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Sodium Bicarbonate (Baking Soda) Dry Cleaning

Instead of wasting time, energy, money, and water laundering clothes after a single wearing, try baking soda dry cleaning.

Everyone knows that laundry is a pain in the butt, not to mention the large amounts of resources and money consumed to make it happen. We seem to be obsessed with washing our clothes after each use, simply because they may have a slight odor. "Dry Cleaning" with a baking soda solution is a wonderful way I have found to avoid both excessive washing and embarrassing smells. It reduces the time and money spent on laundry as well as the excessive energy and clean water consumption of laundering. It is also better for clothes.

You will need baking soda, water, and a spray bottle to make the solution.

  • Less wear-and-tear on the clothes. Laundering is horrible for clothing.
  • Less money - I do not have to pay to run a washing machine all the time nor buy as much detergent. Also clothes wear out more slowly so less frequent replacement of clothes is needed.
  • Less effort Laundry takes time. This saves having to launder clothes after EVERY wearing. More time to spend on better and/or fun things. Give your shirts a nice spritz, then hang back in the closet.
  • Less Water Consumption Less washing = Less water use.
  • Less Energy Consumption No motor to run in the washer or water to heat. Also using less water results in less energy being used to treat and pump the water and waste water. Not only is this good for society and the environment, it is good for your budget. More money to spend on more important and/or fun things.
  • Residual Protection Any baking soda crystals remaining in the fabric will provide additional neutralization of body odor during the next wearing.

The sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) in water reacts with the smelly organic acids which are produced as a product of bacteria naturally living on the body (see body odor). The acids are converted to an odorless salt.

When the water evaporates, the baking soda and reaction products crystalize and the crystals are removed by shaking the garment a bit or just by wearing it. Even on black they are not noticeable provided that you do not go crazy and saturate the garment with the solution.

Odors are eliminated. Though there may be some soil in the fabric, it is not a problem unless it becomes visible or can be smelled. In this day and age where daily baths and showers are common and anything less is a taboo, there is not a whole lot of dirt from the body that really gets into clothes. Skin flakes and baking soda crystals come out with a good shake, lint roller, or cheap duct tape donuts. Unless you are spilling food all over yourself, doing dirty work, or excercising, laundry after every use of a garment is a complete waste. The odor of cologne or deodorant will not be removed in this manner, though body odors (which are made up of organic acids) will be removed.

When I do launder the clothes (it eventually must be done to remove oils and ground-in dirt), it is in cold water and they are dried by hanging on a drying rack in my room. Machine drying is even more energy intensive than washing and possibly even harder on clothes.

Making the solution

You will need baking soda, tap water, and a thoroughly washed and rinsed spray bottle. You can buy new spray bottles in the stores, but why do that if you can just use an old bottle from a cleaning product. The spray bottle needs to be able to produce a fine mist rather than a jet or stream of liquid.

  1. With the water close to room temperature, mix baking soda in the water until it no longer dissolves. You should be able to dissolve about 80-100 grams (around 48 dry mL or 3.5 tablespoons) of baking soda in a liter of water. Add more water to dissolve if you have over-shot the solubility point.
  2. Pour the mixture into the spray bottle.
  3. Spray Away.
 

Last Modified: 01/29/2008
Created: 01/29/2008