Washing soda or soda crystals are a part of the baking soda family but have been processed differently. It’s highly alkaline, which makes it an effective solvent for a wide range of stains.
It’s safe to use and doesn’t give off any harmful fumes, though you may want to wear gloves when handling washing soda because it can cause minor skin irritation.
You can find soda crystals at your local grocery store or local home goods/supplies store.
If you get the inkling to pick some up, here are 30 uses for them in the home.
1. Cleaning Your Washing Machine
One crucial home appliance that people tend to overlook when cleaning is the washing machine. Maybe because it’s the machine’s job to clean everything else, but it does need to be clean every now and again.
It’s important for you to clean your washing machine or it might develop odors that pass on to your clothes.
But don’t worry, soda crystals are your saving grace. They’re an efficient and cost-effective way to clean your washing machine. Simply run a hot wash, with an empty machine and one cup of soda crystals and just like that, any yucky build up disappears.
2. Preventing Drains From Becoming Clogged
Nobody likes a clogged drain. It’s annoying, frustrating and sometimes just straight up gross. Get a quick and easy fix by pouring a cupful of crystals down your sinks each week with hot water.
This helps to break up any blockages by melting away grime and keeping your sink clean. It’s even possible to use soda crystals in septic tanks. You’ll experience the free flow of water through your drains which is always a welcomed pleasure.
3. Removing Stubborn, Burnt-on Food From Your Pots And Pans
Some grimy, stuck-on food stains are just too strong for the dishwasher. If you find that you dread the after-dinner experience or spend too much time cleaning dishes when you’d rather relax, invest in a package of soda crystals.
These can be the heavy-duty cleaner you need. Just make a strong paste and wipe it on the burnt-on food. Then you simply leave it overnight and watch it smoothly wash off in the morning. You’ll barely even scrub!
4. Boosting Your Laundry Detergent
Now it’s no surprise that soda crystals can be used to do laundry. In fact, people call it washing soda for that very reason. It’s a method that’s been tested by time.
Sometimes your regular detergent needs an extra boost for those grass, food or even oil stains. Just add about a tablespoon to your detergent and watch the magic happen. The less concentrated your detergent is, the more you can add.
5. Removing Stains From Clothes
Have you ever felt like avoiding certain food for fear of ruining a nice outfit or your favorite top? Now, there’s no need to worry as soda crystals will help you to remove stains a lot faster.
Another method to get rid of those pesky stains from your clothes is to leave them to soak in some warm water with 1 cup of soda crystals added and dissolved. Do this at least an hour before washing and it’ll do wonders for your laundry.
6. Softening Towels
Towels after a while lose the soft feel that gives you such comfort to be wrapped in it. They get a little crunchy, which means that they may be suffering from limescale and detergent build-up.
Soaking them in a medium strength mixture of soda crystals and warm water and then rinsing them well does the trick to get out any detergent build-up of limescale. Now all you have to is wash them like normal, with just half a cup of white vinegar in the fabric conditioner drawer.
7. Cleaning Patios And Paths
Soda crystals even have the power to kill moss and algae. Often times, patios and pathways can be overrun by these plant-like pests. The roots of these plants can grow, spread and connect which may cause your pavement to break up and be destroyed.
When wet, these plants can also make your walkway or driveway slippery which might cause an accident. Just sprinkle them on the moss and dampen with a watering can.
Leave for a day or two, until the moss goes brown, then brush off and rinse with plenty of water. There you have it, a patio to boast about.
8. Cleaning Up Garden Ornaments
Now just when you thought you had to throw them out, your weather-damaged or mucky garden ornaments are about to be rescued. Use a regular strength solution of 2 cups of Soda Crystals with a bristle brush to remove caked-on grime, mold, and mud.
Give your ornaments and new polish and save yourself the trip to replace them. You’ll love how they shine and give your garden a nice glow. This hack will also help you to save on purchasing new garden decor.
9. Restoring Silver Jewelry
Over time, silver jewelry gets dingy and requires good polish. However, jewelry polish may be too expensive or even out of reach for your needs. There is a solution that is cost-effective and efficient.
To get that shiny, new look back, first, line a bowl with aluminum foil, and then pour 1 cup of soda crystals into the bowl. Next, you just add 1/4 part boiling water, wait a few minutes and your silver jewelry will look like the day you got them.
