Poll on laundry soap

[Bettacreek]

I finally found washing soda. Both grocery stores up here have the naptha and washing soda, but only one carries borax. I'll have to pick that up at Walmart, because the store up here wants $5 for a SMALL box. I bought a box (the size of dishwater powder boxes) of washing soda for $2.65. The fels naptha was $1/bar at the cheaper store, but I plan to use homemade tallow soap.

 

[sune42]

That is close to my recipe with added ingredients, except I use one cup of everything. I've never added oxyclean and I actually do the liquid formula because we prefer liquid.
I think that you should give it a whirl. I've seen so many different recipes, I don't think exact proportions are too critical.

I've noticed at my workplace where I do laundry for a veterinary clinic, oxyclean takes out color from stitching and logos and such. I'd be a little inclined not to use that product on general laundry, rather just add oxy clean to particular loads when needed.
I've also seen bleach added to these recipes and felt like why add that when you could just add it to a particular load? When I'm making laundry soap in bulk I want it to work for everything. But it depends on your needs......that is the beauty of making your own.

Thanks for the advice. I will save the oxy clean for whites.

 

[mamaluv321]

So I've got my borax n washing soda, now the question is, can I use a handmade bar and if so how much? I've had no luck finding zote or felsnaptha so I'm unsure of what size the bar of soap is supposed to be...and again, anyone with any luck using handmade soap and it retaining it's scent, like for instance sandalwood? I'd love for my laundry to smell like sandalwood...

 

[savingdogs]

Yes, you can use your soap. I'd use one whole bar.

I have not used my homemade soap, but other soapers on here have posted that they had good results.

 

[VickiLynn]

1. What is your favorite homemade laundry soap recipe?
2. What is your least favorite homemade laundry soap recipe?

I've never used homemade laundry soap, but reading this, I'm getting inspired to try it.


3. What is your favorite store-bought laundry soap?

Charlie's Soap. I've used it for years and love it. I can't find it around here, so I order it from their website.

4. Have you ever had any of these gunk up or damage your washing machine?

NO

5. Have you converted friends and family to your choice of laundry soap?

No, they all like the smelly big-brand stuff.

 

[TanksHill]

Speaking of alergies. My son has had issues with those bumps on his upper arms and itchy feet. They come and go. I got lazy about 4 months ago and picked up some commercial soap. Oh, boy did he have issues. I was hugging him the other day and noticed no pumps. After thinking about it a while I am sure it's because I went back to the homemade soap.

As far as clogging,, I don't use my dispenser in my front loader anymore. I dump right into the laundry. I use the liquid version, well gel really. I like to wash in cold and it was gumming up the line.

Other than that I think it works pretty good. Not miraculous but you can't beat the cost.

giona

 

[VickiLynn]

Speaking of alergies.

As far as clogging,, I don't use my dispenser in my front loader anymore. I dump right into the laundry. I use the liquid version, well gel really. I like to wash in cold and it was gumming up the line.

giona

I do the same thing with my powdered soap.

 

[savingdogs]

Speaking of alergies.

As far as clogging,, I don't use my dispenser in my front loader anymore. I dump right into the laundry. I use the liquid version, well gel really. I like to wash in cold and it was gumming up the line.

giona

I do the same thing with my powdered soap.

Me too. Some of our batches have been able to go through the dispenser but others we just dump right on the laundry too.

 

[mamaluv321]

So I used the liquid recipe posted a while back, but I'm not sure I did it right. I added the borax and washing soda to the 2quarts of water and it got kinda clumpy. I also added 1/4cup of salt cause I have hard water... It that supposed to happen? It seemed to all disolve when I added the rest of the water but...guess I'll have to wait till tomorrow to see!
Edited to add:Well, it seems to have worked. It's all jelled up with no more clumpy looking bits and looks quite smooth! Gonna try it in a bit! BTW, I used my micro-shredder and didn't have to boil the soap, it melted imediately when added to hot tap water and stirred!

 

[savingdogs]

It sounds like it worked! Even if it gets clumpy it still works fine (my last batch clumped).
There are a lot of different recipes, but ours calls for basically adding 1/5 of the total amount of water (boiling) to the bar of grated soap. Then once dissolved, add the borax and Arm and hammer and I would imagine whatever else you are using. Ours never clumped at this stage when using boiling water. Then you add the rest of the water. Our recipe calls for letting it stand 24 hours but in a pinch you can use it right off the bat.