Washing soda, also called Sodium Carbonate has a chemical formula of NaHCO3
Baking soda , also called Sodium Bicarbonate has a chemical formula of Na2CO3
Although they may look similar, Baking soda won't work as well for washing your clothes as the added hydrogen ion will making the water acidic, and cleaning solutions need to be basic to remove dirt and stains.
If you find yourself in a pickle where you have baking soda, but no washing soda, it is possible to replace this H+ ion with a non-acidic Na+ ion to make your own Sodium carbonate.
First, lets draw out the chemical process we want to accomplish:
NaHCO3 --> Na2CO3 + H+
Now we look at the incomplete formula above, and see what we are missing. We will need a sodium ion on the left to become the added sodium on the right. Additionally, that positively charged hydrogen wont let go of the negatively charged CO3 all on it's own, we need to add hydroxide, OH- to the left side. The H+ will combine with the OH- molecule to form pH neutral H2O, water. Adding NaOH, Sodium Hydroxide (also known as Lye), to the left side satisfies the need for both of these ions.
NaHCO3 + NaOH --> Na2CO3 + H2O
At this time I should mention that this process will not form 100% washing soda and water, some sodium bicarbonate and sodium hydroxide will remain in the solution as the ions reach chemical equilibrium. The high pH of the NaOH will cancel out the low pH of the NaHCO3 however, and these un-reacted parts will not affect your final product. Even if you had started with pure Na2CO3, some of it would have reacted with the water to created baking soda and sodium hydroxide anyway as the ions moved towards equilibrium. (Only chemical reactions with an insoluble product will react all the way when mixed in water)
Now that we know we need to add sodium hydroxide to our baking soda we can look at our equation above to determine how much we will need. In our equation we can see that 1 part NaOH + 1 part NaHCO3 makes 1 part Na2CO3. THIS DOES NOT MEAN USE EQUAL WEIGHS OF EACH CHEMICAL. The equation above is measure by the number of molecules, and not the weight of the chemicals.
We can find the weight needed for each chemical using their molar mass
NaHCO3 has a molar mass of 84.007 g/mol.
NaOH has a molar mass of 39.997 g/mol.
When creating your own washing soda, for any weight unit you choose you will need 84.007 parts baking soda to 39.997 parts lye.
If you choose to make your own washing soda at home with this method be very careful, Lye is a very strong chemical and can cause severe injury if it comes into contact with your skin. Eye googles should be worn at all times when working with NaOH. Read all warnings and proper handling instructions on the container before handling lye.
I hope this article was fun and informative, stay safe and have fun making your own laundry detergent!
Although they may look similar, Baking soda won't work as well for washing your clothes as the added hydrogen ion will making the water acidic, and cleaning solutions need to be basic to remove dirt and stains.
If you find yourself in a pickle where you have baking soda, but no washing soda, it is possible to replace this H+ ion with a non-acidic Na+ ion to make your own Sodium carbonate.
First, lets draw out the chemical process we want to accomplish:
NaHCO3 --> Na2CO3 + H+
Now we look at the incomplete formula above, and see what we are missing. We will need a sodium ion on the left to become the added sodium on the right. Additionally, that positively charged hydrogen wont let go of the negatively charged CO3 all on it's own, we need to add hydroxide, OH- to the left side. The H+ will combine with the OH- molecule to form pH neutral H2O, water. Adding NaOH, Sodium Hydroxide (also known as Lye), to the left side satisfies the need for both of these ions.
NaHCO3 + NaOH --> Na2CO3 + H2O
At this time I should mention that this process will not form 100% washing soda and water, some sodium bicarbonate and sodium hydroxide will remain in the solution as the ions reach chemical equilibrium. The high pH of the NaOH will cancel out the low pH of the NaHCO3 however, and these un-reacted parts will not affect your final product. Even if you had started with pure Na2CO3, some of it would have reacted with the water to created baking soda and sodium hydroxide anyway as the ions moved towards equilibrium. (Only chemical reactions with an insoluble product will react all the way when mixed in water)
Now that we know we need to add sodium hydroxide to our baking soda we can look at our equation above to determine how much we will need. In our equation we can see that 1 part NaOH + 1 part NaHCO3 makes 1 part Na2CO3. THIS DOES NOT MEAN USE EQUAL WEIGHS OF EACH CHEMICAL. The equation above is measure by the number of molecules, and not the weight of the chemicals.
We can find the weight needed for each chemical using their molar mass
NaHCO3 has a molar mass of 84.007 g/mol.
NaOH has a molar mass of 39.997 g/mol.
When creating your own washing soda, for any weight unit you choose you will need 84.007 parts baking soda to 39.997 parts lye.
If you choose to make your own washing soda at home with this method be very careful, Lye is a very strong chemical and can cause severe injury if it comes into contact with your skin. Eye googles should be worn at all times when working with NaOH. Read all warnings and proper handling instructions on the container before handling lye.
I hope this article was fun and informative, stay safe and have fun making your own laundry detergent!
Sc is pretty boring.