# Laundry soap go #2...fail?



## lizflowers42 (Mar 18, 2013)

Some of you might previously remember my post about making CP soap with recycled oils that I superfatted at 1%, and I used my tried and true powder recipe and certain fabrics retained a greasy smell.  So then I decided to rebatch it, adding in the subtracted weight of lye to bring it to 0%SF.  Since I'm horrible at following my own advice on not using too much water, this produced a really soft bar that I shredded to help dry out quicker.

So I decided, well what the heck, lets use a new recipe and make liquid laundry soap with this.  I ahe done it in the past and was a little off-put by how thick and gloppy it was (I had to scoop it out of my 5-gallon bucket with a measuring cup, and almost always managed to spill it from my storage area to my washing machine.)

So I followed this recipe instead: http://frugallysustainable.com/2011/10/my-homemade-liquid-laundry-soap/ because it has added baking soda (which I thought might mask any greasy smell), and added lavender and chammomile EO to it to further mask any smell.

Unfortunately, it has been sitting for over 24 hours and it's not turning into the gelatinous texture I made the last time-it's really the consistency of water!  I haven't actually tried it on my clothing yet, but hopefully it works.  Maybe I need to add more soap shred to the mix to thicken it.  Since I have an HE washer, I need it to be low-suds, which my old trusty powder recipe worked well as long as I used warm water to wash with.

So, I'm not really asking questions or anything...just ranting to people who understand the woes of soap making failures...


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## Genny (Mar 18, 2013)

Maybe just take a little portion out & add a little more soap to it to see if it helps.


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## lizflowers42 (Mar 18, 2013)

Genny said:


> Maybe just take a little portion out & add a little more soap to it to see if it helps.



I will check it again this evening, maybe, just maybe it will be the blob-like consistency that I've had in the past.  It was strange though, I made my melted soap/water concoction, added the baking soda, and it bubbled up a LOT!  Which leads me to believe that my soap is acidic...anyone know if coconut/soybean/canola soap produces an acidic bar?  (Can you tell chemistry was not my subject?)


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## Kay (May 27, 2013)

I have tried a few recipes like that in the past, with varying degrees of success. I think the main problem is you are wanting to turn a soap that was made with NaOH into a soap that behaves like KOH. It just does not work! Give it some time and it will turn into a hard globby mixture. It may take some time, but it will happen! Room temperature plays a lot, I think, in how long this procedure takes. The warmer the temperature the longer it takes. I have gone to making a dry soap powder instead. It seems to be working MUCH better for me, and it's supposedly safe for my HE washer. Only time will tell on that. Here is my recipe that I copied from my Pinterest page, if you're interested.  

 Dry Laundry Soap - 2 cups Washing Soda, 2 cups Borax, 1 cup Oxy-clean, 1 bar (about 2 cups) Zote laundry soap. Grate Zote and add all ingredients to container. Shake well. Use 1-2 Tbs per load. - To grate Zote cut into chunks, and put in microwave for 1 min. It will expand ALOT. When its dry it will crumble into tiny bits. ***** This Works! Five stars from me.

Some people prefer to use a different type of soap, like Fels-Naptha, but I like the Zote because it smells like citronella. Citronella is a good bug repellent. I don't know if this is true or not, but I'm thinking the less I smell like 'flowers' etc, the less bugs will like me! lol! Hence, right now with ALL my soaps, lotions, detergents etc...I'm going with bug repellent fragrances. Summer is here! Maybe this Winter I'll try other scents. lol!

P.S. I just started following you on Pinterest.


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## Kay (May 27, 2013)

lizflowers42 said:


> It was strange though, I made my melted soap/water concoction, added the baking soda, and it bubbled up a LOT!  Which leads me to believe that my soap is acidic...anyone know if coconut/soybean/canola soap produces an acidic bar?  (Can you tell chemistry was not my subject?)



