baking soda? According to Amazon.com, washing soda is three times the price of baking soda. If you've bought washing soda, what have you used it for?
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I buy Calcium Carbonate from a local chemical distributor for about $24 for a 50 lb bag. It is available everywhere as pH Up or pH Plus where pool supplies are sold.
ReplyDeleteCalcium Carbonate is a different chemical compound from Sodium Carbonate. Sodium Carbonate is what is required to make Washing Soda.
DeleteSodium carbonate IS washing soda!
Deletethat's the point I think the above poster was making. The sodium carbonate is washing soda, what the original poster buys is calcium carbonate which is different. While it may still work it is not the same stuff.
DeleteIt's not clear the savings on making your own washing soda would be much, or anything, if you count the cost of running your oven at 400 degrees for an hour. Anyone who has an older electric oven would probably lose money, not to mention time, particularly compared to the cost of buying it someplace at a reasonable price when you were out shopping anyway.
DeleteThe reason for making it yourself is due to a large number of areas/ stores have stopped carrying the washing soap, so for those people it will be beneficial.
DeleteCan u heat it in a microwave or convection oven
DeleteThere are many advantages of making your own washing detergent: you know what goes in it. There's a lot of chemicals in products that you just don't know what they are doing to the environment and the impact on you. Also you are reducing waste by not buying plastic bottles all the time.
DeleteI use washing soda in my homemade laundry detergent, along with baking powder.
ReplyDeleteI've been baking my baking soda for at least two hours. Is it supposed to take that long or longer? I've bought washing soda in the past and it doesn't look like it yet. Thanks Kandy kottonk@yahoo.com
ReplyDeleteI baked two 16 oz in a cookie sheet at 400 degrees F for 3.5 hrs. In the last half hr I raised it to 450. No change. Still baking soda.
DeleteI wonder if being at a higher altitude would affect that?
DeleteWe love your post! We will be linking to your directions for how to make washing soda in our blog post, 5 Household Uses for Bentonite Clay. Thanks for the tips!
ReplyDelete-Danielle at earthslivingclay.com
I'd also like to know how long you are supposed to bake the baking soda. Your instructions are missing that important piece.
ReplyDeleteThanks.
I found some instructions at another site that said put "some" B Soda in a shallow pan and bake at 400F for 30 min. However, there was no measurement given for "some"!!!!! Picture looked like two half filled round cake pans.
ReplyDeletemix washing soda with Coffee, and vitamin C powder to develop color and black and white film.
ReplyDeletei want more info on this post!! very interesting!!!
DeleteGoogle for Caffenol developing
DeleteFor a rudimentary fixer you can use saturated salt water solution.
DeleteIt'll take a day in room temperature, or about 2-4 hours in slightly elevated conditions.
Has anyone found out how long you bake it?
ReplyDeleteHow long do you bake this please?
ReplyDeleteBake it 1 hour. Then remove from oven and let it cool completely. Add to your regular detergent to soften water so your laundry gets extremely clean.
Deletesuppose to bake at 400 degrees for 2 hours
Deletehttp://chemistry.about.com/od/makechemicalsyourself/a/Sodium-Carbonate-From-Baking-Soda.htm
ReplyDeleteThese are easy instructions for making sodium carbonate, also known as washing soda or soda ash, from baking soda or sodium bicarbonate.
Make Sodium Carbonate
Sodium bicarbonate is CHNaO3 while sodium carbonate is Na2CO3. Simply heat baking soda or sodium bicarbonate in a 200°F oven for about an hour. Carbon dioxide and water will be given off. Dry sodium carbonate will remain.
400 degrees F, not 200. I think it’s 200 degrees Celsius.
DeleteTry 400 degrees for 30 minutes. Remember that water boils (becomes a gas) at 212 degrees at sea level. 200 degree oven might not sublimate all the water.
ReplyDeleteYou don't have to sublimate the water. You need to evaporate it. It will evaporate at any normal temperature. Heat just speeds the process.
DeleteI have the instructions for homemade laundry detergent and have the other 2 ingredients, just hadn't been able to find washing soda. Now I can make that AND the dishwasher cubes. Love your posts!
ReplyDeleteHow do u make dishwasher cubes??
