Sodium hydrosulfite is stable when dry, but will slowly be oxidized by air. Even with the absence of air, it will be deteriorated and hence it cannot be kept for long and has a comparatively shorter shelf life. When sodium hydrosulfite is wet and in the absence of oxygen, it is unstable and will be decomposed to sodium thiosulfate and sodium bisulfite.

Sodium hydrosulfite is a versatile chemical and is used mainly in textile dyeing, manufacturing of pulp and paper, commercial bleaching agent, bleaching of foodstuffs and as a reducing agent in hair treatment. Sodium hydrosulfite is used as a reducing agent in aqueous solutions, sulfonating agent, chelating agent and decolorizing agent in organic reactions.

Sodium Hydrosulfite finds application in water treatment, gas purification, cleaning, leather, polymers, photography, and many others. It is involved in chemical enhanced oil recovery to stabilize polyacrylamide polymers against radical degradation in the presence of iron.

Sodium Hydrosulfite plays an important role to determine the iron content in soil chemistry.