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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.
details
https://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 (NaHCO3) is heated, it undergoes a decomposition reaction to form sodium carbonate (Na2CO3), water (H2O), and carbon dioxide (CO2).
The reaction can be represented as :
2NaHCO3 + heat → Na2CO3 + H2O + CO2I also wonder about the cost of using the oven, and whether it’s cheaper than just buying washing soda.
P = = oven average power ~1kW=1/1000MW
C = = electricity cost ~50 to 200 $/MWh
Δt = = process time duration ~1.0h
Total = P x C x Δt
… so, a few cents maximum, right ?
… it’s more the time and effort you put in !When you put it that way, it’s not nearly as expensive as I thought.
You can also do it in a pan on the stove top. Basically just heat up the baking soda over medium-ish heat. Once it gets hot enough, it’ll “bubble” as the carbon dioxide and water is driven off as gas. Once it stops “bubbling”, it’s done. It’s a bit faster than the oven method, but it’s more active since you have to stir it regularly.
You can also weigh the powder before and after heating it to see if it’s fully converted* to washing soda. The resulting washing soda should weigh about 1/3 less than the starting amount of baking soda.
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.
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?
The saving is due to not using a useless softener - the point of this this thread
Why? It smells good. If you can’t afford a 2 buck softener at lease every 3 months (assuming a wash once a week) I’d say you have got much bigger problems
Sure, but the point is that fabric softener is not necessary.
At the very least in the case of towels (any type), it is actually counter productive, because it makes the towels less absorbent.
On top of that, it means clothes absorb less sweat, which, at first glance, seems like a good thing, until you realise it means your sweat will now stick to your skin longer, because it can’t evaporate from your shirt.
I find it hard to believe that a $2 “fabric softener” smells all that good? Pretty sure it smells like cheap chemical fragrances.
Mmmm febreeze!
It’s not the softener itself. It’s the softener plus a dozen other little luxuries that all add up.
Oh it smells good? Idc, if I cared enough to perfume my clothes I’d do it at point of use.
What do you want your clothes to smell? What’s the point?
IMO fabric softener is utterly pointless but my main problem with it is that it can degrade some clothes faster.
https://fabrictopics.com/does-fabric-softener-damage-clothes/
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.
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.
How expensive do people think fabric softener is lol. I don’t use it because I don’t care for it, but not buying it because you’re too poor sounds wild.
Just glancing through my grocery app, it’s anywhere from $5 to $15 per bottle, depending on size and brand. For the same amount of money, you could buy enough food for one person for 2 or 3 days. That’s not insignificant since you can get a pack of dryer balls for around the same price, which have pretty much the same effect, and last way longer than a bottle of softener.
And how long does that $5 last? Consider how much money it is per wash, especially if you use less than the quite generous recommendation.
I’m standing in a store right now and they go from 1,5€ to 6€. The expensive brand option with big bottle is 6,26€ and lasts for 110 washes with the recommended amount. The expensive one is 5,7 cents per wash.
6€ isn’t nothing but as an expense over time, considering how long it lasts, even that expensive one is quite literally pennies.
Looking at price-per-use is only helpful if you have it in your budget right then to spend the full amount. For some, they can’t spare that $5 on a frivolity because it’s allocated to a necessity like food.
In my store there was an 1,5€ one, the store brand. And we’re not a cheap country. I’m sure there’s situations where someone couldn’t even save up 1,5-5€ for fabric softener every what, six months or more, because it all goes to necessities, but I doubt that’s at all typical. At least in the sense that the cost of it would be a serious reason people don’t use it.
A much more likely reason is that it’s not at all necessary. It can make clothes smell and feel nicer, but that’s just extra. I personally don’t use it, I actually prefer the “fresh” smell of no-fragrance laundry detergent.
I think you might be more privileged than you think in this case. Making the choice between feeding oneself and buying a frivolity like fabric softener isn’t that uncommon in the US, where a huge chunk of people live paycheck to paycheck.
Not a huge privilege to have 1,5€ to spare.
For you.
I’m not sold on that homemade detergent. Soap tends to leave insoluble residue, especially when you have hard water. There is a reason why almost everything uses synthetic detergents (though it might also be because those are cheap).
Yeah, I’ve never understood the point in using a different soap as the base of a different soap. I make my own laundry soap out of basic shit I get from Walmart, and it works great.
Is it actually cheaper than buying dry detergent for cheap?
Good question, but I’ll admit I’ve not actually run the exact figures. I’m actually doing this for health reasons rather than monetary, since one of my partners is allergic tio life.
But to your question,I might have spent the cost of 1.5 large boxes of laundry detergent ($30) for the 4 items that go into it (Baking soda,Epson salt,washing soda,sea salt), but given the fact I can buy in bulk, I wouldn’t be surprised if it ends up being cheaper. In the last 6mo I’ve made the laundry soap twice and haven’t put a huge dent in my ingredient stock. I wouldn’t be surprised to find I get more than 200 washes out of the base ingredients, which would definitely be more economical than the premade stuff.
Stubby used too much fabric softener on his jpeg.
Yeah I’m not putting all that effort and potentially ruining my washing machine to save me a few cents per wash. That seems ridiculous.
You don’t even have to buy the fancy, expensive, in a pod detergent or anything, considering they always contain the same stuff that comes in a box/bottle. Just buy whatever’s cheap.
