Homemade Laundry Soap

[Oldcountryboy]

How many of you all use your own homemade laundry soap? What ingredients do you put in it?

Reason why I ask is cause I've made homemade laundry soap before using the basic bar of soap, washing soda, and borax. But my wife feels it's too cheap and doesn't get clothes clean, so we continue to buy the high dollar stuff at the store which I feel is a big rip-off.

Could you put something like "Mr. Clean" in the mixture to make it a stronger solution?

[Ode]

I can't use homemade with my HE washer, but I do use it for handwashing and presoaking. The homemade stuff goes with us when camping, and it works very well getting our things clean then. Does she feel it doesn't get things clean because it is cheap? Or is it because it is a simple homemade recipe? Or is it for other reasons? There are some instances where detergent cleaners work better than homemade will.

If her reasoning is because it is cheap though, you just have to give examples why cheap doesn't equal bad. Homemade soap can be much cheaper sometimes, over commercial soaps and yet they clean just as well. Then again, some handcrafted soaps can be terribly expensive but totally worth the expense.

[Rocktown Gal]

You can put OxiClean in it so it will clean better.

[farmmom]

I use my own homemade detergent. Here's the recipe
12 cups Borax
8 cups baking soda
8 cups washing soday
4 bars Fels Naptha grated

Use 2 Tbsp/ large load.

I love it. It leaves no odor at all in the clothes.

[Callieslamb]

I use homemade all the time in my front loader HE machine. I love the HM detergent. I add oxyclean to loads that I feel need the extra boost, but usually, the simple recipe does a great job - and I can really get dirty. I use the same recipe as farmmom - but ivory soap rather than fells Naptha.

[FarmersDaughter]

I also use homemade laundry detergent in my HE front loader with no problems. I've found that it gets my clothes cleaner than the store bought detergents and my clothes are softer without using any fabric softeners.

I use a recipe with similar proportions to Farmmom's recipe, but I also add OxyClean to my recipe.

I use about 2 Tablespoons of the homemade laundry soap per load. Works great!

[kyweaver]

I have been using it for 4 years now. 1 cup soap (plain homemade lard), 1/2 each borax and washing soda dissolved in 2 1/2 gallons hot water.
Everything is perfectly clean.
My nephew did a science fair project comparing homemade laundry soap to commercial detergent and found that when cleaning grass stain, grease stains, and mud off white T-shirts, the homemade did a much better job in all three tests. And cost 1 cent per load.
I was proud of the little stinker.

[TheMartianChick]

I use the homemade detergent. Whenever I feel that a load of laundry needs a little "extra" help, I start the washer and leave the lid open. (Please do not try this if you have children at home!) When the washer is ready to start the spin cycle, the washer will just stop and the clothes get a good soaking. I often do this overnight and close the lid in the morning so the load will finish. I find that this is especially helpful for really dirty loads.

[wogglebug]

Originally Posted by Oldcountryboy

Reason why I ask is cause I've made homemade laundry soap before using the basic bar of soap, washing soda, and borax. But my wife feels it's too cheap and doesn't get clothes clean, so we continue to buy the high dollar stuff at the store which I feel is a big rip-off.

Could you put something like "Mr. Clean" in the mixture to make it a stronger solution?

The borax does basically the same job as things like Oxyclean (that is, making oxygen available as a mild bleach), except not as strong. Take a look at ingredients - Oxyclean type products will contain something-or-other tetraborate. NOTE: Either way, you only get full benefit of that if you soak the wash in it for some time.

Soap is made from fat. When it's done, it has AND MUST HAVE A fatty end still sticking out of each soap molecule. That's why it works - the fatty end dissolves into fats and greases in the wash, then the other end of the soap molecule lifts them both away into the water. You CANNOT mix regular soap and detergent - the detergent works differently, and will grab onto the fatty end of the soap molecule, locking them both up so neither can work, and leaving a nasty scummy residue. I'm not saying your wife tried to beef up the wash by adding detergent to the soap, but I have seen it done and people then complain about the soap when it was actually them who unknowingly sabotaged the soap.

[paintboy]

first post.

how much oxyclean do you add? I have been making small batches of 1 gal water, 1 bar soap, 1 cup each of borax and washing soda.

Thanks

[deb]

Originally Posted by Oldcountryboy

Reason why I ask is cause I've made homemade laundry soap before using the basic bar of soap, washing soda, and borax. But my wife feels it's too cheap and doesn't get clothes clean, so we continue to buy the high dollar stuff at the store which I feel is a big rip-off.

