Locating Washing Soda & a Coupon
Washing soda is an ingredient in many homemade cleaning products. It is called for in homemade laundry detergent, and dishwasher detergent. Back in March, when I first started making my own laundry detergent, I looked for washing soda and was unable to find it. I wrote to Arm & Hammer to locate the nearest store that carried it. There was no response. Does that mean no local stores carry it?
I substituted baking soda in larger quantities in the recipes, but the two really aren't interchangeable. Baking soda is Sodium Bicarbonate and washing soda is Sodium Carbonate. In researching about these, it seems the easiest way to explain the difference is that the baking soda acts as a water softening agent and the washing soda acts as a cleaning agent. I was happy with the laundry detergent recipe using baking soda, but was not as happy with the dishwasher detergent. I did find though, that the dishwasher detergent is excellent for scrubbing my flat top stove, the kitchen and bathroom sinks.
I finally found Sodium Carbonate in the pool supplies at a local store. It is a pH increaser and is labeled as such in the pool supplies section. I'm still experimenting with it, but I can say it seems to improve the dishwasher detergent.
Then I get a letter from Church & Dwight (the parent company of Arm & Hammer) out of the blue. They have started to offer the Super Washing Soda directly. It is not available from their website, and there was no mention of whether it would be in the future. You can order it by calling them them Monday - Friday from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM EST at 800-781-7529. First time orders receive a 25% discount by using code CHDW.
I haven't ordered any yet since I just purchased some at the store, but will probably go this route when my current supply is gone, especially in the winter months when pool supplies will not be as readily available. Hope this is helpful to you too!
Labels:
deals,
laundry and cleaning
8 comments:
Thanks for the discount and the chemistry behind the differences. I had been trying to figure that out myself :) Great post!
Isn't it a lot more expensive to purchase that way (on-line, from the company?) When I tried it, shipping was horrible (8-10 dollars) I went the pool route as well.
Washing soda is easily available in the UK, often under the name "Soda Crystals". It is sold with laundry products in supermarkets and other places. I'm surprised it's not easily available in the US.
Thanks for the tip! I haven't been able to find it, now I know where to look!
My wife has also been looking for materials for homemade cleaning products. Here are a few names/titles that washing soda will go under: washing soda, soda ash, caustic ash, dye activator, pH increaser, and sodium bicarbonate (Na2CO3). Here are a few notes on purity. If you find one of these products, check the concentration. Arm and Hammer is 85% Na2CO3 and 25% water. pH increaser is 100% Na2CO3. Use these values when finding the best value ($/ounce). You'll find that pool chemical are a lot more expensive because of the increased rifining required to raise the concentration up to %100. The best value I found (I couldn't find A&H and didn't want to pay for shipping) was through a local beer and wine making store. They sold 5 lb containers of soda ash as a general cleaner for about $6.
My local Albertsons/grocery store ordered washing soda for me at no extra charge. Since they already receive products from this company, they just added it to one of their orders. This way you can skip the shipping costs! The manager said she'd do it any time I need it--no prob!
~amy
Amy
Great idea!
I did notice Washing Soda back on the shelves at Krogers, but have yet to compare the prices to see which way is the better deal.
i could not find it in allot storess.
if you heat baking soda to 350 to 400 i did for 1 hour and nuked it 5 minutes it breaks it down to washing soda. It take the water out it and becomes sodium ash. So go the dollar store buy cheep brand and do this.
Had anyone come up with oils to add to it to make it smell good.
i also added a cup of vinagor and cup of dawn to make supper cleaner.
And one little scoup of oxy genertic stuff .
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