Vinegar and Baking Soda

[mrb627]

I was sitting here thinking about using baking soda as a booster in white loads. It dawned on me that if vinegar and baking soda were both introduced in the same bath, would there be any chemical reaction that would further boost cleaning.

Anyone have any thoughts on this? Anyone ever tried it?

Malcolm

 

[sudsmaster]

would there be any chemical reaction that would further boos

If CO2 boosted cleaning, then yes.

But since it doesn't, I doubt that there would be much if any advantage to combining baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) and vinegar in the wash. The agitation or tumbling of the washer should be more than enough physical motion without needing the generation of CO2 gas to complete the washing cycle. Plus, the evolution of the gas would be rather rapid, effective a quite brief benefit if any existed in the first place.

That's my take on it. It would be easy enough to try. Just be careful if using a front loader of extra suds formation.

 

[launderess]

Mixing White Vinegar and Baking Soda

Is used for cleaning everything from drains to insides of washing machines, but it is the foaming action caused by the mixture (release of gaes), that one wants.

Cannot see any benefit for a "cleaner" wash. The reaction though violent is rather quick, and would be spent long before the wash cycle ended. Then there is the problem that while alkaline substances such as baking soda are generally good for cleaning some textiles, acids such as white vinegar can harm cotton/linen.

Finally depending upon load size and or type of washing machine, you are going to need quite allot of baking soda and vinegar to get any sort of decent chemical reaction that won't be diluted at once by all the water and can somehow penetrate all laundry. Personally wouldn't risk such a thing in a front loader as the resulting foam could push itself out anywhere it can as it seeks to expand.

 

[tomturbomatic]

If you Google "Sodium Acetate", which is one of the resulting products of the reaction of sodium bicarbonate and acetic acid in the famous science experiment known as the volcano in a bottle, there is no mention of sodium acetate having cleaning properties. It has many uses including its use as a buffering agent and as a flavoring agent in salt & vinegar "flavored" potato chips. Why would you want to introduce an acid into the washing solution? In most cases you are trying to overcome the acidic compounds formed by body oils as they oxidize in fabrics. When Arm & Hammer came out with their laundry detergent they hyped that it "contained" baking soda, but it had a lot of harsh washing soda they did not talk about. It was notorious for leaving clothes feeling harsh and for leaving a fine white gritty powder in the washer.

If you want to use a builder or water conditioner in your wash water, use STPP, the gold standard

 

[yogitunes]

CLUB SODA

this is great for spot cleaning, I use a whole bottle when spot treating table cloths, everything comes out in the whole wash.....maybe too diluted to use in the washer as an additive, but mostly safe for all fabrics to remove many stains, as a pre-treater....

something many don't mention about