Laundry Soap

[mommycarlson]

I made some 100% coconut oil soap per a post on the forum and wanted to make some powdered laundry soap and also a laundry butter that someone had posted. Now for the life of me I cannot find this post. Does anyone have a link to it? I've searched and can't find it. Please help! Thank you!

 

[shunt2011]

I use 100% CO with a -1 SF. Then grate as soon as it's hard enough and then leave it sit out for about a week. I then mix it with Washing Soda and some store brand oxyclean.

Here's the link that was posted some time ago for the laundry butter. I've wanted to give it a try but haven't as yet.

https://moreonless.vbulletin.net/fo...dry-butter-with-permission-from-miki-odendahl

 

[Scooter]

I use 100% CO with a -1 SF. Then grate as soon as it's hard enough and then leave it sit out for about a week. I then mix it with Washing Soda and some store brand oxyclean.

Here's the link that was posted some time ago for the laundry butter. I've wanted to give it a try but haven't as yet.

https://moreonless.vbulletin.net/fo...dry-butter-with-permission-from-miki-odendahl

earlene has an interesting post on this and quotes the same link as above, here: http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=59686&highlight=laundry+butter&page=2

ETA: Also if you go to that thread, scroll down and DeeAnna has some interesting things to say about powdered soap as well as a useful link.

 

[earlene]

Thank you, Scooter.

I also found Seawolfe's experience with adding CA to the soap to be used for powder to be of interest. It is one the same page of the thread as Scooter linked above.

I would also like to re-iterate how important thoroughly rinsing soap out of laundry is, especially as it relates to the absorbency of towels and cloth diapers. The build up of soap and fabric softeners, leads to loss of absorbency. With High Efficiency (HE) washers using less water, the need for more soap diminished, so we see people using less soap. (But not always, it depends on the person and their beliefs and habits.) That combined with less water with each wash and rinse, and you have the potential for compounding build up of soap in the fabric.

So my solution to this problem was to stop using fabric softener & dryer sheets (a couple of decades ago), use less soap (I know, contrary to some people's belief that that is counter-intuitive, but it is upon recommendation of an industrial laundry expert, so I took his word on it and gave it a try), and added a second rinse because my HE washer uses so little water to begin with. For me this seems to work very well. I've been doing laundry this way for about 2 decades now, although the HE washer I've only had for a little less than 15 years, so the second rinse practice is less than 2 decades.

Just a thought. No one has to do it this way, but it works for me.

 

[mommycarlson]

Thank you so much Shunt, Scooter and Earlene, so much good information! I made my 100% CO soap almost a month ago, grated it just a few hours after and am now ready to make some laundry soap. I haven't used commercial laundry soap in years and haven't used fabric softener in decades since myself and 2 of my 4 kids would break out in full body hives from using it. I do have the top loading HE washer so I don't use much soap and frequently do a second rinse. Thanks again!

 

[Susie]

I just bought my second HE washer. I learned from the first one that I needed the "deep fill" option to be able to feel like the clothes were both clean and rinsed properly. I was adding a gallon of water to the clothes before starting it to make them weigh more, so it would add more water. It is very difficult to catch the washer right before the rinse cycle to do the same then.

So, I now have a deep fill option, and a deep fill and second rinse option. Problem solved!

 

[mommycarlson]

Susie, I haven't seen the "deep fill" option on my washer. I'll have to do a second look. I do have the second rinse option and use it mostly for my bike clothes during biking season. I am currently making the laundry butter, it's in the "gelling/cooling" stage right now.

So I made the laundry butter. I waited until it was completely cool per the instructions. It was so solid I had to warm it back up just to be able to stick blend it. Is this normal? I wasn't sure if warming it up would be a bad thing or not but I didn't know what to do. I have it in jars now, it's still warm to the touch, not hot. Should I add more water?

 

[earlene]

So I made the laundry butter. I waited until it was completely cool per the instructions. It was so solid I had to warm it back up just to be able to stick blend it. Is this normal? I wasn't sure if warming it up would be a bad thing or not but I didn't know what to do. I have it in jars now, it's still warm to the touch, not hot. Should I add more water?

