cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/58998407
Fabric softener is a scam
this post was submitted on 20 Mar 2025
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The homemade laundry detergent is so fucking good, though. No joke. My clothes have never felt cleaner. But can someone explain, if washing soda is just baked baking soda, why can't you just use the baking soda directly? If it's just to remove the moisture as they say in the pic, why bother doing it, since you're dumping it into water?
Also, get yourself a downy ball if your washing doesn't have the fabric softner section, and use vinegar. I love the way our laundry feels once we switched to vinegar.
My understanding of the washing soda is to raise the pH for saponification of fats and other non-polar compounds to dissolve in water. Saponification works best with more basic solutions which is why lye is used in soap making. By reducing the pH by adding vinegar you're neutralizing the washing soda to a degree because it reacts to create water with carbon dioxide and sodium acetate which overall makes a less effective detergent
Raising the pH helps with the detergent action, also the washing soda "softens" the water - calcium and magnesium in the water form carbonates, replacing the sodium in the washing soda.
So we're in agreement?