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Old 05-11-2011, 12:04 PM   #21
geo
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Water Softener

Festus2 is correct - most all products that contain sodium carbonate do list it as being able to cause skin irratations. After all, ancient Egyptians used salts containing sodium carbonate in the mummification process! If you opened a box of Calgon Water Softener or Arm & Hammer Washing Soda, dumped some in your hand, put it to your nose, and took a deep breath . . . yes, might want to head to the hospital! (See http://avogadro.chem.iastate.edu/MSDS/Na2CO3.htm) I believe the same thing might happen if you substituted table salt and put it up your nose. But in lesser concentrations, it's around us everywhere in our everyday world. Oxyclean is primarily a sodium carbonate solution. Liquid Calgon Water Softener is a sodium carbonate solution - so you get to buy water with that chemical.

But read the labels, and you will find sodium carbonate in a lot of our everyday items: coffee pot cleaner, Oxyclean, laundry detergent (including Cheer), toothpaste, cosmetics, the manufacture of glass and bricks, as a pH regulator in the campground pool and hot tub, in the lime sherbet you had for dessert last night . . . only to name a few. And, it does a fantastic job polishing the fancy silver dinnerware after a long day on the road!

Festus2 - your skin might actually come out a little softer and more cuddly if you used just a capful of the liquid in a tub full of water. But do be careful, the tub will be very slick when you get out! I don't think your DW would be very happy hauling you to the hospital after a fall in the tub!

But for those members who are located in areas of the country, such as north Texas, you may find Calgon Water Softener, Arm & Hammer Washing Soda, etc., fairly hard to find in either powder or liquid. In that case, you can find sodium carbonate at the pool supply as a pH booster. Or, you can order food-grade sodium carbonate from Amazon or Gulf Coast Chemicals. Buying it in bulk tends to encourage one to always dump a cup of it down the toilet after visiting the dump station. Using that cup every time keeps everything slick and moving down below in "that" tank!

Ron
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Old 07-15-2013, 07:13 AM   #22
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Calgon Water Softener, Arm & Hammer Washing Soda, etc., fairly hard to find in either powder or liquid. In that case, you can find sodium carbonate at the pool supply as a pH booster. Or, you can order food-grade sodium carbonate from Amazon or Gulf Coast Chemicals. Buying it in bulk tends to encourage one to always dump a cup of it down the toilet after visiting the dump station. Using that cup every time keeps everything slick and moving down below in "that" tank!

Ron
Does this mean Arm & Hammer Washing Soda or Oxyclean will do the same job as the Calgon Water Softener? Would the 2 cups/gal ratio be the same?
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Old 07-15-2013, 02:20 PM   #23
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Does this mean Arm & Hammer Washing Soda or Oxyclean will do the same job as the Calgon Water Softener? Would the 2 cups/gal ratio be the same?
Suza -

Yes, but washing soda, or straight sodium carbonate will usually be cheaper than Calgon (though without fragrance) and certainly cheaper than OxyClean. Look at the ingredients listed on the package. .

I usually add a cup or two after I flush the black tank. Usually a cup, but once a month I put in a little extra.
Ron
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Old 07-15-2013, 02:31 PM   #24
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Suza -

Yes, but washing soda, or straight sodium carbonate will usually be cheaper than Calgon (though without fragrance) and certainly cheaper than OxyClean. Look at the ingredients listed on the package. .

I usually add a cup or two after I flush the black tank. Usually a cup, but once a month I put in a little extra.
Ron
When you say "a cup" do you mean a cup of washing soda, diluted with water, at the suggested ratio of 2 cups of soda per gallon of water (which would be 1/2 gal of solution)?
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Old 07-16-2013, 05:48 AM   #25
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When you say "a cup" do you mean a cup of washing soda, diluted with water, at the suggested ratio of 2 cups of soda per gallon of water (which would be 1/2 gal of solution)?
Suza -

Good question. By "a cup", I literally mean a standard US (Imperial system) measuring cup. Since the sodium carbonate "is" the active ingredient desired in this process, in its "pure" form, a cup will do for a 40 to 65 gallon black tank. Calgon water softener is mostly sodium carbonate, and Dawn / OxyClean have a high percentage of sodium carbonate. (The difference between "soap" and "detergent" is the addition of sodium carbonate.). You can get the blue box of Arm and Hammer Washing Soda at a relatively low price. (Note: The orange box is Baking Soda - sodium bicarbonate. This may "freshen" the tank, but it doesn't "soften" the water.).

Try this - Get a box of Washing Soda. Now, go take a bath, but add a rounded tablespoon of Washing Soda to the bath water. If you are in western Oklahoma or west Texas, add three rounded tablespoons! Now carefully climb in the bath, because the water will be slick! Notice that the bath soap suds up easily, and the soap residue seems to never wash off. "Soft water"! Follow the directions, add some washing soda to the laundry, and your clothes will be cleaner. (Add some Mrs. Wrights Bluing to the load of whites, and the whites will be whiter! But I'm showing my age! ).

This same slickness is what one is trying to accomplish inside the black tank!

Let me bring up this old post : http://www.keystonerv.org/forums/sho...dium+carbonate. You will be surprised about all the camping things you can do with sodium carbonate. You can get food grade sodium carbonate off Amazon, or locally if you live in Lake Charles!
Ron
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Old 07-18-2013, 02:56 AM   #26
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Dollar store fabric softener or dish soap but make sure there's water in the unit first so it doesn't just go right to the drain. I usually add at about the 1/2 way point
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Old 10-29-2013, 06:10 PM   #27
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Great tips and observations. Thanks for sharing!
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