Here Is Why You Should Never Mix Soda Ash Into Your Liquid Soap Without Soaking It. Just like an English man would say; he would stop to learn; has stopped living. Recently, I was producing a chemical in our new chemical shop, and someone asked “what will happen if I mix all liquid soap chemicals without soaking them?” Really!!!
I told him what would happen, but he did not believe me; so, I decided to do it before him and share the result with us here.
I am sure some of you don’t even know you can produce some of these chemicals used in making some household productions. E.g Dettol, Liquid Soap, Insecticide, Aloe Vera Gel and many more.
For those who just want a straight answer to this question; you would have some lumps in your liquid soap.
When soda ash sodium carbonate (Na2CO3) is put in water it produces 2 sodium ions and one carbonate ion (CO3 with a charge of 2-). Carbonic acid (H2CO3) is a weak acid and doesn’t want to break apart. So what happens to the CO3 ion in water is that it picks up one or 2 hydrogen ions to become H2CO3 or HCO3-. The only place CO3 can get hydrogen ions from is water. And if it takes a hydrogen from water (H2O), there will be a hydroxide ion (OH-) left over. From the point of equations:
Na2CO3 —> 2Na+ + CO3–
CO3– + H2O —> HCO3- + OH-
and
HCO3- + H2O —> H2CO3 + OH-
But because the solution already contains some soap chemicals like Nitrozol, and Caustic Soda which prevents the soda ash from completely reacting the available water in the solution; thereby leaving some lumps in your liquid soap.
What Is Soda Ash?
Soda ash is an odorless, white powder. It is stable, not toxic or explosive or flammable. There are basically three grades of soda ash that are produced, namely:
Dense Soda Ash
Dense is an anhydrous substance. It forms an important industrial chemical, and is widely used in the manufacture of different products.
Light Soda Ash
Light is widely used as a pH regulator/ buffering agent in multiple industrial processes.
Washing Soda
This is also an anhydrous substance that’s produced by combining light soda ash along with additional molecules of water. It’s mostly used in soaps and washing detergents to improve their cleaning properties.
Applications of Soda Ash
Soda ash, also known as sodium carbonate, has the following uses:
Industrial applications – Being a highly soluble substance, it is used for numerous chemical reactions. It’s mostly used as an ingredient in the manufacture of dyes and coloring agents, synthetic detergents and fertilizers. It’s also an important chemical agent used in enameling and petroleum industries.
Environmental applications – Sodium carbonate is used to improve and treat the alkalinity of lakes that have been affected by rain. It is also used to reduce the acidity of emissions being generated from a power plant.
Detergent manufacture – Soda ash is replacing phosphates that were earlier being used in a number of household detergents. Many other cleaning products such as dishwashing soaps also contain varying amounts of soda ash in their formulations.
Metallurgy – Sodium carbonate is used to remove or de-clarify phosphates and sulfurs from a number of non-ferrous and ferrous ores. It’s also used in recycling of aluminum and zinc.
Glass manufacture – Soda ash is an important ingredient in the manufacture of glass, since it helps reduce silica’s melting point.
Other applications – Soda ash is also a common addition to spa and pool treatment chemicals helping in reducing the acidity in water. It is also used in manufacture and sealants and glues, preparing pulp in paper manufacture, and sometimes in soil preparation as well.
RECOMMENDED: How To Make Liquid Soap