Any chemistry majors out there?

[Juliacat]

Almost all of the diaper laundry instructions I've read say to add baking soda or washing soda to the wash, and many of them say to add vinegar to the rinse.

I know enough chemistry to know that baking soda and washing soda are alkalines, with washing soda being a stronger alkaline, and that vinegar and urine are acids.

I know enough chemistry to know that adding alkalines and/or acids to the wash can change the ph of the diapers.

I do NOT know enough chemistry to know whether changing the ph is a good or bad thing, or to know how much the ph ought to be changed, if at all.

Can anyone help with this?

[Book Addict Jen]

:

[Marielle]

from my initial cd research (I'm nak)

no washing soda - too caustic
baking soda neutralizes urine
vinegar in the rinse readjusts PH due to BS used in the wash

[AinNJ]

whenever i see a post with nothing but :, i can't help but LOL!!! it just cracks me up!!!

i'm *definately* not a chemist, but baking soda also neutralizes odors and softens water...

[Book Addict Jen]

I have nothing to add, but want to see what is up, LOL!

[AinNJ]

yeah, yeah. i got that! LOL! it just totally cracks me up visualizing someone sitting on the sidelines, wide eyed, watching what happens next.

[amym72]

Originally Posted by Marielle

from my initial cd research (I'm nak)

no washing soda - too caustic
baking soda neutralizes urine
vinegar in the rinse readjusts PH due to BS used in the wash

Yeah that's the way it works, the vinegar restores the ph balance of using the baking soda in the wash. If you just use the baking soda without using the vinegar then the ph will be off and can cause rashes etc

[Juliacat]

me too

I think it's funny too

[Juliacat]

That makes sense, but doesn't the URINE change the ph balance of the diapers? Or does it all come out in the wash? How in the world are you supposed to know how much baking soda and vinegar to use? Do you have to wait for your baby to get rashes to figure it out?

[amym72]

Originally Posted by Juliacat

That makes sense, but doesn't the URINE change the ph balance of the diapers? Or does it all come out in the wash? How in the world are you supposed to know how much baking soda and vinegar to use? Do you have to wait for your baby to get rashes to figure it out?

The urine rinses out in the cold wash, you put the baking soda in the hot wash, then put the vinegar in the first rinse then do another rinse to get the excess vinegar out. I use 1/2 c baking soda and about the same vinegar. I don't know if thats what everyone else uses but that is what I have read as a recommendation.

[saharasky]

Funny you should post this ... I'm doing a bit of a water, pee, hemp pH analysis at the moment ... trying to figure out the source of hemp stink.

When I finish the tests I'll post the results if anyone is interested.

[BirthTeacher3]

I have thought about trying the baking soda thing myself, now I know how to go about it... will change my complete washing pattern tho....LOL

[didelphus]

I can't wait to find out the hemp-stink results. I'm losing the stinky hemp battle at the moment. Smells like I'm waking up in a hamster cage. I tried baking soda in the last wash (haven't done that in awhile) but I haven't tested them yet. I swear, I'm going to set up a service that tests your water and makes suggestions as to what to add to get your dipes perfectly washed. Kind-of like the county agents that will test your soil

[WhitneyVL]

Originally Posted by saharamama

Funny you should post this ... I'm doing a bit of a water, pee, hemp pH analysis at the moment ... trying to figure out the source of hemp stink.

When I finish the tests I'll post the results if anyone is interested.

Wow! How interesting, I definitely would like to hear the results.

[Juliacat]

Saharamama, I'm interested in hearing the results.

Didelphus, you'd get my business!

[Oceanone]

This is so interesting... confusing too. I have been told NOT to add the baking soda to the hot wash as it actually bakes into the diapers in the heat and that it's for the cold wash.

[Marielle]

NAKing again . . .

I do:
cold wash w/ 1/2 c BS + cold rinse
hot wash w/ 1tbsp Tide HE
cold rinse w/ 1/2 c vinegar
cold rinse

I sprinkle the BS in the pail to keep odor away and it all goes in the wash

[USAmma]

If you want to take the stink out of the hemp turn your water heater up as high as it goes about 30 min. before you wash. Then do one hot wash and one hot cycle with just water added (or vinegar or Calgon if you have hard water).

Darshani

[saharasky]

K ... here's what I've got so far

My water has a pH of 7

The urine sample I was using (thank goodness dd is PT cause I just used what was in her potty LOL) had a pH of 7.2

I left two same sized chunks of hemp in the water AND urine overnight ...

the hemp/water has a pH of 7.4

the hemp/urine has a pH of 7.5

It seems that the hemp itself has a pretty high pH and that it increases the already high pH of urine and of water.

Next test will be with 100% cotton to see what those results will be.

I'm thinking that the hemp pH (especially when hemp is the bulk of your stash AND the pee diapers are left to soak for a few days) increases the overall pH of a load so much that we don't always use enough of the acid (vinegar) to bring it down to neutral. I think with my next stinky load I'm going to do a cold rinse and soak with LOTS of vinegar ... followed by a hot wash and another cold rinse with BS if needed (I'm going to test the pH in the washing machine too to make sure I'm getting everything down/up to a pH of 7)

ETA ..I was mixing up the bases and acids LOL ..what you want to do is lower the pH of the pee diapers ...so if the hemp increases the PH, the urine increases the pH and the BS increases the PH then you need to use the vinegar to decrease it.

[Juliacat]

Wait!

I thought baking soda was a base, vinegar was an acid, and a ph of over 7 was more of a base and a ph of less than 7 was more of an acid.