I was trying to make my own laundry soap but I cannot find "washing soda" in any stores around me. Can I substitute it?
Jennifer from Illinois
Washing Soda is available at Wal Mart in the laundry aisle. (08/29/2006)
By suzanne
I live by Wal-Mart's home office, and none of the Wal-Mart stores around here have washing soda in the laundry aisle. They do have baking soda, which can be used in laundry too, in that aisle. (08/29/2006)
Baking soda is the only thing I've seen as a substitute for washing soda. They are different though and will work differently. Washing soda is a cleaning booster. If your local stores (U.S.A.) don't sell it, ask them to order it. It should be available from their distributors.
Susan from ThriftyFun (08/29/2006)
By ThriftyFun
Arm and Hammer's website has a locator feature for finding this product in your area. (08/29/2006)
By Linda.
Washing soda is sodium carbonate, which can also be found at pool supply stores. There aren't any stores around me that carry the washing soda and I could not justify the shipping cost for ordering it. After some research I found this little tidbit. It cost about the same in pool supply.
By robin
Oxygen cleaner like OxiClean works wonders. It has the sodium carbonate (washing soda) and one other ingredient. This is what I use as a substitution. (09/14/2006)
By Angee
I could not find washing soda in any Wal-Mart near me in TX, but I found it at Brookshire's. (01/09/2007)
By onetam
You can look in the pool supply section of Wal-Mart or wherever and find pure sodium carbonate (a popular brand is pH Up), which is what washing soda is. (01/10/2007)
By doshe
The only store that I found to carry washing soda is Kroger's. (04/20/2007)
By Paul
I found a thing somewhere called soap nut shells (look on eBay) which are basically enviro friendly, but just release saponin. Can also be made into shampoo etc. Very cheap and economical if you use them 3-4 times per 'lot' (depending on water type). Just put into a sock and tie and then shove in the machine. It's as simple as that. Use about 6 half shells per load for soft water, about 8 for hard. Experiment. (06/05/2007)
By Jo H
I am a SAHM who has returned to college. In a recent chemistry class, I learned that at high temperature like 450 deg for about 4 hours would reduce sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) to sodium carbonate (washing soda). It has something to do with the chemical composition and the breakdown rates of chemicals.
Take it with a grain of salt, but I would think that if you would take a small box of baking soda and sprinkle it evenly over say a cookie sheet and bake in oven at 450 for around 4 hours that could possibly work. Although you would have an oven going for 4 hours which may not be that cost efficient. Take it all with a grain of salt. Have a good day. (06/12/2007)
By Kansas Gal
I used 3/4 of a cup of Amaze detergent booster, and 3/4 a cup of baking soda in place of washing soda. It seems to work really well. (08/13/2007)
By Cassie
You can use salt and soap flakes grated from a bar, or you can use soap flakes plus a little sodium bicarbonate, about a dessert spoonful in the powder drawer. Even cheaper and very eco-friendly, use a wash ball.
See my site: http://www.greenfootsteps.com/washball.html for more info on these ingenious devices. (07/10/2008)
By Rona from Greenfootsteps
I have looked everywhere for washing soda and I have yet to find it (actually I am on the phone with Kroger's to see if they have it). Thanks for suggesting sodium carbonate instead of washing soda, I think that it will make this easier finding one of the two products. I would like to use the Oxi-Clean but I am afraid that something might go wrong, knowing me. (01/16/2009)
By Kelly From TN
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