I would probably have added a bit more water, but if it's soft enough to spoon out it should be fine. When you stick blended it, did it get to a sort of 'thicker than mayonnaise' type of whipped soap texture? That's what I get and it stays that way unless I put a jar of it in a very hot place. Then it melts, but it goes back to an almost solid custard-like texture again when cool. Not as pretty as before, but still okay. (I brought some with me traveling and left it in my trunk for a few days last summer. That's how it got so hot.)

If the consistency remains at about the thickness something between whipped cream and custard, it's perfect.

 

[mommycarlson]

Thank you earlene. It is really a nice texture this morning. Like a whipped mayo. I only warmed it enough that I could smoosh it with a potato masher, then stick blended. I just checked it with a spoon and it'll spoon out nicely! So maybe I shouldn't wait until it's completely cool to stick blend it?

 

[Susie]

Not all HE washers have the deep fill option. I told my hubby that I did not care how much it cost, we were getting one. Fortunately, we found one for a reasonable amount.

 

[mommycarlson]

It's good to know it's an option!

 

[Luviesmom]

I hope I don't step on any toes. I was researching making your own laundry soap and came across this:
http://butterbeliever.com/homemade-laundry-detergent-soap-diy/

It made a lot of sense. We have hard well water and I bought the ingredients to "strip" all of our bath towels. I couldn't believe how murky the water was. Ick!

 

[earlene]

I have seen this before, Luviesmom. I have not done it, but wonder if the results are the same or different if one strips clothes washed only with detergent in the same fashion. IMO that is the only way to be sure that the DIY laundry soap is really the culprit. Without a control, scientific testing is pretty much just a guess. I would go so far as to suggest that a new and not yet worn item be the control and that two other items be the test for comparison puposes, where the other two have each been washed the same amount of times in their respective washing solutions. That way one would really have a better idea of any actual difference that there may be.

That all seems a little beyond the route I really want to go, so I've never done it, but I have thought about doing it, just so I can make up my own mind. Until I do, though my mind remains skeptical on this issue. I am not saying your results were not remarkable. They were, but IMO without something else testing the same level of use of regular laundry detergent, I still believe it is an inconclusive test. By the 'same level of use', I mean laundry that was washed with only detergent after undergoing the same amount of wear and exposure to body odor and dirt and washed the same amount of times as the other laundry tested.

It is an experiment worth doing and since I feel so strongly about the need for a more scientific method to obtain the empirical data, perhaps I really should do it myself. But I don't own any detergent and I am not sure I really want to go through all the necessary steps to do this. The steps would require me to purchase at least 3 new fabric items and subsequently expose 2 to the same rigorous getting dirty test and washing separately in the 2 different washing methods the same amount of times before doing the stripping of all 3 (one, the control, never having been worn or washed). That's a lot of dedication and work. And then what kind of item would be suitable for such a test? Something like a towel, that is actually relatively a not-so-dirty item in the laundry? Or something like undies, or something like a shirt that gets armpit odors embedded, or something like, well the list goes on.

Let's face it, I think it's a good idea, but I'm not motivated (at this time) to undertake such an experiment. :think:

And, P.S. I am not offended by your post, or your results. It's surely a valid point to consider.

 

[Steve85569]

I hope I don't step on any toes. I was researching making your own laundry soap and came across this:
http://butterbeliever.com/homemade-laundry-detergent-soap-diy/

It made a lot of sense. We have hard well water and I bought the ingredients to "strip" all of our bath towels. I couldn't believe how murky the water was. Ick!

We have hard water here too.

I use a chelator in the laundry soap ( ascorbic) and make sure the clothes are rinsed. That and using a minus SF on laundry soap.

Before making our own we used to have mildew problems but since we started using "DIY" soap things are much better. Nothing is going to make everybody happy but we here at my house are satisfied with the laundry.
YMMV

 

[Scooter]

I have seen this before, Luviesmom. I have not done it, but wonder if the results are the same or different if one strips clothes washed only with detergent in the same fashion. IMO that is the only way to be sure that the DIY laundry soap is really the culprit. Without a control, scientific testing is pretty much just a guess.

That page on stripping is pretty interesting to me. Here is the stripping photo gallery: http://www.fortheloveofclean.com/la...-former-users-of-homemade-soap-photo-gallery/.