DeleteI would love to have the dishwasher cubes as well
Deletecan the baking soda be heated in a pot on the fire?
ReplyDeleteYes. You just have to pay attention to the temp. You can find the directions for pot /fire cooking here...http://grandmaw.proboards.com/thread/5659/make-washing-soda-baking. I am doing it this way since I don't have an oven.
Deletepool store has sodium carbonate and is a lot cheaper and easier than making your own.
ReplyDeletemost walmarts will carry washing soda in the laundry aisle right next to the borax.
ReplyDeleteMost Wal-Marts carry washing soda, right next to the borax in the laundry aisle.
ReplyDeleteMy question is my homemade laundry soap asks for I box of washing soda of I do it this was exactly how much baking soda do I use? Second my recipe also calls for 2 cups of baking soda now if I do this method do I still add the additional baking soda even though I baked the baking soda to make the washing soda?
ReplyDelete5/5/15 YES, YOU STILL ADD THE BAKING SODA THAT THE RECIPE CALLS FOR BECAUSE ONCE YOU DO THE COOKING OF THE BAKING SODA IN THE OVEN, IT THEN CHANGES ITS CHEMICAL COMPOSITION TO BECOME THE WASHING SODA OR SODIUM CARBONATE. EVEN THOUGH IT MAY HAVE STARTED OUT AS BAKING SODA PRIOR TO THE HEATING, IT CHANGES TO BE THE WASHING SODA OR SODIUM CARBONATE. HOPE THAT HELPS YOU OUT.
DeleteQuestion my recipe for homemade laundry soap does call for washing soda 1 box how much baking soda do I use to equivilant that also my recipe calls for 2 cups of baking soda now if I do it this way can I add the additional baking soda? Thank you so much for this info!!!!
ReplyDeleteMy question is my homemade laundry soap asks for I box of washing soda of I do it this was exactly how much baking soda do I use? Second my recipe also calls for 2 cups of baking soda now if I do this method do I still add the additional baking soda even though I baked the baking soda to make the washing soda?
ReplyDeleteI have soda ash at home,and wonder if making a solution of soda ash and water will result in baking soda or still remain soda ash.
ReplyDeleteIN RESPONSE TO YOUR QUESTION, THE SOLUTION WILL REMAIN WHAT IT STARTED OUT AS. THERE IS NO INTENSE HEAT TO CAUSE A CHEMICAL CHANGE IN THE ORIGINAL PRODUCT.
DeleteGood question. I wish to know also,if Baking Soda could be made from Soda Ash,and how. Many thanks.
ReplyDeletewhere do you buy baking soda in bulk from? how much is it per oz.?
ReplyDeleteSAMS CLUB (IN BULK BAG)
DeleteI BUY MY BULK BAKING SODA @ SAM'S CLUB NEAR MY HOME. YOU MIGHT LOOK IT UP ONLINE AND SEE WHERE THE NEAREST ONE TO YOU IS LOCATED. I GET A 13.5 POUND BAG FOR LESS THAN $6.00!! HOPE THIS HELPS!!
DeleteI just came across this page... and i really like it :) So many great tips on here :)
ReplyDeleteThis question might be dumb but... are we talking about the same bakingsoda as we use in cookies, cakes and bread? ;-) Or is it another kind of baking soda?
Thanks in advance...:-)
IT IS ABSOLUTELY THE SAME BAKING SODA THAT YOU USE TO MAKE COOKIES AND MORE!!
DeleteI just came across this page... and i really like it :) So many great tips on here :)
ReplyDeleteThis question might be dumb but... are we talking about the same bakingsoda as we use in cookies, cakes and bread? ;-) Or is it another kind of baking soda?
Thanks in advance...:-)
T read some where one can make a dish wash with baking soda!
DeleteYes, it is the same thing. You can use it 100's of different ways!
DeleteYes, it is the same thing. There is 100s of different ways that you can use baking soda, and I always buy it in bulk 13 pound bag from costco :)
DeleteBaking soda has a ton of uses. I have recently begun to make my own laundry detergent, fabric softener and dryer sheets and I will Never go back to commercial brands. My son's rashes are half way gone since I began doing this about two weeks ago. Although I do not include washing soda I know they carry it in all Raindew stores. Once you start making your own detergent you will love doing laundry:)
ReplyDeleteIf you don't turn the baking soda all the way to washing soda, can it still be used in the laundry detergent recipe? It's been cooking for 1.5 hours thus far, and doesn't look like crystals yet.
