Soda crystals in washing

Grouchy

Hello
I wonder if you Old Stylers could help. I checked online and I'm in a very hard water area so trying to cut down on washing power use as well as be economical as possible. I bought some soda crystals to add to my washing loads but unsure about quantities and if anyone has found it irritating to the skin on the clothes/bedding/underwear etc when used afterwards? I have very sensitive skin.

Sorry, I realise a lot of posts have been written about the wonders of soda crystals and I've read a lot with interest but I couldn't find anything about experiences with washing and skin irritations.

Thank you.

Rossy2692

I cant use it to wash with as it makes me itch but i do use it to clean my washer out, asked about it this morning and 1 bag of soda crystals some in drum some in draw, empty drum hottest wash possible

evie451

I am sure you'll get loads of advice on here by more qualified than me but I do find soda useful. I have moderately sensitive skin and DD has eczema, I use a Scoopful in washing the scoop would probably be a third of an ordinary sized mug. I don't use it if her eczema is bad (cracked/bleeding) but when she's like that its no soap powder at all just soap nuts! I find it great as a whitener and you can really stretch washing powder out.

soay_2

I also have very sensitive skin but I use soda crystals in every wash with no adverse reactions.

I use a 30 mls medicine measurer and use the equivalent of 30 mls + 60mls of Tesco cheap biological powder at 30 degrees for normal soiling & find this sufficient.

For whites & heavier soiling I use extra scoop of powder & higher temperature.

good_advice

For a wile I used half soda crystals and half washing powder in my machine.I found it washed the clothes ok but then decided to start washing at 30C. The washing powder does not dissolve well at low temp so changed to Arial gel. Bought when on offer.

Grouchy

Thanks for the replies. Sounds like it is a suck it and see situation. I will give it a try in a small wash to see what effect it has.
I'm not good with mls, so what would 30mls and 60 mls be in terms of spoonsful for instance?

Thanks.

Popperwell

Grouchy, 30mls seems to be approx 2 tablespoons(possibly 8 teaspoons?)so 60mls would be double that...it is even worse when converted to ounces...

Pity you don't have a measuring cup/jug?

I hope that helps...

I'm no good with metric and too old to learn now...

I have some soda crystals but have yet to use them...

http://www.onlineconversion.com/

soay_2

Grouchy wrote: »

Thanks for the replies. Sounds like it is a suck it and see situation. I will give it a try in a small wash to see what effect it has.
I'm not good with mls, so what would 30mls and 60 mls be in terms of spoonsful for instance?

Thanks.

I have checked for you & my 30mls measure is 2 level tablespoons.

BitterAndTwisted

Soda crystals act as a water-softener, so the laundry-detergent will be more effective/you can use less of it. It's the main component of old-fashioned bath-crystals, so shouldn't cause irritation to most skins, except perhaps the really sensitive. If I was in any doubt about using it for laundry and I had excema/psoriasis/whatever I'd try half a tablespoonful of it in the bath first and see if any reaction occurred.

Grouchy

Thanks again for all the informative replies. BitterandTwisted I think that is a good suggestion and one that I thought I'd try to begin with and graduate upto 2 tablespoons.

What a very nice part of the forum this is, kindly helpful souls. So important when the world seems quite harsh and competitive sometimes.

Cheers

BitterAndTwisted

Once you're happy that the soda crystals won't cause any skin irritation you could go the whole hog on the money-saving front and make your own laundry-soap: the very excellent "Laundry Gloop" thread will tell you everything you need to know about making some. You could save yourself a fortune. I think I made a year's supply for less than a couple of quid.