Baking soda during laundry
It might come as a surprise to some people that the same box of baking soda that they have lying around in their fridge can also be a very effective way to make their laundry better and even in an inexpensive manner. Baking soda can be used to soften clothes, increase bleach and detergent performance, remove odors, and controlling detergent suds. Also, using baking soda during the laundry is considered completely safe and can be used in both high and standard efficiency washers. Today, we will be learning about what else can the baking soda do. In short, the baking soda can be used for the following things:
- Removing excess suds
- Cleaning an iron
- Softening the fabrics naturally
- Boosting bleach and detergent performance
- Remove and reduce laundry odors
Remove and reduce laundry odors
The main reason for body odors in our clothes is bacteria. When we use normal detergent, these bacteria cells can be removed up to some extent from our clothes that in result removes or reduces the odors. But in the case of some expensive detergents, hardworking enzymes are not present in order to make sure that the chemicals are not too tough on the fabric, but it negatively impacts the process of taking bacteria and leads to the odors staying on the clothes.
Using baking soda can be very helpful in regulating the pH level in the water of the washer as it will prevent the water from becoming too alkaline or acidic. All you need to do is add a half cup of baking soda into the mix while doing laundry and you will see that the overall result is very impressive.
In the case of strong odor problems like underarm perspiration or cigarette smoke, you can use baking soda in a certain way to get the desired outcome. You will need to dissolve 2 or 1 cup of baking soda in some water after warming the water. After that, you need to fill the water tub with some cool water and add the solution of baking soda that you have made. After this, you need to soak all of your stinky clothes in this place and let them soak overnight before washing them afterward normally.
Increase detergent and bleach performance
When it comes to removing odors and the overall grime from our clothes during laundry, chlorine bleach is a very popular option but if the water is highly alkaline or acidic the bleach will not work to its full capacity and will require boosting up. This is where baking soda can be highly effective, as it will be increasing the effectiveness of your existing detergents and chlorine bleach without paying anything else.
All you need to do is mix half a cup of bleach with a half cup of baking soda. This will make sure that the pH level of the water is completely regulated which in turn will increase the performance of the bleach.
Talking about the detergent, if you are not using chlorine bleach you can still mix up a half cup of baking soda along with detergent in order to boost its performance as well.
Natural fabric softener
As we have mentioned multiple times in this article, baking soda is very effective in regulating the overall pH level of the water which prevents the water from becoming excessively alkaline or acidic. Apart from all those benefits, there is one more benefit of this phenomena and that is fabric softening. If you add a half cup of baking soda every time you are doing laundry along with your detergent, you will find out that your fabric will come out softer because baking soda is comparatively less harsh on the fabrics.
Alternatively, you can also use a synthetic fabric softener for this purpose but keep in mind that synthetic fabric softeners can often interfere with fire retardant finishes on the pajamas made for children. While baking soda is completely safe in this matter. Along with this, using baking soda for this purpose can be really fruitful if you are allergic and have sensitive skin.
Iron cleaner
You can use a paste made up of water and baking soda to get rid of all the built-up scotch and starches deposits from the faceplate of your iron. During this process, you can make the use of white cloth to rub the said paste on the iron. If some of the build-ups are difficult to remove, you can also use the scrub to get it off but make sure to be gentle throughout this process. After the build-up is all gone, you will have to wipe off the faceplate using a cloth that has been dampened with distilled white vinegar. After the entire process, you will find out that your iron is gliding even more smoothly and is overall easier.
Control washer suds
One of the most common problems that people face when using a washing machine is overflowing suds. Now, these suds may look funny on television but are certainly not that much fun when it happens to you during laundry. Recently, new detergents and laundry washers have been launched that claim to control the washer suds but if you are not looking to make that excess investment for this cause, we would like to recommend you that you can use baking soda for this purpose.
All you need to do is find out when these suds begin to overflow and sprinkle some of the baking soda directly on the suds which will observe most of the moisture and control the suds effectively.