ReplyDeleteWhat happens if my baking soda won't turn into washing soda? I've been baking it at 400 for 1.5 hours.
ReplyDeleteAny reasonable temperature over 50C (122F) will thermally decomposes baking soda into washing soda. Commercially, a temperature around 200C (392F) would be used.
DeleteWhat you already got was very likely washing soda.
However, save yourself the trouble (and money) and just buy washing soda at Walmart because it's cheaper than converting baking soda.
You know, I am just wondering. Although I appreciate the information, especially in saving the money to turn baking soda into washing soda, I read that this process creates carbon dioxide and water. Is this not dangerous especially doing this in your kitchen stove's oven. And, if it takes this long to go through this process, does the cost of the electricity not out weigh the savings in transforming the baking soda into washing soda??? Just saying...
ReplyDeleteNo more dangerous than breathing in your own kitchen, since the act of breathing releases carbon dioxide and water into the air...
DeleteWere you thinking about carbon monoxide, and not carbon dioxide?
As for the cooking time- keep it in your oven while you're cooking something else, and you don't have to worry about paying for the cooking time.
Seriously, what do you cook at 400 degrees for an hour?
DeleteSquash, roasted cauliflour or broccoli nearly takes that long as well as bread.
DeleteRoast chicken.
DeleteIs there any other method to make soda ash without using oven
ReplyDeleteThanks to Penniless Parenting for the information.
ReplyDeleteI went through the necessary stoichiometry involved with converting Walmart's large 192-ounce size Arm & Hammer baking soda to homemade washing soda and then performed a cost comparison on a per-ounce basis with Walmart's Arm & Hammer washing soda.
ReplyDeleteThe results shown that the homemade washing soda cost $0.0662/ounce, and the store-bought washing soda in a 55-ounce size cost a bit less: $0.0624/ounce. Therefore, it would not be worth the effort to convert baking soda, and it would be much easier and cheaper just to buy the stuff.
Walmart.com sells 55 ounces Arm & Hammer washing soda for only $3.24 (plus sales tax, where applicable) and no S&H costs for an order totaling $50 or more. OTOH, one Amazon Marketplace vendor charges $8.99 for the same amount when there is no added S&H costs. One of those vendors charges as much as $16.10 S&H added on for just a single box...
ReplyDeleteThat same (first-mentioned) vendor will also sell the same 55-ounce box of washing soda for $4.98 plus $6.98 S&H, totalling $11.96. If two or more boxes are bought from that same vendor, the price per box then becomes $8.28 with no added S&H.
So, buying from Walmart will cost only $3.24 a box with no S&H, whereas buying from an Amazon Marketplace vendor could likely cost nearly 2 1/2 times as much than getting the stuff from Walmart online. So, when somebody mentions any cost information from Amazon--as in this website for washing-soda conversion, one clearly must consider the S&H angles.
As I calculated earlier tonight using stoichiometry (chemical analysis), converting baking soda into washing soda is actually 6% more expensive than just purchasing washing soda outright--using Walmart's prices. There clearly is nothing like saving 67% due to converting baking soda, as is implied from this website.
If anybody needs further explanation of what I did in my analysis, feel free to inquire. BTW, I am both an electrical and a chemical engineer. So, I fully know which I am writing about.
Please explain how you got your results.
Delete-UCB graduate
Gee, as an Electrical Engineer myself I'd say Mr. Calc-u-lamator just blew his savings budget by at least 200%. That's assuming it only took 5 minutes to calculate at a conservative $120/hour consulting fee. Of course we all know the value of having a consultant in our midst....
DeleteCongrats on all of your super duper math skills. The instructions were given because the product can be hard to find in some areas. Sooo, yeah.
DeleteY look up how to make washing soda if u don't want to learn and try it...instead u want to argue and prove something that has a different outcome for different people and there life styles,locations,access,ect! Don't try it then. I love this and will be saving and making my own from now on FOREVER! AND ONCE U PUT A RAW EGG INTO A OVEN IT NO LONGER CAN BE A RAW EGG....JEEZ.
