this post was submitted on 20 Mar 2025
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[–] [email protected] 21 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (4 children)

You don't need to go up to 400°F to decompose baking soda into washing soda. Decomposition starts around 122⁰F (50⁰C) and is complete at around 250⁰F (120⁰C)

Depending on the thickness you put in the pan you may want to put the oven around 300⁰F so to speed up the process.

You can safely go to higher temperature as it won't ever be overcooked.

detailshttps://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_bicarbonate

Heating to transform (baking soda) sodium bicarbonate into (washing soda) sodium carbonate does remove moisture but also removes carbon dioxide :

When sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO~3~) is heated, it undergoes a decomposition reaction to form sodium carbonate (Na~2~CO~3~), water (H~2~O), and carbon dioxide (CO~2~).

The reaction can be represented as :
2NaHCO~3~ + heat → Na~2~CO~3~ + H~2~O + CO~2~

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[–] nitefox 10 points 2 days ago (11 children)

This thread is so wild I swear. A bottle of softener costs 2 bucks and last you for so many washes (up to 100?). A bar of soap cost one buck, then you have to factor in the time to prepare the softener, the other ingredients and whatnot.

Where is the saving?

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 days ago (1 children)

https://www.target.com/p/downy-april-fresh-liquid-fabric-conditioner-140-fl-oz/-/A-82823990

Here's a typical fabric softener at Target. $13 before tax. Still not a lot, but it's not nearly as cheap as $2.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Sometimes I'll be at the laundry detergent shelf at the shop and see a really low price, only to get disappointed by it being softener and not detergent. Shit be cheap, compared to detergent. Wouldn't even use softener if it were free though, so can't comment on how long it lasts.

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 days ago

A bottle of softener costs 2 bucks and last you for so many washes (up to 100?).

What kind of fabric softener is that cheap for that much? My experience is that it's way more expensive than that.

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 day ago

Stubby used too much fabric softener on his jpeg.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

As you know I am disgustingly wealthy being top 50 richest abigender as seen in shlorbes magazine but I am still going to use this recipe

This is how you save for the superyacht

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago (4 children)

Washing Soda

No. Just no. Sodium carbonate, you americans!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Washing soda is sodium carbonate, baking soda is sodium bicarbonate

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[–] [email protected] 21 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

I buy a Eco friendly and very affordable detergent from Costco. I need to use such a small amount even for a large load the jug lasts seemingly forever. So I don't feel the need to do up a homemade detergent.

When it come to softener though. Vinegar. It works, it's cheap, I can also use it for other household cleaning. Cooking and baking as well of course. You can't use if for loads that need bleach and use with fabrics that have a lot of elastic material can decrease it's life span. Overall though it works great dissolving soap and detergent residue that can make clothes feel stiff and scratchy, and less prone to lint and pet hair cling. Can help with odor and colour brightening too.

I will happily continue to be a millennial who ruins industry on that front.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Asking because I honestly don't know, for the laundry detergent recipe, does it matter that I was always told to get HE detergent? I was under the impression that the soap for "high efficiency" washers was different somehow than normal soap. I am ready to admit I was conned by the detergent industry and this is just marketing speak, but I also don't want to fuck up my washer, it cost a lot of money I don't have to replace it.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 day ago

It's more concentrated.

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[–] [email protected] 24 points 2 days ago (16 children)

That mentality is why I use a safety razor. Buy one and you'll only spend a few dollars a decade on shaving blades and have a better shave. A lot of things in life are useless fluff that we only do because companies want us to do it since it's profitable.

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[–] [email protected] 17 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Isn't detergent incredibly cheap though? I always buy the cheapest per weight Aldi stock. I think we may have spent less than £5 on it in the past year. Never bought fabric conditioner, wtf would I want that for, deliberately make my towels less absorbent and more flammable?

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 days ago (1 children)

What's a dryer sheet, I'm nearly 40 and I've never heard of that

[–] AlecSadler 8 points 2 days ago (4 children)

It's a sheet of chemicals that makes your clothes smell better.

Downside is it adds a sort of...coating to clothing which for some types of clothing, like wicking sports apparel, makes them less effective.

They're absolutely useless and when I learned that I stopped using them and there was literally no negative change in my post-laundry output.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 days ago (5 children)

That makes me think of crockpot liners, which are apperently a thing

Like, you cook your food, in the plastic. The most pointless thing I've seen.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 days ago (2 children)

I suppose it's for people who feel like they are not ingesting enough microplastics.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 days ago

I've not used fabric softener or any other substitute for whatever it does in like 10 years. Can't tell what problem I'm supposed to be having that it supposedly solves.

I actually stopped using it because the dryers at my crappy old laundromat tended to overheat and it would occasionally melt the fabric softener sheets and it smelled utterly horrible and left burnt on patches of fabric softener on my clothes. So I figured it was no longer worth the cost, and then I noticed I couldn't even tell what the benefit was. It was just a thing my mom told me to do and I never questioned it.

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