Salt and Laundry

Last Friday I made the claim that baking soda is a poor replacement for Super Wash Soda, and is not necessary to add to the laundry detergent because I don't have hard water.  But what about people who do have hard water?  Hard water contains dissolved calcium and magnesium.  It can precipitate out of hard water as scale, which builds up on the insides of your washing machine (and tea kettle and everything else), and hard water reduces soap's ability to lather, whether in the shower, sink, dishwasher or washing machine, and reacts with soap to form a sticky scum.  You can combat hard water in various ways, including filtering it by distillation or reverse osmosis, adding  powdered borax or washing soda (already contained in our home made detergent), or running it through a water softener (which implies salted water).  What if we just add salt to the laundry detergent mix?
All over the internet you can find recipes for homemade fabric softener crystals using kosher salt and Epsom salts, but these two items are not interchangeable.  Epsom salt is magnesium sulfate (MgSO₄ + 7H2O).  Hard water is caused by calcium and magnesium.  So by adding Epsom salt to your laundry you are making  your hard water even harder.  Hard water causes soap to be less effective, fades colors, and causes fabric to feel rough and scratchy.  Kosher salt (sodium chloride) is NaCl.  When dissolved in water, the sodium chloride framework disintegrates as the Na⁺ and Cl⁻ ions become surrounded by the polar water molecules.  It makes your detergent work even harder. Salt is proven effective against blood, gravy, grease, ink, and wine. It is also great at getting out set in stains. And what is even cheaper than Kosher salt? Regular table salt (it's just crushed into a different size flake).  Adding table salt to your home made detergent is the way to go if you have hard water! If you don't have hard water, you may still consider salt as a stain pretreatment.

Vinegar And Laundry

The internet claim:  "Just adding 1/2 cup vinegar to the final rinse will result in brighter, clearer colors and fluffier laundry"

The science: CH3COOH + H20 --> CH3COO- + H3O+
vinegar (acetic acid) + water --> acetate ion (which is a very weak acid) + Hydronium ion
The acidic solution is supposed to dissolve soap reside (alkalies) left by soaps and detergents allowing the laundry fibers to because more absorbent and fluffy.

An ion is a charged atom or molecule. It is charged because the number of electrons do not equal the number of protons in the atom or molecule. An atom can acquire a positive charge or a negative charge depending on whether the number of electrons in an atom is greater or less then the number of protons in the atom.
Warning: Never combine vinegar with chlorine bleach as this will result in harmful fumes. Do not use vinegar on silk, acetate, or rayon clothing. 

My claim: Adding vinegar to laundry is redundant and will not cut laundry costs if you are using home made detergent.  In the following reaction, I assume the baking soda is coming from your home made detergent.

The science: NaHCO₃ + HC₂H₃O₂ → NaC₂H₃O₂ + H₂CO₃
(baking soda) + (vinegar) → sodium acetate + carbonic acid
Carbonic acid is unstable and undergoes a decomposition reaction to produce the carbon dioxide gas:
H₂CO₃ → H₂O + CO₂
resulting in NaHCO₃ + HC₂H₃O₂ → NaC₂H₃O₂ + H₂O + CO₂
The carbon dioxide escapes the solution as bubbles like the foamy lava experiment you did in 3rd grade. A dilute sodium acetate solution remains after the reaction. The sodium acetate (which is a salt) may offer a tiny bit of grease-removing ability, but it’s not much. Probably not enough to really notice.  So, really, all you’re doing, when you combine baking soda and vinegar to make a cleaning agent, is cleaning with very neutralized water with just a tiny amount of salt in it.
That’s not going to get your clothes very clean, and it’s certainly not going to soften your fabrics much.

Holiday Soaps

Tutorial on soap making process.  The cupcake mold soaps smell like vanilla and rose.  The bars are oatmeal lavender with blossoms I harvested from this summer's flowers :) The elves are scented like wintergreen oil.  They will not be ready for another 6 weeks, just barely in time for Christmas.

Chocolate cookies

1-1/2 c. dark chocolate chips, divided
3 large egg whites, at room temperature
2-1/2 c. powdered sugar, divided
1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tbsp. cornstarch
1/4 tsp. salt

Heat oven to 350F. Spray a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray or line with parchment paper. Melt 1 cup of dark chocolate chips in microwave, stirring after 30 second intervals, until melted and smooth. Set aside to cool slightly. Using electric mixer, beat eggs whites in a large bowl until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in 1-1/4 cup of powdered sugar and continue beating until mixture resembles soft marshmallow creme. In a medium bowl, whisk together remaining 1-1/4 cup of powdered sugar, cocoa, cornstarch, and salt. On low speed, beat dry ingredients into meringue. Add in melted chocolate and remaining 1/2 cup of dark chocolate chips (dough will become extremely stiff). Place 1/2 cup powdered sugar in a bowl. Scoop out 1 tablespoon of dough and roll into a ball. Roll in powdered sugar, coating thickly. Place on prepared baking sheet about 2 inches apart.