DeleteHow about this and do the math. A 4# box of baking soda at Walmart BOUGHT YESTERDAY, cost me $1.98. I ran it through my ELECTRIC oven yesterday for 1.5 hours at a cost of .1785 cents. Based on 11.9 cents a kWh. Total cost? $2.1585 or lets just say for sgg $2.16 or a total cost per ounce of 0.0337265625. Compared to buying Washing Soda from Walmart at $3.24 for 55 ounces or a cost per ounce of 0.0589090909090909
DeleteI saved money
So, for every pound of washing soda you make, you're dumping .4 pounds of CO2 into the atmosphere, with no attempt to capture or scrub it, right? That's a pound of CO2 for roughly every 2.5 pounds of washing soda. Not to mention the CO2 released from whatever you use to heat your oven.
ReplyDeleteAnd every time you take a breath you're releasing CO2 into the atmosphere.
DeleteYou should be more worried about the heat given off by the oven then the carbon dioxide given off by the sodium bicarbonate. Individuals making them are not hurting environment comma big conglomerate companies are the ones that are hurting the environment.
DeleteAre we seriously complaining about 1lb of CO2?
DeleteNo one said it was an earth saving effort. This is a money saving article! So I guess you all don't use ovens....right? Ugggghhh! Thank you for the article penniless. ...it seems like you have a handful of prospective employees here to help you out with pricing issues! Lol smh @ knowitalls. Just read the article man!
ReplyDeleteHow long do you bake this? I just sis a cookie sheet for 30 min. (32 oz or 2 boxes of b/s). and it's still like floury. Tastes weird, so dies that mean I have true results?
ReplyDeleteJust mixed a batch of equal parts "20 mule team" Borax-BAKED baking soda and Fels-Naptha (BAR SOAP) cut in half and put thru my mini food processor.. powder form. I did not make this liquid by adding water. Going to give this a whirl and will be back with results. I have washed my black work pants with occasional good results. Using Sears brand powder LD . Might be my washing machine or me. Either way, I will post the results on the newly made formula.
ReplyDeletealeepdayatyahoodotcom
Thanks for the instructions. Some people have posted that it is less expensive to buy it, for others to make it. In the United States even if a local store does not carry sodium carbonate you can pretty much order it to be delivered anywhere. It is a matter of looking online for a few minutes so in the end I guess it is about saving a few cents or dollars, but at least you can get it. There are parts of the world however where it is nearly impossible to get. I live in South America and cannot procure sodium carbonate unless i buy it in one ton quantities directly from a chemical factory. I can find baking soda in 1kg packages anywhere. I thank the writer for this post. Will use the oven while i am cooking to not spend extra on fuel, or maybe the bbq. Thanks again.
ReplyDeleteI think this post is relevant for those of us living abroad. As for environmental concerns, have you ever thought about all the chemicals they put into regular laundry detergent? And what about carbon emissions from transport of huge bags of detergent?
ReplyDeleteSo, does anyone know how to make the dishwashing detergent??
Deletelook up "keeper of the home" 67 home-made all natural cleaning recipes......good luck!
ReplyDeleteThanks very much for sharing practical ideas for more natural and also less costly organizing of the household. I laughed about all the different angles people here looked at the costs-profit balance. It's valuable, to read them, no offense. I understand people who restrict the use of an oven. The advise to use the oven for preparing a 2nd baking, sounds like using common sense, but I think the plate with the baking soda needs to be covered with tinfoil carefully, in that case. Just a thought.
ReplyDeleteToday I wanted to find what washing soda is made of, as it was on the shelf with water softening products at Tesco in the UK, where I need to soften the water for the washing machine etc.
I remember, that in the fifties washing soda was in our household, for it's versatile nature.
Also, when one of us 9 kids had an infected finger, my mum used to dissolve soda in water and ask her wounded offspring to put it in the solution for 15 minutes. I've used washing soda for removing crusts from the bottom of pans, by adding water and about a tablespoon of washing soda, boil it, allowing the crust to come off and leaving the material shiny and clean at the same time!
