It Works

Ran out of washing powder. I put off buying more because a box, even a small one, is expensive. I decided there surely must be a recipe somewhere on the Internet for washing powder because how else did people do laundry before Tide was invented.

I googled 'home made washing powder' and got quite a few hits. I read a few, but felt discouraged because none seemed like anything I would actually try. All of them required soap flakes and washing powder and since I was trying to make washing powder, going out to buy some seemed really dumb.

Then I found how to turn baking soda into washing powder. Aha. Now I'm getting somewhere.

It's simple. All you need is baking soda.

The Kroger brand was ten cents cheaper. I used the whole box for this post. The first time I tried it, I used half a box of Arm & Hammer because that was what I already had. I thought half a box was a good amount for a test run.

Pour the baking soda into a baking pan and place into a 400 degree oven.

I suppose you could use any oven safe dish as long as it's deep because the baking soda needs to be stirred occasionally to make sure it all cooks. The website I was on didn't say how long to cook it, or how often to stir. The first time, I cooked it for 15 minutes, stirring every 5. This time, I cooked for a good deal longer, but I don't know how long. I didn't set a timer. I just puttered around the kitchen and tried to stir roughly every 5 to 7 minutes. My main concern is burning. 400 degrees is a lot of heat.

The heat of the oven changes the molecular make up. The baking soda becomes washing powder.
I tried to find the original site I was on, but I found it through another blog in the comments section and the link has since been removed. I did google 'turn baking soda into washing powder' and found several links about why it will or will not work. I read that cooking baking soda doesn't do anything, that it does, use baking powder, don't use baking soda, use baking soda not powder...I have to conclude most of the people writing didn't actually get in the kitchen and test anything. I discovered the cooking times should be much longer. But, like anything else online, I discovered people cooking it for 30 minutes with success. I have now done three loads of laundry with my cooked baking soda. All the clothes are clean. They smell good. They look just the way they did when I used brand name, store brought laundry detergent.

I labeled my cooked baking soda as washing powder and I am storing it in an air tight container. I also read it could 'convert back' to regular baking powder. I don't think it does, but I do think moisture in the air could make it clump up. Also, cooking baking soda makes a very fine dust. When I stirred, it appeared to be smoking. I don't think it would have a toxic affect, but I don't want to breathe it in either.
For the first load, I used about 1/2 cup. That was a load of white towels with some greasy kitchen towels. The bath towels were clean but the kitchen towels still had some grease. On the next load, dark clothes and greasy work shirts, I used the rest of the first batch I cooked, about 1 cup. Everything was clean. For the third load (white sheets and a mattress pad), I didn't measure, I dumped a good bit into the washer and added a little bleach. Everything got clean. There was no reaction with the bleach. Everything is still white.

I encourage you to experiment. Even if you goof, you won't be out much money.