Note: While baking soda, washing soda, and borax are all different, they are safe to combine.
This method combines one teaspoon of borax and one teaspoon of baking soda in a bowl. Pour half a glass of hot water and stir until the ingredients dissolve. Then, use a sponge or cloth to scrub the paste onto the stain. Together, they are the best way to clean laundry.
Using a spoon, mix together 1 cup of borax and 1 cup of washing soda. Add 1 tablespoon to a load of laundry. (Recipe makes 32 tbsp/32 loads.) Use borax as a natural way to remove stains from a stainless steel sink.
(Remember, they are not technically detergents.) So, forget the “popular” homemade “detergent” recipe and just use the Ecothrifty laundry cleaner — a 50/50 mix of washing soda and borax. If your clothes look a little extra dirty, let them soak before washing.
Both baking soda and Borax are effective because they are alkaline and abrasive. But Borax has a higher PH than baking soda, making it a slightly harsher but arguably more effective cleaning agent. It inhibits fungi, mold, and bacteria. Have a pile of clothing from your kid's sports that has taken on a stink?
For this reason, borax makes for a decent laundry detergent substitute. While borax is a great sidekick to detergent in small amounts, it can be used to loosen stains and brighten up clothing on its own.
Here are 5 easy steps to whiter whites, cleaner clothes and a new level of freshness: Place your clothes in the washer. Add ½ cup of baking soda to your washer. Add detergent, like ARM & HAMMER™ Plus OxiClean™ Odor Blasters.
Can baking soda ruin clothes? Baking soda is safe to use to clean your clothes and will not ruin them. However, it's a good idea to measure the right amount of cleaning product to use and spot test your clothes before washing them. Baking soda is a great way of getting stains and odors out of clothes and shoes.
Add one-half cup of borax to each load to boost the cleaning power of your detergent. The dry powder should be added directly to the washer drum in a front or top-loading washer before adding the dirty laundry.
If your toughest clothing odor concern is cooking grease, turn to the trick that those in food service use: borax. Simply add half a cup of this odor eliminating powder in with your regular detergent to beat stubborn odors.
Unlike bleach, borax is safe to use on colored fabrics without fear of dye removal or other damage. This general rule applies whether borax is used as a laundry booster in the washing machine, as part of a pre-soak solution, as a spot treatment for stains or as an ingredient in homemade laundry detergent.
In your washing machine, borax helps absorb dirt. In your kitchen and bathroom, it's great for cleaning rust, grout, and even mold and mildew. Borax helps laundry smell better and is also extremely effective at fighting pet urine odor because it combats the ammonia.
If you're looking for a substitute fabric softener, all you need to do is add ½ cup of distilled vinegar onto the rinse cycle. In case you're looking to neutralize odors and whiten your clothes, then add ½ cup of Borax and ½ of vinegar.
Heat and stir until soap is completely dissolved. Add borax and washing soda. It will thicken very quickly.
1. Make an all-purpose cleaning spray. To create an all-purpose spray, dissolve 2 teaspoons of borax into 4 cups of hot water, then mix with 1 teaspoon of dish soap and 4 tablespoons of vinegar. Use this to clean countertops, appliances, windows, and more.
Oxiclean powder is essentially washing soda with sodium percarbonate, which turns into hydrogen peroxide. It's color safe and works great to get rid of stains and keeps whites white and colors bright. It's also much safer / less toxic than Borax. Borax works well too, helps get rid of stains, and whitens clothes.
For a bathtub, we recommend ¼ cup borax, ¼ cub washing soda, and ½ cup detergent. Stir to dissolve. Completely submerge your towels in the mixture and soak until the water has cooled, which usually takes four to five hours. Stir occasionally to help coax out all the buildup in the towels.