Laundry Bars help

[azimuth]

Hi -

I am pretty new to soaping - and would love to know how to make a laundry bar that I can shred up. I know you should 0% superfat, and lard is normally used, but what lye percentage is the best?
Thank you for your help.

 

[krissy]

try the search button up at the top on the left, there are tons of posts about laundry soap.
http://www.soapmakingforum.com/forum/se ... de=results

 

[carebear]

Enter your oils and batch size I to a soap calculator. This will give you the lye and water info.

 

[jennikate]

really any soap can be used doesnt have to be lard. Fcr laundry bar consider leaving unscented no reason spend eo or fo when mosly wont come thru wash.

 

[kelleyaynn]

I make a laundry bar that is 50% coconut oil and 50% Crisco. Cheap and easy. It does develop DOS within a month, but since I'm only using it for laundry soap, it doesn't bother me.

 

[Jezzy]

I used 100% CO. I gave up on laundry soap awhile back though. My whites turned grey and the clothes smelled musty after awhile. We have really hard water so maybe that is a problem

 

[carebear]

commercial detergents are generally superior for cleaning because they are detergents and thus perform better in cold water, and don't form soap scum to deposit on clothes or machine even in hard water. also, commercial detergents are often formulated with enzymes which work on protein based stains. further, commercial detergents contain optical whiteners/brighteners which means your whites look whiter!

 

[mandolyn]

I tried 100% coconut oil which has a very long shelf life, but my clothes started smelling like rancid oils. Maybe I was using too much & it wasn't getting rinsed out.

I've recently purchased from Trader Joes a liquid laundry soap that's made from plant-based surfactants & coconut oil. So far so good, but I just started using it. I'm smelling my shirt now & it doesn't have any scent at all. The soap has lavender EO in it but that scent didn't come through onto the laundry.