does baking soda go bad??

[Marilyn Norgart]

I have been testing bath salts and I tried again this morning and dropped all the water out of the recipe. when I was mixing it up I grab the wrong thing and added cornstarch instead of baking soda and it came out beautiful with no lumps. re-made using baking soda with out the water and I still had tiny clumps that seemed to ALMOST vanish after 5 minutes in the tub. so I am very confident now that the problem is the baking soda. does it get old? it didn't seem like it was off out of my seal container I have it in

 

[Arimara]

Did you pour a little in your sink and add some vinegar to it?

 

[IrishLass]

I don't make bath bombs, but I do use baking soda when making baked goods. While it can last for awhile past it's 'best if used by' date, it eventually does lose its efficacy down the road. The best way to test the strength of its efficacy is to do as Arimara said above... add some vinegar to it. If it bubbles up immediately in a robust/vigorous fashion, it's still good. If it bubbles up in a lackluster fashion, I'd toss it and get a new package.


IrishLass

 

[Marilyn Norgart]

I was just adding vinegar to it--it is definitely still good. the only other thing I can think of to try is to make the salts without the baking soda and add them after the salts have baked