Specifically what interests me are the photos under "Kathleen L." Her photo of the dark clothes being stripped is much murkier/darker than the whites getting stripped... which makes me wonder how much of the actual color from the clothes is being stripped out.

Full disclosure, there was a big sale on laundry detergent at Costco so I will probably be washing my clothes with that until the day I die, lol. But if I were to make my own DIY laundry soap, I am not sure what I would think about this strip test. I would probably take some dark clothes that are ready to be thrown out and strip them over and over to see how much actual dye from the clothes is being removed.

Just my opinion....

ALSO, ETA: If you read the entire looooong article, the writer talks about how dedicated laundry detergents are better but how most of them are ****e too except for one, and I quote:

"You of course don’t have to use the Thieves soap, as there are other plant-based detergents out there (like the ones I suggested earlier) which may not be 100% natural but are still a million times better than homemade laundry soap. But after trying so many others, I have found Thieves to be our favorite choice.

"To get your hands on the Thieves Laundry Soap, you need to either purchase as a retail customer with Young Living, or you can choose to sign up as a wholesale member in which you’ll get a 24% discount on whatever you buy."

In the bold section above, the original post had a very convenient embedded link so that you could sign up for the 24% discount RIGHT NOW.

Things that make you go hmmmmmm.

 

[Luviesmom]

I appreciate all the feedback. I just wanted to toss out something I had stumbled across. I not saying it is correct. Just food for thought. And thanks Scooter for pointing out the "living young" part. I didn't catch that.. I appreciate nobody jumping down my throat.

 

[HowieRoll]

Luviesmom, I appreciate you posting the link because it definitely is thought-provoking. As a DIY laundry soap user, I've often wondered about the efficacy and proper usage rate, but clothes that were visibly dirty and/or smelly came out clean so I keep rolling with it.

A few things did strike me about the article, however, and left me wondering (not saying the author is wrong, but it left me with questions). First, the author makes all kinds of claims and I wish she had cited her sources. Then it is recommended to "strip" one's laundry of all the handmade soap... by using the exact same ingredients commonly found in DIY laundry soap (borax and washing soda)? I just didn't understand that part. Lastly, like others here, I noticed the Young Living plug at the bottom, and, well, the cynic in me thinks it's a sales pitch. But again, maybe not... or maybe... like I said, lots of questions!

 

[Luviesmom]

I am not a chemisty major but I can understand the dynamic. I tried to make a hair shampoo using soap
Failed . Left my hair feeling brittle. Then, used surfecants. Better. Not like my shampoo though.
.

To each their own. I am so happy if homemade laundry soap works! Save money!

It may be our hard well water. But stripping our sheets towels woke me up. Regardless of cleaning method, commercial or homemade, I got icky water.

This what I used to strip.

b. DIY mix*: This homemade mixture has awesome success. Washing Soda, Borax, and Calgon create this concoction at around $16.28 for it all at Wal-Mart (in the laundry aisle.) 3 Tablespoons of each for one strip = $0.49 per strip. Also, all components can be used for cleaning and laundry boosters post strip.
(Note: If you are unable to get ALL 3 ingredients, you can mix ¼ cup of two of the three ingredients, OR ½ cup of a single ingredient. HOWEVER, the more ingredients you have, the larger the broad spectrum of minerals being target.

Like I said, I have hard water. But bath towels, sheets all had an Ick look after soaking in this mixture. They are whites too. Just maybe saying everyone should try it, regardless of the way thery choose to launder.

 

[mommycarlson]

HowieRoll, I was just reading the laundry stripping information and thought the exact same thing, HMMM, why are we stripping our laundry with the same ingredients that are in the homemade laundry soap? I have used my DIY laundry soap for decades, no issues at all. We do have soft water so I'm not sure if that matters. I'm glad you posted the link Luviesmom, I may just throw some towels in the bathtub for giggles and grins, but that means I have to buy calgon LOL I don't even know what calgon is but I'll look for it. I have borax and washing soda Love all the feedback and info from everyone.

 

[Luviesmom]

Gosh. I knew this would happen if I opened my trap. Calgon is a water softener. Back under my rock. Sorry to stir the pot.