Arm & hammer washing soda - Where can i find ?

H

HSLee

[Has anyone been able to locate the unscented Arm & Hammer Washing Soda in the DFW area? If yes, which stores carry it? I want to begin using it as described in the RC threads as part of the homemade 2 part Ca-Buffer additive system.]
 
[I bought it either at a Kroger or at a Walmart. I can not remember which, but it was one or the other.]
 
[If you read through Randy's article you will see that he recommends making washing soda out of baked baking soda. He feels that there are more purity controls on baking soda than washing soda. All you have to do is place the baking soda on a baking tray and bake it at 300 degrees for an hour or so. Here is an extract from the article

Spread baking soda (594 grams or about 2 ¼ cups) on a baking tray and heat in an ordinary oven at 300 °F for 1 hour to drive off water and carbon dioxide. I prefer to use baked baking soda rather than washing soda in this recipe as baking soda from a grocery store is always food grade said:
]



Edited By SALT on 1091557433
Click to expand...
 
[The Walmart I tried today has only the bleach/scent added arm & hammer washing soda. Will try Kroger later this week.

I am aware of the concerns with the use of the washing soda, but have noted that a lot of RC members are using it with no known probs. Given that, I'm willing to try it.]
 
[1) too lazy to bake the soda
2) washing soda may be cheaper
3) washing soda may have more stable effect on pH versus baking inconsistencies]
 
[1) Howard Howard Howard
2) No
3) What do you base that upon?

I have a box of unscented washing soda. If you want it, let me know, and I can bring it to work tomorrow, and I will give it to you.

I did try using it, but one thing that made me stop was that the particle size is much larger than that of baking soda and desolving it was more difficult. Also my tank seems to react better to the baked baking soda. If you are concerned about making sure the chemical reaction is complete just leave it in for 2 hours. This is just in my opinion based on the results I have had. By the way I got mine at Albertson's in Mckinney at 75 and Eldarodo.]



Edited By SALT on 1091634107
 
[I just use plain old unbaked soda. Sure it will drop the PH due to Co2 in it but that only lasts a 10 minutes and it is not like it even drops to more than 7.8. I also think most of the drop is becasue I add the soda into the overflow and the PH monitor is located in the sump. I figure it takes a few minutes to circulate back into the tank. So the Ph drop in the tank is even more minimal.

BTW you can buy 5 pounds of baking soda for like 2$ at walmart.]



Edited By mmiller40 on 1091634625
 
[Also if you use washing soda you will have to mix it will baking soda becasue it will spike your PH too high, especially if you are adding it in any large quanity to increase your alk. I think the mix is 6 parts baking to 1 part washing will give you a zero Ph spike/drop.]
 
[Could someone please explain exactly how to use this stuff? I bought some pickling lime and baking soda. added 5 teaspoons of pl to 5 gallons of topoff water and 2 teaspons of baking soda. ph 8, calc 440. I have no way of testing alk yet. Mixed both in my topoff trash can, it will auto topoff. I am doing this correctly? Should i stop until i get a alk test kit? going to test again tonight to see how the tank is doing.]
 
[Yes you need a alk test kit.

DO NOT mix soda into your kalk mix, Kalk is balanced and the extra soda (alk) will cause the calcium to precipitate out.

Be carefull how fast your auto topoff fills the evap water, the kalk will casue teh Ph to spike.]
 
[So just to get things straight, use pickling lime alone in topoff and check alk and ph. Add baking soda "directly to tank" to decrease alk and raise ph? Use it has a buffer? Start with two teaspoons at first and wait a few hours and recheck levels?
Did i get the Pickling lime levels correct?]
 
[Form what I understand, baking soda will increase alkaline, washing (baked baking) soda will increase pH, calcium will increase calcium (pretty sure on this one :D ) and pickling lime (do not shake) will increase all three.]



Edited By quangtam7 on 1091642987
 
[Just picked up a 3.7lb box from Kroger for $1.99, on the box it says All natural super washing soda and sodium carbonate but it does have smell of detergen, is this normal?]
 
[I think the test is to put some under running water. If it suds, then it has additives. Not sure what the smell is. Someone had posted a pic of a box on one of the RC threads.

At $2 per 3+lb box, its more expensive than baking soda. I found 4lb box of that for $1.47.]
 
[Couldn't find any picture on RC, is it same as this one?
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[There shouldn't be any inconsistancies with baked baking soda. The 'baking' is to drive out co2. You could bake it for 20 hours if you wanted, but it's all gone after about 1 hr.

Baking soda - raises alk some, lowers pH very slightly
Baked baking (washing) soda - raises alk more, raises pH very steeply
Pickling Lime - raises alk, calcium, and pH very steeply

I'm a shade on the low pH side, and I drop 1 meq/l alk a day. I mix 1 tsp of baking soda and 1 tsp of baked baking soda in a cup of RO/DI water each morning and pour it in a high flow area. This raises my pH about .1 and gives me the 1 meq/l alk I want.]
 
[Agreed. Shouldn't be any inconsistencies with baked soda...
However, the RC discussions reveal that a lot of folks are underbaking the stuff, either by bake time and/or temp. To prevent this, theres no harm in doing a really strong bake of the stuff. Randy H Farley also notes that usage of the non baked baking soda initially lowers pH slightly, but with the long term usage, it rises.]
 
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