Could you put something like "Mr. Clean" in the mixture to make it a stronger solution?

If you have hard water, you may need to use more washing soda in the recipe.

Basic Bar of Soap? What kind? You don't want to use soap that claims to be nice for skin because it will have extra fat/oil/cream in it. The extra fat in soap can make your skin feel softer because it leaves a thin layer of fat on your skin after washing. This extra fat does no good when washing laundry.

Traditional handmade laundry soap had no extra fat and usually was short on fat/oil. The other way to say it is that traditional Laundry soap was lye heavy. Lye heavy soap pulls the oil from your skin and your clothing which s why it was used for laundry.

If you made your laundry soap with a regular hand soap you should try the next batch with Fels Naptha or perhaps you can find a local soapmaker who make lye heavy laundry soap

Deb
in wi

[deb]

Originally Posted by deb

If you have hard water, you may need to use more washing soda in the recipe.

You may also want to try some vinegar in your rinse water. It helps break up any lingering the soap scum and softens the clothes

Deb
in wi

[RiverPines]

I use the same basic HM soap as others here, in my HE machine.
My cloths come out smelling like clean water!!!
I hate store soap. IMO they just cover the dirt with foofoo smells.
I took store soap washed cloths and washed them again in my soap and the wash water was filthy!!!! I was actually brownish in color...looked like diluted mud.

I also have to use a second rinse option on my machine because my soap gets so much dirt it takes 2 rinses for the water to be clear.
With store soap the water was always clear!! No dirt comes out of the darn cloths! LOL

Screw smell...give me real clean!!

I use Borax, washing soda, castle soap, and baking soda.

I know of a few people that think, 'if its doesnt smell all yummy, its not clean.' Wrong!
If its clean you dont need the scent added!

I also know some people think if its not all sudsy its not clean. People dont get that you dont need a sudsing agent to clean cloths. Its just another con to make you think it better.
Thats one of the pluses with the HE machine, homemade has no sudsing agents!

Suds and smell=clean. Wrong.
Soap and water=clean. Correct.

[Ravenlost]

I use washing soda, borax and Fels Naptha soap to make my own homemade laundry detergent.

My sister insists that my clothes will smell bad.

I insist that clothes which smell like fabric that's dried in the sun is the way clean clothes SHOULD smell.

My hubby agrees.

[sammyd]

We use the fels naptha, borax, washing soda soap as well and feel it does a fine job.
Haven't had anyone complain about smells.....

[FarmersDaughter]

Originally Posted by paintboy

first post.

how much oxyclean do you add? I have been making small batches of 1 gal water, 1 bar soap, 1 cup each of borax and washing soda.

Thanks

Here's the recipe that I use, so you can see how much OxyClean in proportion to the other ingredients. (I actually use a generic, store-brand OxyClean and it works just fine). Different people use different ratios of the ingredients and it might depend on how hard your water is...so if this recipe doesn't work as well as you'd like, don't give up, just try different recipes that use more or less of the ingredients until you find what works for you.

1 bar Fels Naptha, grated (can use Ivory soap or castille soap)*
2 cups baking soda
3 cups washing soda
3 cups borax
1 cup oxyclean

*The Fels Naptha bars are pretty big. I think if I were to switch to Ivory or another soap, I'd grate 2 bars to equate to one bar of Fels Naptha.

Another thing that is a plus about this laundry soap for me: no skin irritation! My skin is sensitive to the scents and coloring they put in commercial laundry detergents, and the scent-free and color-free options are expensive. This laundry soap doesn't bother my skin at all! Love it.

[jmtinmi]

Originally Posted by Oldcountryboy

How many of you all use your own homemade laundry soap? What ingredients do you put in it?

Reason why I ask is cause I've made homemade laundry soap before using the basic bar of soap, washing soda, and borax. But my wife feels it's too cheap and doesn't get clothes clean, so we continue to buy the high dollar stuff at the store which I feel is a big rip-off.

Could you put something like "Mr. Clean" in the mixture to make it a stronger solution?

It might be that your wife is use to the fragrances of the store bought laundry detergent, and using HM doesn't 'smell' clean.

I've never tried it, but if you make the liquid HM how about adding some essential oils for a nice smell? Maybe a nice lemon/citrus or lavender scent?

[7thswan]

What is washing soda?

[Rocktown Gal]

It's a detergent booster and household cleaner

[FarmersDaughter]

Originally Posted by 7thswan

What is washing soda?

Arm and Hammer is the brand you'll usually see. It's located in the laundry detergent aisle of the store. It's not the same thing as baking soda.