You should not mix vinegar and baking soda! That's what's causing your volcanic reaction. You are adding a strong base to a strong acid. They are combining and canceling each other out! You're not getting anything from it then. I've heard it's best to use these two ingredients as a 1-2 punch. Add the soda to your wash cycle, and add vinegar to your rinse.


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## Kay (May 27, 2013)

I see you've started following me on Pinterest! Go to my 'Cleaning' section and scroll down to where you see an 'X' marking Castile soap and vinegar. You can click on that and you'll be taken to a site that explains why they should not be used together. If you take your vinegar out of your soap recipe, and just add that to your rinse cycle, you'll be golden!


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## lizflowers42 (May 27, 2013)

I ended up flushing the mix down the toilet.  Made my bathroom smell great and my toilet got nice and clean   I like the powder soap recipe as well, have used it several times.  I was trying to make soap from used frying oil, and it made soap, but made my clothes stinky.  So then I took that soap and tried to turn it into a liquid soap and got a mess!


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## Kay (May 27, 2013)

ROFLMAO! You are soo funny! You sound WAY too much like me!! On Pinterest, I have a secret board that I have labeled 'Mad Scientist'. As a prelim I have at the top..'Mixing It Up In The Kitchen Sink'...my photo is some crazy graphic mad scientist with steaming test tubes! lol! I don't think I'd use used frying oil for soap. I would think it would go rancid quickly. But hey! You don't learn anything if you don't try! I've had a few flubs myself. I just head back to the drawing board. lol! (All my notes I keep in my Mad Scientist section, so people won't think I'm TOTALLY gone! :wink


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## Trinity (May 27, 2013)

*What to do*



lizflowers42 said:


> Some of you might previously remember my post about making CP soap with recycled oils that I superfatted at 1%, and I used my tried and true powder recipe and certain fabrics retained a greasy smell.  So then I decided to rebatch it, adding in the subtracted weight of lye to bring it to 0%SF.  Since I'm horrible at following my own advice on not using too much water, this produced a really soft bar that I shredded to help dry out quicker.
> 
> So I decided, well what the heck, lets use a new recipe and make liquid laundry soap with this.  I ahe done it in the past and was a little off-put by how thick and gloppy it was (I had to scoop it out of my 5-gallon bucket with a measuring cup, and almost always managed to spill it from my storage area to my washing machine.)
> 
> ...



Liz I am currently having the very same problems with my first try at liquid laundry detergent which I posted a few days ago... I gave it a few more days to see if it would gel and it is still the consistancy of water  I followed the directions exactly so maybe it is my well water idk. I didn't buy laundry detergent when I went to the store since I was looking forward to NEVER having to buy laundry detergent ever again  Can you let me know if you were able to fix yours and how PLEASE .... this is getting upsetting. Well maybe not but I was bragging to all my friends about making your own and told them I would be happy to give them samples and now I obviously can't give them this


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## Trinity (May 27, 2013)

Oh didn't see your post about flushing it til I just now  I guess maybe that is the answer but I am afaird to make it again and get the same results  Should I just buy distilled water? I really didn't want to have to spend the money on it if I didn't have to.


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## Kay (May 27, 2013)

Trinity, if you really want to do this, you might put your mixture in the refrigerator. Cooler temps will make it gel faster. When I make stuff, I normally use distilled water, for the simple reason it will last longer. Since I have well water, I have a lot of minerals etc in my water, which could make my stuff go bad quicker. Going to WalMart and paying .89 for a gallon of distilled water is well worth the added expense IMHO. Good luck in your ventures!:smile:


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## AnitaB (May 30, 2013)

I guess you don't learn anything if you never fail!


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## lizflowers42 (May 30, 2013)

AnitaB said:


> I guess you don't learn anything if you never fail!



Aint that the truth??


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## MOGal70 (Jun 29, 2013)

Mike has a great recipe posted in this thread:
http://www.soapmakingforum.com/f24/natural-laundry-soap-no-shredding-4479/

Works wonderfully!! I just washed cream colored sheets that the dog had gotten really, really dirty and they came out beautifully!


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