Baking Soda & Laundry?

[kb0nes]

Does the addition of baking soda to laundry accomplish anything other then making Arm & Hammer richer?

A & H makes the claim that it makes "your detergent work harder", but seems to me that unless you have acidity problems with your water you are just pouring money down the drain.

Any merit to baking soda when used with modern laundry detergents?

Phil

 

[polkanut]

You're better off with 20 Mule Team Borax.  It softens the water, and deodorizes too.

 

[kenmoreguy89]

Well, my opinion is that  they write these things to sell more only,  properties and claims about baking soda are so inflated than the properties it actually does have, it is a very mild alkali substance,  it does have mild cleaning properties and also mild water softener properties, considering that in powder detergents usually is already included there is no need to add further more, it would not be useful to anything....
 Properites:  could help a little in some cases  to  to bring your laundry whiter, does have odour absorber properties also as said very mild cleaning properties and water softener properties....
It is true  it could  allow you to use little  less detergent further (as said most powders already include it among ingredients),  at least depends from detergents you use and type, this speech indeed may be a little more valid  for soaps and some liquid detergents.. soap  is to be  intended as plain soap...but  absolutely not true you can use half amount of detergent or soap like I've read in some BS boxes or from producers...
It is not completely unuseful, it is  just  a complement that as said is already added in detergents .... for example added to " plain soap " can boost a little the power of the soap and as said allow you to use some less....

Just try to add same quantity  of warm  water in 2 bowls  add in one   some baking soda, then compare the quantity of soap you need for each bowl and you'll notice that to get water sudsy you will need less soap for the bowl in which you added baking soda...
Personal merit....well:
I used to add soda sometimes to some marseille liquid soap in laundry and it helped to "boost" it's  cleaning properties and to use a little less... matter of 1/4 less to get same results....
So I think it depends from detergent to detergent and more than else the type of detergent you use.....
IMHO Borax is way more useful and effective to add in laundry than the baking soda, it is more expensive of course, anyway I mostly and  usually  don't use anything more than powder detergent so never have the need to add anything...

 

[stan]

I think it's

fairly safe to try, and wont break the bank!

It's just a weaker substitute for washing soda, so if your using a liquid detergent, it might boost things a bit.

Agree with Freddy, if you using powdered detergent, then there's not much point in adding baking soda, more than likely the powdered has plenty of washing soda (stronger than baking soda) already in it, probably more than enough!

Freddy, how did the Savon de Marsille with the baking soda work? Were you using the liquid, or the shavings ?

 

[dirtybuck]

I remember a few years back when Arm & Hammer was adverting baking soda with numerous liquid detergents for cleaner laundry (I think it was before they came out with their liquids. I do remember the animated Tide bottle having a picture of a hanging shirt/sheet on it).

 

[kenmoreguy89]

Hi Stan!

I used to add at times baking soda when laundering with liquid marseille soap and also marseille shavings, you maybe know that  here in Italy and also spain  and France is common to find  "<span id="result_box" class="short_text" lang="en"><span class="hps">liquefied" forms of Marseille soap for laundry  sold and marketed as a sort of polivalent detergent suitable for woollens to cottons, it of course in case of very  heavy soiled  will need to have  added some other ingredients for exaample oxy additives plus enzymes  or color safe bleach  to get stuff clean, while for  normal to lightly soiled  usually alone is  just enough,  some of them are real liquefied soap, others just a mix of soap with typical ingredients of liquid detergents or also a  liquid detergent in full.... this even if labels keep saying: " soap of marseille"  and not like it should be "with marseille soap"  they state "marseille soap" even if  sometimes they just have it's scent is not real plain  liquid marseille soap....so you have to read ingredients to distinguish......
There is also a product called "Alga" which is a jelly transparent yellow soap bar that is soap obatianed from coconut oil that you grate or shave and put in the washer, I used it also with baking soda and I could use little less </span></span><span id="result_box" class="short_text" lang="en"><span class="hps">to get water sudsy and this soap performed nicely.
Like marseille it needs to have added oxy stuff, enzymes or perborate to get very heavy soiled clean.</span></span>

<span class="short_text" lang="en"><span class="hps">It is available in liquid form also.....

</span></span>

<span class="short_text" lang="en"><span class="hps">
</span></span>

 

[kenmoreguy89]

another pic