So today we’re tackling the humble washing soda… AKA: soda ash, washing ash, sodium carbonate, and Na2CO3 (10H2O).

For sanity’s sake, we’ll drop the 10H2O part… if you’re wondering what that means, *technically* what we know as washing soda is sodium carbonate decahydrate, which only means that water molecules are clinging to it. Anhydrous sodium carbonate, if you’ve seen mention of that, has been stripped of the extra water molecules. But hey, eventually it’ll pick up water from the air and once again become our beloved washing soda.

I know it’s really, really weird, but I have a thang for some of this science-y stuff. Rawr.

Washing soda as you’re likely to see it in a store.
What is this mysterious substance called washing soda? If you’ve ever looked up how to make your own powder detergents for the dishwasher or laundry, made a German pretzel, or even tie-dyed a shirt, you have probably encountered washing soda at least in name, if not in person. Nope, it’s not the same as baking soda, although it is related!

As you will see…

Author

Anne usually speaks in memes and SAT words, and she frequently attempts to explain the laws of physics and high school chemistry according to the kitchen via her home blog FoodRetro. If you want to know why ice melts or pretzels turn brown, and you want to make food that you never imagined could be made from scratch in the process, she's your blogger. Her friends describe her as "hilarious when you get to know her," but it could be that they are just amused by the way she gets riled up when reading the paper. She can also be found playing the part of community editor and grammar nazi here on BLUNTmoms.

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