Yea, making your own laundry detergent from grated soap and borax seems like something people with money do to convince themselves they’re frugal. When in reality, there is no way in hell you’re making a commodity cheaper than GreatValue ™
Yeah, the cheap standard powder detergent would probably be less expensive. The volume you’d need to make to beat it is huge. Like, maybe five years’ worth.
I am also laughing at making washing powder in the oven to save money. The amount you’d spend on electricity would put you in the red, unless you live in a petrostate with free electricity or something.
Lol yeah I didn’t even consider that. At this point it almost feels like some of that has to be trolling. Either that or there is a large detergent hobbyist community out there that I have just not been aware of.
The amount of free time you’d have to have, as well, to even consider baking the powder for an hour per round to make it usable… After a certain point my time is valuable to me and I’d rather just pay a dollar or two extra to not have to worry about all this mess.
Indeed. Or working for prison slave wages.
Not just the effort, but by the time you buy all those ingredients, you’re probably paying more than you would for normal laundry detergent.
And if you use Dr. Bronner’s bar soap as recommended, you’ll be paying out the ass.
Not to mention the gas to go to the three separate stores you probably need to buy that shit from.
Eh, all of that stores really well, so buy in bulk.
This new generation can’t do anything and spends money frivolously… This generation is too stingy and resourceful… Guys pick a damn lane.
They can’t afford fabric softener or washing detergents to clean those avocado stains.
My favorite is the Tide Free and Clear commercial where the kid goes “look dad, it’s just as clean but without any of the chemicals that harm me!” They’re literally admitting their core product contains harmful chemicals yet people are still buying it!
The only reason why clothes get staticky in the dryer is because of the heat. If you run the dryer for 10-20min after drying with no heat they’ll come out without a trace of static.
Ive stopped using softener and dryer sheets a while ago; just detergent and for the first load of the week (usually towels) a short cycle with vinegar to clear up any mineral deposits left by my horribly bad hard water.
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.
If only i could shave my head with one i would in a heartbeat.
I shave mine with a safety razor. Knobbliness of head is probably a factor though!
I have a mole on the top of my head, multi blade razors glide over it, my safety razor is how i found out I had it: sharp pain and suddenly being covered in so much blood I could smell it.
So yeah knoblliness should not be overlooked.
Ooft, that’s rough. Eyyyy
I bought a Leaf Razor from an EU reseller about a year ago now and it was a game changer for head shaving with safety razor blades.
The head of the handle pivots so it’s very difficult to cut myself with it accidentally unlike the regular handle I was using before.
I’m hesitant to share a link because I don’t want to seem like a shill for a company I don’t know much about but just wanted to say there are options out there!
I use the throwaway safety razors that you can buy a bag for a few euros. I get a close shave and it costs very little. I’ve wanted buy a more expensive one, that style where you can get cheap replacement blades, but I’ve always hesitated because, you know, what if it is shit. Then I’ve wasted like a few year’s shaving budget on it. Would make for less waste though.
Buy a merkur handle. I have the merkur futur and that’s lasted about 20 years so far.
I use a trimmer now, never really cared for a close shave and I often leave it for a couple of weeks. I found a razor just got clogged up too much between the blades.
Annoyingly the trimmer I have seems to vary in power, the motor charges speeds a lot during use. I think it might be a poor connection on the AA batteries, surface might have tarnished. Did think of soldering some wires on and connecting it to an extra battery, better connection and higher voltage. Overclock shaving!
I have a rechargeable trimmer. Like you, I’m never going for that ultra-close shave. I have fairly light/thin facial hair though, so the 5 o’clock shadow looks works well for me.
Mine uses AA batteries rather than a built in lithium one, my hope was that it would mean it lasts longer as I can just swap NiMH batteries as I feel like it rather than having to throw out the entire thing when the lithium battery dies. Also its cheaper as it doesn’t come with batteries and charging circuitry.
i bought for cheap one pluggable razor much more powerful than those with batteries … also you have to oil the blades and clean them regularly.
I do oil and clean it, I live in the UK so we don’t normally have sockets in bathrooms. Getting one of those special ones installed would probably cost quite a bit.
I found a razor just got clogged up too much between the blades.
You might have better luck with one of those bog-standard single-blade safety razors, i.e. one of these:
I’ve heard from a hairdresser that they prefer the single-blade ones, specifically because the multi-blade ones clog up so much.
I mean, currently I also use a trimmer for my face, as I cannot be asked to do a wet shave every day. But I still use the safety razor for cutting back armpits and groin for hygiene reasons, and it works quite well for that. It’s a lot less scary when you don’t have to cut thick beard hair.
I did also consider that option but I don’t really feel a need for a shave that close. I know using the multiblade razors left my skin feeling a bit uncomfortable after, not sure if safety razors do as well. Trimmer doesn’t at all.
Yeah, they probably will leave your skin feeling uncomfortable. Many seem to consider shaving cream and whatnot a strict requirement. That’s also part of the reason why I still use a trimmer for my face, too.
Just looked at it and I think most shaving creams cost more than my trimmer did
I just use Dr Bronners and wool dryers balls.
If the Dr Bronner’s your referring to is one of their liquid soaps you’re still paying mostly for some water.
I don’t mind paying for something that’s mostly water as long as it’s cheap. It isn’t the water that’s the problem; it’s the price.
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.
If only millennials bought more fabric softener instead of avocados and coffee they would be able to afford a house.
All ot does is make the fabric soft? Are yall wearing potatoes sacks?
