Aqua-Chem is not a substitute for soda ash!


Name: Kelli
Message: Hello,
I'm just wondering if the product "Aqua Chem" is the same as "PH-UP" Aqua Chem has sodium dichlore-s-triazinetrione dihydrate 99.0%.Is this the same as ph-up? Aqua Chem is for wading,kiddie,and splasher pools.The bottle also says availible chlorine:55%. Is this okay to substitute for the soda ash that I would use in my tie dieing of cotton fabrics? Please reply quickly as I am so eager to do this project. Thank You for taking the time to read this.

No! Don't do it!

pH-Up and similar brands are 98% pure sodium carbonate. It is chlorine-free. Your Aqua-chem is a home chlorination system. It is very useful for killing microbes, and might possibly bleach fabric, but it will NOT substitute for soda ash in tie-dyeing.

Also, if you are going to be squirting your dye onto your tied clothing with plastic bottles, please do NOT use all-purpose dye, such as Rit. I get a lot of sad emails from people who made that mistake. You can use all-purpose dye only in very hot dyebaths. It's no good for direct dye application. The dye to use, instead, is fiber reactive dye, such as Procion MX dyes. See my Sources for Supplies page, which lists many different companies which sell this type of dye.

Posted: Tuesday - May 31, 2005 at 08:55 PM          

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