Bake 10 minutes or until puffed and tops are cracked. Let cool on baking sheet for about 10 minutes before removing to wire rack.

Yield: 36 cookies with #70 scoop

Nature Center

The North Chagrin Reservation has a GIANT snake structure for you and the children to enjoy. I found the coloration excellent, and the eyes mesmerizing. I did not want to turn my back on it for fear of falling victim to it.

Lye and Food

Hear the word "lye" and you probably think of commercial drain opener. A powerful alkali, lye (typically sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide) is often used in heavy cleaning and soap making, and it can be highly corrosive. But alkalies, like lye, are also widely used in the food world, a common one being baking soda (a mild alkali, the soda reacts with acidic ingredients to help leaven baked goods). Commercially, corn is often treated with alkali ("nixtamalization") to make hominy. Cocoa powder can be treated with alkali (Dutch process) to neutralize the acid, giving the powder a milder flavor and richer color. Lye is also used in the curing of olives, the canning of mandarin oranges, and in the preparation of Chinese "century eggs" and Nordic lutefisk. My favorite use is making pretzels. With pretzels, the dough is dipped in a very mild solution of lye; most sources I found call for a 3% solution (about 2 TB/Qt of water). When the pretzel is dipped in the solution, the lye immediately begins to react with the surface of the dough, yellowing it. As it bakes, the color intensifies and turns a deep, glossy brown, the pretzel taking on a crisp, chewy texture. The alkali is neutralized in the process, making the pretzel safe to eat. The alkaline environment also promotes the Maillard reaction, the chemical process that leads to browning of such foods. The Maillard process is integral to all bread baking — it shapes the way the crust forms and tastes. In the case of the pretzel, the Maillard reaction is responsible for the deep brown crust, crunchy arms and distinctive taste. At its most basic, the Maillard process is a heat-activated reaction between small sugars and amino acids. Dipping dough in lye alters the ratio between sugar and protein, because lye breaks proteins present in the dough into smaller bits. Those are the small amino acids that then combine with sugars in the dip to create the flavor compounds at the pretzel's crust. The dipping process is an important part of pretzel baking. If you don't put a browning agent on the product, the pretzel is white. If you let it go into the oven white, it'll come out of the oven white. And then you just have a chewy bread chunk.

More On Laundry Soap

In our last article we determined that OxiClean was redundant if we add Super Wash Soda and Borax together in hot water.  But it got me thinking, "What about the Super Wash Soda and the baking soda?".

Super Wash Soda + hot water = carbonic acid + sodium hydroxide (lye)
Na2CO3 + 2 H2O --> H2CO3 + 2 NaOH
carbonic acid is just carbon dioxide enriched water H2CO3 ↔CO2 + H2O 

baking soda + hot water = a couple different possibilities
NaHCO3 + H2O --> NA+ + HCO3- + H2O
NaHCO3 + H2O --> NA+ + H2CO3 + OH-

Once baking soda is dissolved, the dissolution products are the Na+ ion and the HCO3- ion . The HCO3- ion reacts with water to produce H2CO3 and a OH- ion. The H2CO3 will decompose into water and carbon dioxide.
Simple experiment: add a little baking soda to a dish and add hot water. Do you hear a fizz? That is carbon dioxide gas escaping!

As we all know, lye has a pH of about 13  to 14. Baking soda or sodium bicarbonate is a light alkaline with a pH of 8 to 9.  So, whether we use baking soda or Super Wash Soda we will get an alkaline bath that will help clean our clothes.  My conclusion is that baking soda is a poor replacement for Super Wash Soda, and is not necessary to add to the laundry detergent because I don't have hard water.

Fun at work

DIY Laundry Soap

1 box Super Wash Soda(Na2CO3) - pH 11
1 4 lb. box Baking Soda (NaHCO3) - pH 8.3
1 box Borax (Na2B4O7·10H2O) - pH 9.5
1 tub OxiClean (Na2CO. H2O2)
True Soap (Castile, Zote, FelzNaptha. Ivory, Yardly, Kirks, Etc.) Depending of the variety I use 2-4 bars.
Smell good boosters (this batch was made with Downy Unstopables sweet sizzle)

