Cannot find Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda

[shellrow]

I wanted to make my own laundry detergent from scratch. I printed the recipe from "The Simple Dollar" website and I got the Borax and I plan to use Ivory as the bar of soap.... now I cannot find the Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda anywhere. I went to Walmart, Food Lion, IGA and a local small town hardware store/feed/farm store (that normally has everything) and no one has it. I requested that these stores order it for me and I got the UPC code from the Arm & Hammer website. I was turned down by the local Food Lion and IGA and I had to leave a message with the Walmart shift crew to be given to the section manager at the store. I also asked the hardware store daytime manager and they said they would check into it for me. Do you folks know of any site online that sells it? jI would like to be prepared just in case I cannot get somewhere local to order it.

Thanks In Advance

**Duplicate Post on CSF, ST & HSQ***

[Marilyn]

Do you have Meijer stores in your area? That's where I bought mine.

[Farmer Dave]

Check out www.soapsgonebuy.com they have it. I placed an order with them on Wednesday and received it the very next day.

[chickenista]

Thank you. I have been looking too.

[kathleena]

I was able to find it at kroger along with the fels Naptha.
Kathleena

[marinemomtatt]

Amazon also carries it....

[shellrow]

TyTyTy!!! I did check out the soapsgoneby website and they have it on there. I will also call the local Kroger to see if they have it and if so, how much it costs. It would probably be cheaper for me to order it online through the website though. The nearest Kroger is a county over and I rarely travel that way... would cost me more in gas to get there and back. Most likely I will order it online! Thanks so much for the replies!!

[baldylocks]

I got some at Kroger too and am using the same recipe that you are using. It works pretty well as best I can tell. I love the smell of ivory but it doesn't come through in the clothes like I had hoped it would. Anyhow, my clothes seem to be clean!

[connie in nm]

Same problem here. Walmart has the big boxes of regular baking soda in the detergent aisle. I guess they think it is the same thing.

In Central TX at Kroegers, I saw washing soda and fels naptha. NO ONE here has the fels naptha.

[Beltane]

Our Walmart does not carry it but my local grocery store does...also Fels Naphta. I'm lucky, I guess.

[elliemaeg]

I live in a very small town and get it at our local Piggly Wiggly. Have you one near you?

[BigBoy]

If I remember correctly, washing soda is sodium carbonate (NOT bicarbonate) with perfumes and such added. You can buy pure sodium carbonate at a swimming pool supply store. Same stuff without the added perfumes and such.

[ahahahni1]

Umm...please share recipe. How does it work with hard water?

[logbuilder]

Originally Posted by shellrow

I wanted to make my own laundry detergent from scratch.

Why? Not questioning, just don't understand. Cost? Ecology?

[shellyr44]

We've made laundry soap a couple of times and it did not work well with our hard water. I asked around on different homesteading web sites and they say it's because the fabrics used today to make our clothing are alot different than back in grandma's day. Our whites got really dingy and we did add a whitener and that still did not help. Try it though. The smell your clothes will have will be really fresh. It is cheaper to make it compared to buying luandry soap especially if you do a lot of laundry. It's kind of fun also. I always try to make stuff like that. Good luck.

[MELOC]

i tried a recipe. i had good results, but some folks would be disappointed i think. i did it as a way to utilize some extra soap from soap making as well as to see what it was like. there may be a day when the basic components are easier to find than regular detergent, so i figured it is a good idea to experiment now.

there is a definate savings by making your own laundry brew. my batch made approximately 2 gallons of laundry soap. that batch required 1/2 a bar of fels naptha (the original recipe and not my soap leftover experiment) and i think (but i may be wrong) 3/4 of a cup of borax and 3/4 of a cup of washing soda. i got a box of borax, a box of washing soda and a bar of fels naptha all for less than a bottle of wisk. i would estimate that one batch of my brew is equal to a bottle of wisk as i had to use more of my brew than i would have if i had used wisk. that said, i still had enough fels naptha for another batch and enough of the borax and soda for several more batches. i think i estimated the cost, ounce for ounce to be 10:1 favoring my brew. even if i double what i use, that is still 5:1.

the results are good for normally dirty laundry and laundry that is soiled with dirt or other normal soils. my brew didn't do so well on nasty, machine shop oiled work clothes. i could never get rid of that cutting oil and coolant smell. i did use ammonia with the brew a few times and that seemed to help, but it left me wondering if i wasn't defeating the action of the two ingredients as one is an acid and one is a base.

if your water is hard because of limestone, i doubt the washing soda will act as a water softener as some folks say it does. if you have hard water from iron, like i do, then the washing soda will probably help soften the water. in my case, it is probably a good idea to add more washing soda.

[Dar/Steve in NY]

We make our own laundry detergent with that exact recipe and I don't think we'll ever go back. We have very hard water (from iron) and it gets our clothes very clean. Once in a while, if the load is very soiled, or if one of the little ones has an accident, we just add a little borax right to the wash and it does the job.

[nodak3]

There is hard water, and there is hard water. Depends on your chemical makeup of water. This stuff worked for us some places, not others.

You can always substitute either powdered water softener such as calgon if you can find it, or better yet powdered oxyclean or store brand thereof. Read the labels and web sites. These products are usually just washing soda, with maybe a little bluing.

[ahahahni1]

I have hard water because of limestone. What recipe should I try then.

[EDDIE BUCK]

A certain guy on "Great Outdoors Forum" said to mix it with salt for a good deer draw. Probably all been bought up. LOL