10. Cleaning Your Oven
If you’re struggling to get the racks from your oven or BBQ clean or if you just don’t have the time, here’s an easy home remedy. Lay them flat in your bath and fill it up with hot water.
Pour in a pack of Soda Crystals and leave to soak for a few hours. They’ll rinse off nice and clean! In case you were wondering, this can also soak-off years of sticky grease and grime.
If they don’t rinse off cleanly, leave to soak for a longer period or lightly scrub with a scouring pad.
11. Cleaning Your Carpet
Carpets may be the easy thing in your home to get dirty. An easy way to keep them clean is to shake soda crystals over them carpets at night before you go to bed. In the morning vacuum it away for fresh smelling carpets.
Soda crystals will absorb odor and maintain freshness. This will also provide an easy and constant deep clean that won’t harm the fibers of your carpet.
12. Cleaning Your Toilet Bowl
Cleaning the toilet bowl may not be a chore we all like, but it certainly has to get done, especially to prevent blockage. Pour some soda crystals into your toilet, and then using a damp toilet brush to swish them around the bowl.
It’ll freshen up the toilet and stop it from getting blocked. There might be better toilet cleaners out there, but Soda Crystals will do a great job of keeping your toilet flowing.
13. Cleaning Your Floors
If you’re tired of harsh chemicals irritating your skin, then say goodbye to harsh chemicals with this easy to make homemade floor cleaner. Simply add a couple of tablespoons of soda crystals to your mop bucket.
Make sure the water is nice and warm, swish it around a little to dissolve the crystals into the water. Once you get to mopping, you’ll be amazed at how easily dirt grime wipe away.
14. Cleaning Chopping Boards
Whether its vegetables, fruits or meat, chopping boards tend to get stained with these forms of residue over time.
You can use Liquid Soda Crystals or a regular strength solution made with the actual crystals to remove staining and grime from your chopping boards. Unlike other toxic cleaners, the crystals won’t cause lingering odors or tastes even when they’re rinsed off.
15. Pre-soak Treatment
Tough stains require tough pre-soak treatment. You have to fill your sink or a large bowl with warm water and 200-500g of Soda Crystals, depending on the size of the garment.
You want the solution to be quite strong. Leave the garment to soak in the solution for an hour or more depending on the size of the garment. Then you can wash normally.
16. Soften Water
Want an easy way to save money in the home? Who doesn’t right? By just adding some soda crystals to the detergent drawer and you can lessen the amount of washing powder or liquid you’ll need.
This is because the detergent will be able to tackle stains easily in softened water. Just think how much less detergent you’ll be using now!
This method will also help to protect the metal pieces of your washer that come into contact with water. As a result, you’ll have less hard water build-up to clean away.
17. Cleaning Your Wood Burning Stove
The glass of your wood-burning stove can become pretty caked with soot. This can cause your food to start tasting like ashes and takes away from the crisp but ‘cabin in the woods’ look of your wood-burning stove.
Soda crystals will make quick work of that. Dissolve about a quarter cup of soda crystals in a liter of hot water and you can use the solution with a sponge or cloth to clean the soot right off of the glass.
18. Extractor Fan Filter Cleaner
Cleaning the extractor fan filter can be a dreadful experience. However, you can make it a lot easier to handle by using washing soda. Just dissolve two large spoons of soda crystals and three large spoons of your chosen laundry detergent in hot water.
Due to the power of the soda crystals, this creates a strong solution that can cut through the much and therefore clean your cooker extractor fan filters with ease.
19. Tea And Coffee Cup Stain Remover
You know those pesky stains you get in the bottom of mugs? These can cause your crockery to look less than appealing and even contaminate anything you try to drink from them.
This is because the formula of coffee or tea latches on to the groves of your dish-ware and becomes visible over time. To remove them add half a teaspoon of soda crystals per mug and fill with boiling water.
Leave to soak until cool, and then rinse and wash as normal. The stains should wash out easily.
20. Removing Crayon Marks From Walls
There’s nothing you love more than your kids. But no doubt they know how to make messes. An easy way to remove those crayon drawings of the family dog off the walls is to pull soda crystals into the mix.
Just add an equal part of water to an equal part of soda crystals and mix to form a paste. You can then use this paste to scrub the crayon marks off of the wall.
You shouldn’t, however, use it on wallpapered walls, and it’s advisable to spot test on a hidden part of your wall first, to make sure the paste isn’t so strong as to remove the paint.
