Author Topic: Sodium Carbonate Question  (Read 3935 times)

Frank

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Sodium Carbonate Question
« on: June 25, 2016, 04:03:50 PM »
I have a bag of soda crystals here and I'm a little worried about a warning on the packet where it says "Not to be used in drinking water", also it says it contains "sodium carbonate decathydrate".

So my question is, would this be safe to use in the production of colloidal silver?

The companies name is dri pak that produces the soda crystals.

Offline kephra

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Re: Sodium Carbonate Question
« Reply #1 on: June 25, 2016, 04:15:53 PM »
decahydrate means there are 10 water molecules attached to each molecule of sodium carbonate.  This is only important when weighing it.

Sodium carbonate is commonly used as a food additive, and to adjust the pH of water supplies.  In itself, it is perfectly safe.  The question for you is what else is in the product you have.  Since you don't know, then you should assume that it is not pure, and I would not recommend using it.

You would be better off to convert some baking soda to sodium carbonate by simply baking it.  That converts it to sodium carbonate anhydrous.  If you eat baked goods like cake or pretzels, you have already eaten sodium carbonate.
There is the unknown and the unknowable.  It's a wise man who knows the difference.

Frank

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Re: Sodium Carbonate Question
« Reply #2 on: June 25, 2016, 04:23:51 PM »
It also says biodegradable and no petrochemicals, sorry I should of added this in the original post. It doesn't say it contains anything else apart from sodium carbonate decahydrate.

Offline kephra

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Re: Sodium Carbonate Question
« Reply #3 on: June 25, 2016, 05:03:02 PM »
Its your call then.
There is the unknown and the unknowable.  It's a wise man who knows the difference.

Offline cfnisbet

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Re: Sodium Carbonate Question
« Reply #4 on: June 26, 2016, 07:08:00 PM »
Where do you buy it from? If it's in the UK, it's safe to use.

Frank

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Re: Sodium Carbonate Question
« Reply #5 on: June 26, 2016, 08:42:47 PM »
I'm in Ireland the companies name is Dri-Pak they are from the UK, I've sent them an e-mail inquiring about the contents of their soda crystals hopefully they'll get back to me soon.

Frank

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Re: Sodium Carbonate Question
« Reply #6 on: June 27, 2016, 11:30:17 AM »
So they got back to me and it contains "Sodium Carbonate Decahydrate", "Magnesium Hydroxide",and "Silica". I'll leave a link here for future reference http://www.productingredients.net/brands/dri-pak/

Offline kephra

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Re: Sodium Carbonate Question
« Reply #7 on: June 27, 2016, 12:03:54 PM »
So its washing soda, milk of magnesia, and sand.  Nothing toxic, but the magnesia might interfere with you electrolysis.  The silica is probably an anti-caking agent to keep it from clumping up in the box.
There is the unknown and the unknowable.  It's a wise man who knows the difference.

Frank

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Re: Sodium Carbonate Question
« Reply #8 on: June 27, 2016, 12:22:32 PM »
So just to be safe I'd be better off getting the real thing, I don't have the use of an oven or microwave so cooking baking soda isn't an option for me http://www.ebay.ie/itm/250g-Sodium-carbonate-powder-soda-ash-PH-dye-fixative-/140503384210

Offline kephra

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Re: Sodium Carbonate Question
« Reply #9 on: June 27, 2016, 12:28:40 PM »
Well, you can put baking soda in a stainless steel pot, and heat it on you cook stove.  You don't have to have an oven.  Heat it until a cold lid placed on the pot shows no condensation.  Then continue heating a few minutes more.
There is the unknown and the unknowable.  It's a wise man who knows the difference.

Frank

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Re: Sodium Carbonate Question
« Reply #10 on: June 27, 2016, 12:34:11 PM »
Thanks so much for all your help

Offline cfnisbet

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Re: Sodium Carbonate Question
« Reply #11 on: June 05, 2018, 04:23:07 PM »
Thanks so much for all your help
I have just looked at the bag of Sodium Carbonate on my shelf. It's Dri-Pak.

Use it with confidence. It must show the ingredients in full, but judging by the appearance of the crstals, I would consider that the other ingredients are impurities at a level not much more than trace.

I have been using that bag of Dri-Pak Soda Crystals for years. It is still almost full.

Your call, but I'm not going to buy the laboratory grade. On the other hand, we use so little per litre that you might take the opposite view, that a small amount of lab grade Sodium Carbonate, though expensive, will be likely to last a lifetime.