Laundry soap

[Kansas Farm Girl]

koh ls? That is something i would like to try. Do you do anything other than dilute and use?

No, I don't use KOH, I use NaOH, it is just the process I use that leaves the soap as a "liquid", it's very thick. The process I used this last time, and will always use in the future is:

1 gallon heavy plastic or glass container with wide mouth (I used a plastic bucket)
1/2 gallon cold water
3 oz Lye - check with your soap calculator
16 oz coconut oil
4 oz washing soda
4 oz borax ( recipe says to bump to 8 oz if you can't find the washing soda at your local Walmart's laundry aisle with the borax)
EO or FO if you want any
Hot Water to fill the container
--add cold water to the container. Add lye. Stir well. It will get a bit warm but not hot because of the amount of water. Add oil, washing soda, borax and EO/FO. Add hot water to finish villing the container and stir well with a wire whisk.
Whisk 3 x a day or so until set up. Initially it will start with a glob of soap on tome but will set up more each time you whisk it. After 3 days or so you will be left with a nice, powdery (their description, not mine) liquid that you can use in your laundry. Use 1/2 to 1 cup for a top loader or adjust to suit your needs. Use less in a front loader as it will suds up if you add too much.

I put white vinegar in with the rinse but do not use any fabric softener and haven't missed it at all. My DH is very picky about his laundry (a result of his military days) and he has not complained once in the almost 18 months I have been using home-made laundry soap.

The first few batches I made I used 4-5 oz grated up soap melted in half gallon of water rather than the oil & lye in this recipe, otherwise the same process. I keep it in a gallon bucket and scoop out about a cup for each load. It is not as concentrated as commercial laundry detergent. I had to get used to using more of this than I did ERA or Tide, but realized that I was not wasting by using more, it's the water amount in the batch that means I need that much. I may try cutting back on the water in the future, but have not tried that yet.

I have a paint stirring whisk that painters put in an electric drill to use to stir this glop. Borrow a drill and spin away for a bit a few times a day for 3-4 days and I have laundry soap. I usually try to make my next batch when I think I have about a month's worth left. I have started making about 3 gal at a time so I only have to make it once a year now that I know I like this.

My daughter started making her own and now has her M-i-L doing it too.

Good luck, and hopefully you will like this as much as I do.

 

[bodhi]

Wow, thank you Kansas! This is almost an exact replica of my laundry detergent only its a liquid version. Wonderful! Any ideas if it can be done in parts? Id like to mix up the lye/co tonight and add the rest when i can get to the store tomorrow. All my dry ingredients are already mixed up in a dry batch. You and Oboegirl have made my day today.

 

[MOGal70]

There is a great recipe with instructions here:

http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=4479

Similar to the one Kansas Farm Girl posted, but uses lard instead. Love it! Won't use commercial detergent again!

 

[Kansas Farm Girl]

Good to know! I think it would be ok for clothes washing but it would be nice to find a substitute for that ingredient. .

You can sub your own bar soap for the FelNaptha. I used Fels Naptha the first time I ever made laundry soap then used my own soap until I discovered the recipe for making the laundry soap without using a pre-made bar.

I love the idea of using the blender. Next time I make laundry soap I am going to reduce the water and think about using the blender. If all I need to use is a tablespoon that fits right into my line of thinking. I use closer to a cup with my recipe but do feel wasteful with that amount.

 

[Kansas Farm Girl]

Any ideas if it can be done in parts? Id like to mix up the lye/co tonight and add the rest when i can get to the store tomorrow. All my dry ingredients are already mixed up in a dry batch. Yo

I would think you could add them later. The water, oil and lye will make the soap but with that amount of water it will not form a bar, it will be a thick liquid. I want to reduce the water the next time I make it cause I am a skin flint and feel better using a smaller measurement than 1 cup, even thought I KNOW I need that much because of the water used.

 

[Robert]

Robert, I have a cheap 20.00 http://www.amazon.com/Oster-6-Cup-Plastic-10-Speed-Blender/dp/B003ZDNILM/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1376184234&sr=8-5&keywords=Blender. This thing worked like a charm. I will be making all my salad dressings, smoothies, shakes, puree's and so much more this way! If you are concerned that it won't seal, put your jar in the sink when you attach your bottom to it and invert it over the sink. It won't work on the wide-mouth mason jars- it has to be the regular mouth jars.

I never thought to look too carefully for that possibility. Mine's an (inherited--OK, salvaged from a dead friend's) Oster too, and I only fairly recently worked up the nerve to try a recipe (for rocket propellant) that called for putting boiling liquid in it, afraid the jar would be hard to replace if it cracked. But now I see the bottom just says, "ENGAGE THREADS PROPERLY/SCREW ON FIRMLY". I don't know if Mother's Waring would've worked like that, but this seems to be a fairly standard fit, not some irreplaceable custom item. The jar handle and gradations are nice, though.

 

[sistrum]

Wow, I didn't know they still made blenders that would do that. It's been decades since I've seen that done. I quess I'm going to have to go find a blender with a screw on blade. Thanks.

 

[Kansas Farm Girl]

Just checked my blender, a jar won't fit, my blender jar is just a little larger than a standard jar opening.

But - getting back to laundry soap - I have heard people talk about using lemon juice or citric acid to whiten clothes - how much citric acid powder would you put in? Would it just be put in the wash water as the machine is filling? Any advice?

 

[bodhi]

Bummer about your jar Kansas. I never did get around to making this last night, but im curious about the citric acid also. from what i read-sorry no links- the citric acid works by keeping the dirt from redepositing on the surface of clothes. It also will negate any cleaning effects of baking soda if used in too small of a ratio, should be used at 4 to 1 citric to soda to keep both active, and may possibly be better at this in the rinse instead of the wash. Going back to your question, I have no idea how much to use either. Bueler?

 

[dylan]

Don't some liquid soap recipes use citric acid to neutralize the lye and thicken the soap? Total noob here, but I'm pretty sure I read that somewhere.

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Soap Making mobile app

 

[jean1C]

Cool! I am so going to try this during the week. I have all the dry ingredients. (I tried to make my own dishwasher soap...epic fail). Water, and I guess I could use a bar of my CP soap,instead of fels naptha? ...maybe something I was going to rebatch?
Just need to go to the basement and find my blender and some canning jars ( I used to can A LOT before soaping became an addiction!...LOL!)