liquid laundry soap

[hqueen13]

Thanks for the info, Emerald! I do use the fels for spot cleaning too. I should try it again on these pants because the drop of taco sauce that got on them hasn't come out. Since I don't really use my dryer, I might have another chance... I never thought of using it with a toothbrush!

 

[Emerald]

Thanks for the info, Emerald! I do use the fels for spot cleaning too. I should try it again on these pants because the drop of taco sauce that got on them hasn't come out. Since I don't really use my dryer, I might have another chance... I never thought of using it with a toothbrush!

You're so welcome. I just wet the brush and rub it on the chunk of soap and rub the spot. and I've even let it dry on there cuz I forgot it and just tossed in the hamper and it worked great.

 

[Denim Deb]

I've been using the fels on hubby's work shirts. The underarms stink. When I was working at the Nature Center, I kept a bar there for in case I or one of the kids ended up in poison ivy.

 

[sleuth]

Here is what I use:
1 bar Fels Naptha grated fine
3 cups Washing Soda
3 cups Borax
1 cup Baking Soda

I whirl the soap and baking soda together in my food processor to make it even finer. Then I add to the rest, mix well and put in a tub by the washer. I use a rounded tablespoon full and a glug of vinegar with each load. This does not foam up so it is great for HE machines. If the load is rely dirty I put twice as much detergent in.

If you are looking for liquid, get a 5 gallon bucket. Fill it half way with warm water. Dissolve the powder in about 2 quarts of hot water. Add to the bucket and add enough additional water to get within an inch or do of the top of the bucket. It will gel as it cools and must be mixed up.

Several of us have moved from using tge liquid to just using the powder as storage for all that liquid can get cumbersome. Powder is easy and takes up very little space. I used to swear by liquid, but I lived in a bigger house then.

We're making this tonight. We have an HE washer - how much do you use per load? 1/4 cup?

 

[Wannabefree]

about 1/4 cup is what I use.

 

[hqueen13]

We're making this tonight. We have an HE washer - how much do you use per load? 1/4 cup?

Honestly, I have a regular top load washer, and I barely use 2 TBSP in mine. I also don't use borax, but increase the other ingredients, and recently added 1 cup of salt to the recipe to help get it a little cleaner. I tried increasing the amount of powder per load, and that resulted in white marks on a lot of clothes.
I have fairly hard water where we are (not SUPER hard, but hard enough), so the salt seems to be helping to soften the water a bit, too, so things get cleaner.
You'll just have to play around with the amount a little bit and see what works for you.
Best of luck!

 

[moolie]

Here is what I use:
1 bar Fels Naptha grated fine
3 cups Washing Soda
3 cups Borax
1 cup Baking Soda

I whirl the soap and baking soda together in my food processor to make it even finer. Then I add to the rest, mix well and put in a tub by the washer. I use a rounded tablespoon full and a glug of vinegar with each load. This does not foam up so it is great for HE machines. If the load is rely dirty I put twice as much detergent in.

If you are looking for liquid, get a 5 gallon bucket. Fill it half way with warm water. Dissolve the powder in about 2 quarts of hot water. Add to the bucket and add enough additional water to get within an inch or do of the top of the bucket. It will gel as it cools and must be mixed up.

Several of us have moved from using tge liquid to just using the powder as storage for all that liquid can get cumbersome. Powder is easy and takes up very little space. I used to swear by liquid, but I lived in a bigger house then.

We're making this tonight. We have an HE washer - how much do you use per load? 1/4 cup?

I use about a quarter of a cup, but my recipe is different:

1 bar grated home made soap or Sunlight brand laundry soap
(we don't have Fels Naptha up here, and just about any soap works great)
melted in 4 cups of simmering water, then add
1 cup borax and 1 cup washing soda
then dump into 5 gallon bucket and fill with hot tap water

Works super in my very hard water, for whites and towels/linens I will put half a cup of vinegar in the fabric softener cup

 

[the_whingnut]

What can I do to stop the soap from separating?

Edit - nevermind I reread the thread.

 

[Daffodils At The Sea]

Here's a process that is very specific, and if followed results in "mayonnaise" textured soap using those same ingredients (nice pictures here) (I had no idea about the blender blade fitting the mason jar. Might want to test it first!):

http://www.budget101.com/myo-household-items/whipped-cream-super-laundry-soap-3993.html


Step 1: Put 4 cups of water in a large heavy saucepan over high heat. While that is heating, mix the borax and washing soda together in a bowl, mixing well, set aside.

Step 2: Grate the Fels Naptha- the easiest way to do this is to cut it into several smaller chunks and then run it through a food processor- otherwise, you can just grate it with a hand grater or shave it with a knife.


Step 3: Add the freshly grated soap to the water in the saucepan, stirring almost constantly. Reduce the heat to medium, It will take approximately 10 15 minutes for the Fels Naptha to complete dissolve. If it takes longer, your heat wasn't up high enough. Alternatively, you can melt the fels on the stove over low heat without water then add the water afterwards, stirring it in, as the original recipe called for. I find that it's much easier to melt IN the water. Absolutely do NOT let this Boil over, or you'll have a sudsy mess that you do NOT want to contend with!!

It should be a rolling, simmering boil where you must stir Constantly but it does not foam heavily or seem to "creep up" the saucepan. See the photo below- note the amount of "foam" - that's all you should see.


Step 4: Once the fels naptha has completely melted, remove the pan from the heat and add in the Borax and the Washing Soda, stirring constantly until the powders are completely dissolved, this will take about 3-5 minutes. Do not under-stir or your soap texture will be very grainy rather than smooth. (You can fee the "graininess" on the bottom of the pan, once you can't feel it, it's incorporated fully!)




Step 5: Pour the liquid equally into (2) 1 quart Mason jars.

Step 6: Add just enough water to bring the contents up to the shoulders or Rounded part of the jar, leaving approximately 1 inches of headspace.

Step 7: Put the lid on the jars and turn them UPSIDE DOWN and let them sit a few hours (about 4 - 5 hours). The reason for this is that the soap is going to Separate into layers while it's resting and occasionally will form crystals on the bottom. Rather than waste these trying to scrape them off, in the next step we're going to incorporate them easily! Btw, if you leave it overnight it will have a slightly grainier texture than if you whip it immediately after 4 hours.
The Layers will separate after a few hours:


Depending what you have for equipment- unscrew the blade and bottom from your blender and screw them onto your regular mouthed mason jar containing all of your ingredients. Place the entire mason jar on the blender and whip until smooth and creamy throughout, about a minute. Flip back over, unscrew the blender blade, attach a cover and seal.

If you don't have mason jars or a blender, pour the contents of your settled jar into a large bowl, be sure to scrape down any remaining from the jar to get it all. Using a Hand mixer, Whip the ingredients until light and fluffy and well blended. Transfer the ingredients back into the jar, cover and store until needed. If you like, add a tsp of glycerin per jar.


Step 9: To use, add 1 Tablespoon to a load of laundry in any type of machine, conventional, Front Loader, High Capacity & High Efficiency (HE), etc. Do not add the detergent to the "detergent compartment" but instead directly with the dirty clothes. The detergent is Smooth and creamy with the same Look and consistency of Mayonnaise. Be sure to label the jar to prevent accidental ingestion!!

 

[Britesea]

the "mayonnaise" soap is the recipe I use too. I like it because it's more concentrated than the liquid detergent, but it melts into the wash water faster and easier than the powdered. I didn't have a blender that I could screw my mason jar into so I just scraped it into the mason jars afterwards.