I was curious why home made detergent works so well, so i began to examine the chemical break down. After examining the results, I discovered I am wasting my money by adding OxiClean. SHOCK! So this is the break down:
One of the active ingredients in OxiClean is sodium percarbonate, an adduct of sodium carbonate (see super wash soda) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). Sodium percarbonate (OxiClean powder) must be added to water to be activated. When activated, it breaks down into hydrogen peroxide and sodium carbonate in solution. The bubbling action, or the release of oxygen molecules, loosens stain molecules from fibers so they can be rinsed away. Chemically, it is like a solid form of hydrogen peroxide which releases oxygen when water is added. Quite simply, the way it is made is by simply treating sodium corbonate with hydrogen peroxide!
Why is it a waste to add the OxiClean? The Borax, when dissolved in hot water, breaks down into hydrogen peroxide. Now add the super wash soda and you get OxiClean.
Why does the detergent work so well? Washing soda breaks some of the molecular bonds in water making water "wetter" and lowering the surface tension of the water so that the soap can be more effective. Borax has many chemical properties that contribute to its cleaning power. Borax and other borates clean and bleach by converting some water molecules to hydrogen peroxide. The pH of borax is about 9.5, so it produces a basic solution in water, thereby increasing the effectiveness of bleach and other cleaners. Borates bonds with other particles to keep ingredients dispersed evenly in a mixture, which maximizes the surface area of active particles to enhance cleaning power. Baking soda softens water by binding with Calcium and Magnesium forming solid, which can be rinsed off the fabric. Castile soap provides a clean, fluffy lather in both hard and soft water. Potassium hydroxide converts the oils into soap and glycerine, thus requiring less water for a lather than traditional liquid soap. When used for cleaning, soap allows insoluble particles to become soluble in water and then be rinsed away. The cleansing action of soap is determined by its polar and non-polar structures in conjunction with an application of solubility principles. The long hydrocarbon chain is non-polar and hydrophobic (repelled by water). The "salt" end of the soap molecule is ionic and hydrophilic (water soluble).  For example: oil/fat is insoluble in water, but when a couple of drops of dish soap are added to the mixture, the oil/fat apparently disappears. The insoluble oil/fat molecules become associated inside micelles, tiny spheres formed from soap molecules with polar hydrophilic (water-attracting) groups on the outside and encasing a lipophilic (fat-attracting) pocket, which shields the oil/fat molecules from the water making it soluble. Anything that is soluble will be washed away with the water.

Cat toy

Now the kitty has a toy to match her night light.

Cherry Almond Biscotti

1/4 C. light olive oil	3/4 C. sugar	2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. almond extract	2 eggs	1 3/4 C. flour
1/4 tsp salt	1 tsp. baking powder	1/2 C. dried cherries
1/2 C. slivered almonds

Preheat the oven to 300*F. In a large bowl, mix together oil and sugar until well blended.  Mix in the vanilla and almond extracts, then beat in the eggs. Combine flour, salt, and baking powder; gradually stir into egg mixture. Mix in cherries and nuts by hand. Divide dough in half. Form two logs (12x2 inches) on a cookie sheet that has been lined with parchment paper. Dough may be sticky; wet hands with cool water to handle dough more easily.  Bake for 35 minutes in the preheated oven, or until logs are light brown. Remove from oven, and set aside to cool for 10 minutes. Reduce oven heat to 275*F.  Cut logs on diagonal into 3/4 inch thick slices. Lay on sides on parchment covered cookie sheet. Bake approximately 8 to 10 minutes, or until dry; cool.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

2 cooked boneless skinless chicken breasts (seasoned with North Woods or Taco)
3 quarts chicken broth (water and 1 Tb. chicken stock)
2 Tb. corn meal
1 diced poblano pepper
1 diced sweet ancient pepper (it's sweeter than red bell pepper)
1/2 C. frozen sweet corn
1 can black beans
1 small diced tomato, diced avocado, 1 package ($.89) corn tortillas cut into strips and toasted

In your soup pot, gently saute peppers until they are barely soft (2min?) then transfer to a broiling sheet with sweet corn.  Broil vegetables until they have a light black surface.  Fill soup pot with chicken broth and corn meal. Boil until corn meal is soft.  Add cooked, shredded chicken, beans, and vegetables.  Season with more taco seasoning or to taste.  Serve soup with corn tortilla strips, tomatoes, and avocado.

Honey Almond Madeleines

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, plus melted butter for molds
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
2 large eggs
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon packed light-brown sugar
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting


In a small saucepan over low heat, melt the butter, being sure to not let the butter brown. Remove from heat, and stir in honey and almond extract. Let stand until room temperature. In a small bowl, whisk together, flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a medium bowl, using a rubber spatula mix the eggs and sugars until combined. Fold in flour mixture, until just combined. Add the cooled butter mixture, and continue to fold until combined. Cover the bowl, and refrigerate until chilled, about 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 425 degrees; with rack in center. Brush madeleine molds with melted butter; set aside. Fill each mold three-quarters full, using a spoon. Do not overfill the molds. Bake until puffed, and the edges are golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack until pan is just cool enough to handle. Invert onto wire rack and serve warm, if possible. If not serving warm, once the madeleines are cool, sift some confectioners' sugar over the seashell side.