Baking Soda vs. Washing Soda

You’ll see many articles and cleaning tips on the web extolling the virtues of natural cleaning products, indeed we’ve tried a lot of them! Baking soda and washing soda are great products to have around and if you learn to use them, through practice are inexpensive, eco-friendly and better than the stuff you buy in the supermarkets.

Is Baking Soda The Same As Washing Soda?

For some purposes, the only difference between washing soda (sodium carbonate) and baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) is that washing soda will consume two equivalents of acid, while baking soda will only consume one equivalent. What? Ok science mumbo jumbo - washing soda is more caustic (wear gloves when handling - strong alkaline) so its good for laundry and as a paste to remove stubborn stains.

The Chemistry

Washing soda is sodium carbonate (Na2CO3), baking soda is sodium bicarbonate – the same ingredients, but with a hydrogen atom replacing one of the sodiums. Both compounds are alkaline, meaning that they can neutralize acids. One common source of washing soda is the ashes of plants and its for this reason, it is sometimes called soda ash. Washing Soda is caustic/alkaline with a pH of 11 (with 7 being neutral). Though it does not give off harmful fumes, you do still need to use/wear gloves when handling it directly as a cleansing agent. In reading about safe household cleaners, it always is recommended to save the Washing Soda for the stubborn stains that you are going to tackle by making a paste. For instance, if speaks about petroleum spills on garage floors . . . grease build-up in your oven . . . y'know, truly STUBBORN STAINS!

Baking soda, otherwise known as bicarbonate of soda (NaHCO3), sodium bicarbonate, and, less commonly, saleratus, is a chemical salt with diverse practical uses. The most common practical use for baking soda is as a leavening agent in baking. In combination with a liquid and an acid, baking soda undergoes a chemical reaction that releases bubbles of carbon dioxide. Trapped in batter or dough, these bubbles enable the baked good to rise. Baked goods leavened with baking soda, therefore, generally have a light crumb and are aerated with many holes left by the escaping bubbles of carbon dioxide. Baking Soda is only slightly alkaline with a pH around 8.1 (again, 7 being neutral).

So whilst you can substitute one with the other for some things, for goodness sake, don’t cook with washing soda!