11 Ways to Use Super Washing Soda to Make Your Life Easier

The white coarse powder looks and feels for all the world like laundry detergent. Its official name is sodium carbonate. But as a commercial product, this stuff also goes by two other names: 1) soda ash and 2) washing soda (not to be confused with baking soda). You may be familiar with when you see this bright yellow box in the laundry aisle—Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda.

It may look and feel like laundry detergent—white, coarse, powdery—but it is not detergent at all. Its official name is sodium carbonate  and its chemical formula is Na2CO3.  As a commercial product, this stuff goes by two names: 1) soda ash is its trade name and 2) Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda (not to be confused with baking soda) is its most recognized brand name.

What is soda ash?

Soda ash is a natural, essential, but invisible ingredient in many products that we all use every day. A mineral refined from the natural vegetation in dry lake bottoms in the Middle East, it is the ashes of burned plants—kelp from Scotland, seaweed from Spain. This all-natural miracle-in-a-box is used to make glass, bricks, paper, rayon, cosmetic products, and toothpaste. It cleans silver and softens water.

Commercially useful deposits of soda ash only occur geologically in three regions of the world: Enormous deposits in Wyoming, USA, large deposits in Turkey and much smaller and chemically less pure deposits in China. Today, natural soda is only produced in Wyoming, USA and Turkey.

Washing soda and I go way back. For years, I have added Super Washing Soda to the washer for cleaner, whiter, brighter laundry. It’s one of the key ingredients in our homemade laundry detergents.

• How to Make the Best Homemade Liquid Laundry Detergent
• How to Make the Best Homemade Powdered Laundry Detergent

More recently, I am discovering that washing soda is much more than a laundry detergent booster. With a powerful pH of 11, washing soda acts as a solvent all around the house, garage. Sodium carbonate Soda ash removes dirt, grime, greasy build-up, and a range of stains. Best of all, depending on the source, soda ash is cheap.

Stovetop, oven

First, remove the burners. Sprinkle dry washing soda on a damp sponge and scrub that stovetop, broiler pan, and oven making sure to avoid the heating element.

In the meantime, soak the burners in a 1/2 cup washing soda solution dissolved in a cup of warm water for at least an hour. This will soften and break down the greasy gunk and grime. Finally, scrub as needed, rinse well, and dry.

Cookware, pots, pans

Fill the pot with hot water to remove greasy, burned-on stains from cookware. Add a spoonful of washing soda and a splash of dishwashing liquid. Bring to the boil over high heat then simmer for 15 minutes. Caution: DO NOT use washing soda (soda ash) on aluminum cookware or any other thing made of aluminum.

Coffee pots, cups, carafes

Coffee and tea often leave ugly brown stains in kettles, pots, and cups. Fill the stained item with hot water and add some washing soda. Allow to sit for at least an hour or even overnight. Stains will quickly rinse away in the morning.

Plastic

Clean and freshen garbage cans, tablecloths, shower curtains, patio furniture, and anything plastic with 1/2 cup of washing soda dissolved in a gallon of warm water. Wash and rinse.

Clogged drains

To unclog a slow-moving drain, give this a try: Pour a cup of soda ash into the clogged drain, followed by 2 or 3 cups of boiling water (if it’s a porcelain sink, do not allow the boiling water to hit the porcelain, as this could cause it to crack). Allow the washing soda to work for 30 minutes, and then flush the drain well with plain water. Repeat as needed.

Toilets

Measure out a cup and flush it down the toilet to clean and freshen, and to help prevent blockages.

• MORE:13 Reasons You Need to Keep Borax in the House (and Why It’s Safe!)

Tile grout

Clean ceramic tile and grout with a regular solution (1/2 cup washing soda to a gallon of warm water). You may need to scrub the grout with a stiff brush. You won’t believe the clean and sparkling results.

Windshield

A mild solution of washing soda will help remove dead flies, bugs, and grime from windshields. Avoid splashing onto the car’s painted surface and DO NOT use on aluminum alloy wheels.

Pest control

Get rid of whitefly and mites by spraying plants and trees with a mild solution of 1/2 cup washing soda to two gallons of water.

Stains on concrete, garage floor

Pour a generous amount of dry washing soda on spills and stains. Sprinkle lightly with water to create a thick paste and allow to sit overnight. The following day, scrub with a stiff brush (re-wetting as needed). Hose down, then wipe the surface clean.

• MORE: 36 Clever and Frugal Uses for Baking Soda

Tarnished silver

To remove tarnish from silver, line a non-reactive pan or bowl (glass, plastic) with aluminum foil. Fill with a solution of 1/2 cup washing soda to one-gallon hot water. Next, add the tarnished silver pieces and allow to soak for 15 minutes. The tarnish will simply disappear. Then, rinse well then buff the silver pieces until they sparkle.

Washing soda will also remove tarnish from silverplate, jewelry (except for anything with oft stone like opal, pearl), gold, copper, bronze, stainless steel, and most brass, following manufacturer’s guidelines.

Laundry stains

Soda ash works well to remove alcohol and grease stains from clothing.

Calcification

Soda ash easily removes mineral buildup and calcification in everything from coffee pots and espresso makers to boilers and hot water heaters.

Swimming pools

As a mild alkali, soda ash is routinely used to increase the alkalinity in swimming pools, helping to ensure the proper pH balance of the water.

DIY Washing soda

If you cannot find washing soda (sodium carbonate) or you are simply in a pinch, you can make it yourself from baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) in the oven.

High heat releases the carbon dioxide and water molecules in baking soda, leaving behind dry sodium carbonate or … soda ash, aka washing soda!

1. Place 2 cups of baking soda in a shallow baking dish or on a shallow pan. Smooth it out to an even layer.
2. Bake pan in a 400F oven for one hour.
3. Stir the baking soda and smooth back out to an even layer.
4. Bake for an additional hour.
5. Allow the baking soda (now washing soda) to cool completely. It will look more yellow and be much more coarse in texture than it was when it was baking soda.
6. Store in an airtight container.
7. Label the container and store it out of reach of children and pets.

Because washing soda (soda ash) is typically much cheaper than baking soda (compare per oz), this is not a process you’ll want to repeat regularly. But it’s nice to know that in a pinch, you really can make your own washing soda from baking soda.

Resources

Look for Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda in the laundry aisle of some supermarkets, discount stores, and online. Generally, it comes in a 55-ounce box. Because it has become increasingly difficult to find, I now buy it online as itself and also as soda ash, whichever is cheaper

Remember that Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda and soda ash are both 100% sodium carbonate—precisely the same.

 

Caution!

While Washing Soda doesn’t give off harmful fumes, you do need to wear gloves because it can cause skin irritation. If you happen to get soda ash on your skin, rinse it off immediately because it can cause irritation.

DO NOT use sodium carbonate (aka washing soda, soda ash) on aluminum, fiberglass, leather, silk, wool, no-wax floors, or treated wood surfaces. ALWAYS test first in an inconspicuous place first.

Updated 6-3-23

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