21. Cleaning Range Tops
Washing soda is designed to make even the toughest of cleaning jobs look super easy. Not even your range tops or can withstand its cleaning power.
All you have to do is make a regular solution of 1/2 cup of washing soda dissolved in 1 gallon of warm water. Be sure to put your range tops to soak in the regular solution for at least 30 minutes. Now you just dip a damp sponge into the solution and use it to scrub your range top clean.
If the gunk is more stubborn than you thought, you can sprinkle some soda crystals directly onto a damp sponge or cloth and put in a little elbow grease and scrub it away.
22. Cleaning Baths
A clean bath makes for a happy bathroom, and it certainly makes you happy too. But cleaning your bath can sometimes be a challenge. Soda crystals, however, help to make things a little easier.
You can use a regular solution of washing soda with a sponge or scrub brush to scrub your bathtub clean. Things like soap scum, greasy residue, and even timescale are no match.
23. Shower Curtains
You can maintain nicely cleaned and unstained shower curtains by making soda crystals a part of your cleaning routine. Simply mix up a strong solution of about 1 cup of washing soda dissolved in 1 gallon of hot water.
Use the solution and a sponge to scrub down your vinyl shower curtain and shower curtain liner. The washing soda solution will help remove soap scum, mildew, and unpleasant smells.
24. Cleaning Trash Cans
Trash cans are some household items that definitely need a good cleaning. Soda crystals are perfect to clean your indoor and outdoor trash cans.
You can use a regular solution with a sponge or scrub brush to give the inside of your garbage cans a good cleaning and break away dirt, grime, unpleasant smells, and anything else that may be hiding inside.
25. Restoring Luster To Silverware
If your silverware has lost its luster and needs a polish, washing soda can help you restore shine to your silverware. Soak your silverware in a regular solution of washing soda for about 15 minutes or so.
All the blemishes will melt away before your eyes! After soaking, rinse the items thoroughly and buff with a clean microfiber cloth perfectly glistened for that dinner party.
26. Homemade Laundry Soap
Homemade laundry soap is something right out of our mothers’ handbooks. Washing soda is one of the main ingredients in homemade liquid or powdered laundry soap.
All you have to do is grate a bar soap or mix in a food processor until finely ground. Then in a large bowl add 1 cup each of washing soda and borax, then the grated bar soap. Mix thoroughly and there you have it, a more budget-friendly and natural laundry soap.
27. Tough Tile And Grout Cleaning
Tile and grout can be difficult to clean. As a result, we may ignore them for a long time until the dirt begins to show, by this time it’s too late and it seems impossible to get back to normal.
Tile and grout can get badly stained and discolored and make the environment look dirtier than it really is. Certainly, soda crystals will do the trick to get them brand new.
Just mix some crystals in some warm water and put in a little elbow grease to either scrub them or just leave it a while and mop off later.
28. Cleaning Sinks With Soda Crystals
A good cleaning will give a better look and feel to either your bathroom or your kitchen. But cleaning those areas can sometimes be tedious. Soda crystals, however, help to make things a little easier.
You can use a regular solution of 2 parts washing soda and 1 part water with a sponge or scrub brush to scrub your sink clean. Things like soap scum or grease don’t stand a chance.
You’ll enjoy the shine and freshness of your sinks, even more, when you consider how easy it was to clean
29. Cleaning Burner Pans
Washing soda is designed to make even the toughest of cleaning jobs look super easy. Not even your burner pans stand a chance. All you have to do is make a regular solution of 1/2 cup of washing soda dissolved in 1 gallon of warm water.
Be sure to get your burner pans and soak them in the regular solution for at least 30 minutes. Now you just dip a damp sponge into the solution and use it to scrub the pan till they’re as good as new.
30. Cleaning Shower Head
Sometimes our shower heads can get caked up with soap scum or just the hard almost plaque-like substance that forms on it if it’s not regularly cleaned or even just hard water.
Soda crystals are perfect for even this tough job. Just make a regular solution of 1 cup warm water and 1 cup of soda crystals and get your sponge and scrub away. Your showerhead will be brand new in no time.
Soda crystals provide a convenient way to get tough jobs done or a quick short cut for more efficient use of time, it is recommended to keep this product out of reach of children and in a cool dry place.
Consequently, you’ll get maximum use out of each box. You’ll also find that you’re not only helping the environment by avoiding the use of harmful chemicals but helping yourself and your children too.