The package of my washing soda also mentions the removal of stains in clothes. I imagine this is similar to what I perceive when a pan is cleaned from a crust. Very clean and shiny!
I'm sure to study more of this blog, thank you very much, Penny!
I just use plain baking soda, 20mule team borax, and a little hydrogen preroxide. The peroxide kills echolide germs. This works for me.
ReplyDelete-featherett
Jeez....this is a great post and YES making ur own baking soda into washing soda is VERY beneficial! It's great and cost effective because u buy baking soda cheap or 99% of the time u have it already at home then u cook a large amount and that's where the savings comes in. She was and believe was posting how to make it for people that don't have easy access to washing soda and or understand how to pour baking soda onto a cooking pan and put it in the oven for a hour at 400°. Reading alot of the comments are so rude and argumentative. .if u don't feel like it's worth ur while,money, ect then just go buy it instead of arguing with her when she's just teaching u a tip to make ur own. And yes once uve baked ur baking soda into washing soda it's no longer baking soda..like when u put a egg in ur oven u can't then turn ur cooked egg back into a raw one.
ReplyDeletePeople if you want to make your own washing soda but are worried about the cost of running your stove, do it in the winter. The heat you create will directly aid in heating your home. This is of course meaningless if you live in a climate that never requires you to warm your home.
ReplyDeleteI would NOT taste this stuff ! Washing Soda has a PH of 11 which means it is very caustic to skin, lungs, nose, etc. Also toxic.
ReplyDeleteYou put it in a washing machine, not up your nose, or in a crack pipe, get a grip😷
DeleteSpeaking of getting a grip, perhaps it'd be a bood idea to read through the comments before telling someone else to get a grip. The OP was referring to a previous comment above in which someone tasted it figuring it was a way to test if it had converted to washing soda or not. You might want to put down the crack pipe next time before commenting... lol
DeleteUgh! In an ultra tired moment I began mixing my dishwasher soap I added Borax, Citric acid and BAKING SODA. I made a large amount and hate to pitch it, do you think I can heat those three ingredients together in the oven, and turn the baking soda to washing soda when the Borax and citric acid have been incorporated? Bugger! HELP!
ReplyDeleteIs there any method of converting baking soda into soda ash without using oven? It's for my research so I really need an answer. Thank you
ReplyDeleteHmmm what about the sun? Will putting it out in Texas heat for a day convert it. 100% energy efficient? Some foil? Idk just thinking..
ReplyDelete“Which I am talking about” links back to your claim to fame of having degrees in both electrical and chemical engineering, which is not anything to be disregarded as to one’s intelligence quotient and each subject’s level of difficulty. However, when you used the modifier “which”, as in you knew which you were talking about, which would mean? Are you are speaking about which field of engineering you’re discussing? What is the chemical composition of washing soda or what level of electricity...heat... wattage...degree...conductivity...convección or the path an electrical current would take or is needed to bring forth the resultant chemical reaction? Whew! I know they could both be broken down into a gazillion, million, trillion, other nanotechnology terms or bits of information. As appreciative and respectful as I am sure that the majority of readers are on this blog post, our eyes tend to glaze over with the “pedacitos”, #unnecessary details, of the whys and wheretofores of washing soda...baking soda....baking bread....soda pop...or was it breaking bad...and POP goes the weasel? You see, Good Sir, we have a
ReplyDeletegreat deal of laundry to get washed; and in addition, we have so many other less glamourous tasks as homemakers,
domestic engineers, to complete while bearing in mind that Cleanliness is King. It certainly does helps to prevent those nasty bacterial illnesses in the babies, children, and husbands we so pridefully try our best to keep happy, warm, safe, and dry.
Oh, did I mention clean? Please stick to the relevant facts or at least those which are discernible by the general population.
We appreciate knowledge. We also acknowledge the necessary and vital contributions Engineers gift to society and the world!
Yet, none is master of all. Thus, you know “what” you are talking about as opposed to “which” you were talking about? Yes?
Gracias~Peace Out🌹
How long do you bake this? I just sis a cookie sheet for 30 min. (32 oz or 2 boxes of b/s). and it's still like floury. Tastes weird, so dies that mean I have true results?
ReplyDeletesoda maker machine