Name: Penny
Message: I have a large bucket of Sodium Hydrogen Carbonate 100% for swimming pool use.  Can this be used in place of Sodium Carbonate.  It says its a total alkalinity increaser.  Thanks! 

No. Sodium Hydrogen Carbonate is the exact same thing as sodium bicarbonate, or baking soda. Sodium bicarbonate, or sodium hydrogen carbonate, is NaHCO₃, while sodium carbonate is Na₂HCO₃.

For dyeing cellulose fibers with fiber reactive dyes, sodium bicarbonate will not produce a high enough pH at room temperature: the pH you get will probably be around 8, as opposed to about 11 for sodium carbonate (varying by concentration, of course).

You cannot substitute baking soda for sodium carbonate at room temperature, but you can if you extensively heat set, such as by steaming for half an hour or longer, or baking, because it will actually turn into sodium carbonate, given enough time and high heat. This is why baking soda is often used as a dye fixer for steam-set silk dyes.

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