Profile: soda ash Direct offers soda ash light and sodium bicarbonate. We provide sodium carbonate to businesses and organizations that need less than a rail car load. We can ship soda ash to small businesses, educational institutions, governmental entities and individuals for use in water & pool treatment, detergents & environmental cleaning, manufacturing, hand-crafting & dyeing, anywhere in the world. Soda ash is a white, odorless powder. It is stable, inflammable, and explosive/toxic. Dense soda ash, an anhydrous substance, is an important industrial chemical and is used in the manufacture of many products. Washing soda is a hydrous substance made by combining light soda ash with additional water molecules. It is used most often to improve the cleaning properties of detergents and soaps. Light soda ash is used as a buffering/pH regulator in many industrial processes. We primarily stock the dense grade of soda ash, but can supply other grades as needed, as well as sodium bicarbonate. Soda ash is used to treat and improve the alkalinity of lakes affected by acid rain. It acts to reduce the acid content of power plant emissions. Sodium carbonate is an important component of glass, and is used to reduce the melting point of silica. Soda ash is used to de-calcify/remove sulfur and phosphates from some ferrous & non-ferrous ores. It is used in the recycling of zinc and aluminum. Sodium carbonate is used as a raw material for the manufacturing of fertilizers, synthetic detergents, and dyes & coloring agents. It is also used as a chemical agent in the petroleum and enameling industries.