HOW TO USE BAKING SODA IN LAUNDRY

When you use baking soda in laundry for odor, it can help to eliminate unpleasant smells like sweat or pet odors and freshen items by neutralizing the scent. Baking soda can also typically be used to help rid odors from your washer and deodorize shoes. 

To help prevent or remove odors from a laundry load, add detergent to the washer’s dispenser and around a half cup of baking soda to the wash tub. For tougher smells, simply create a paste using equal parts baking soda and water and work it directly onto the garment’s affected area.

You can use baking soda to balance the pH levels of your wash water to help keep clothing, towels, linens and other fabrics fresh, bright and soft, without relying on fabric softeners or dryer sheets. It may even help soften items if you have hard water. 

By adding about a half cup of baking soda to your laundry, you can help prevent mineral buildup on clothing. You may also be able to reduce the amount of detergent needed for a load.

Consider using baking soda for white clothes to add a clean, natural boost. It can also enhance the brightness of light-colored items and colorful fabrics. You may be able to skip the bleach and instead use baking soda for laundry stains to help prevent white garments from developing a yellowish tint.

High-efficiency (HE) washing machines use less water and require a low-sudsing, quick dispersing, HE detergent like Swash^{® 1} laundry detergent. Using regular detergent in an HE washer may cause an overflow of suds. If your laundry load becomes too sudsy, you can add baking soda to try and help reduce the bubbles.

For stains on laundry items, such as deodorant stains, coffee, chocolate or grass, mix equal parts of baking soda and water to make a paste that you can gently blot onto the stained area. Soak the item in water for around 30 minutes—or longer for stubborn stains—and then wash according to the care tag.
 

Baking soda may also help to lift grease or oil-based stains out of fabrics. Simply sprinkle the stain with baking soda and allow it to absorb the oil for up to 24 hours. Before treating a spot with baking soda, test a small, hidden area to make sure it doesn’t affect the fabric quality or color.

Add up to a half cup of baking soda to your washer tub—not the dispenser, as it may cause it to clog. Put laundry detergent in your washer’s dispenser.

Separate laundry by color, fabric type and soil level. Load your items loosely and evenly around the tub.

Choose your wash cycle according to the care label instructions on your items. Depending on the fabric and type of stains, you can choose different water temperatures to help tackle varying soil levels.