Lye soap is amazing stuff!!!!

[JenniferHolub09]

can we revisit the laundry detergent issue? I know it's been posted before, over and over, but I never read those threads.

There is someone locally who makes and sells natural soap, and she was telling me (at the county fair last weekend) about her plain lye soap which she uses for everything, even laundry. It's really inexpensive, and sounds like a good idea. I'm trying to get up the nerve to try it!

How natural is lye anyway? What is it? I think this woman said her lye soap is made of lard, but her other soaps are made of different oils. Does that make a difference?

How do you use a bar of lye soap in laundry? Do you just shave a little off into the water? Does it really work? Can you use it on cloth diapers? How much does it take? Do you still use something like Borax or baking soda with it?

What other ways would you use lye soap? and how? details, please.

 

[msunnerstood]

I dont use bar lye soap for laundry but I do make liquid soap and use it for both laundry and cleaning everything. You use less than commercial detergent and Ive figured the cost to 7 cents per ounce for the laundry soap and less when used as cleaner because you dilute the soap more for that.

I havent used commercial products for those two things for quite some time

 

[Primrose]

What do you mean exactly by lye soap?

All soap is made with lye.

I'm a little confused about the statement that her lye soap is made with lard but her other soaps are made with different oils

 

[artemis]

It's a shame you didn't read those other threads! All of your questions would have been answered.

I recommend googling "fels naptha" laundry recipe or something and trying one of those before you commit to soap making just for cheap detergent. That's where a lot of people start.

Also, all her soaps are lye soaps, unless the "other soaps" are made from synthetic detergents. Maybe she said her laundry soap is lard, but her others have other oils.

 

[soapmaker]

The old fashioned way to use soap for laundry was soap made with lard, grated into the wash water and was called "lye soap." As the others have said all soap is "lye soap." You don't get soap if you don't use lye.

Primrose...not sure what you're confused about. To me it makes sense that she uses lard for laundry soap, and other oils in soap for the body.

 

[msunnerstood]

.I use coconut oil for cleansing and lard for conditioning in my laundry soap.

I have used both fels naptha and zote grated in my laundry. They both worked well but I wasn't crazy about the scent.

 

[dixiedragon]

I've used cloth diapers, so I can't really say on on that. You may want to try a cloth diapering forum. Bound to be somebody there who has been washing their cloth diapers in homemade soap.

Check out this thread:
https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/laundry-soap-help.58815/

Most of us recommend making a 100% coconut oil soap with a 0% superfat, vs a 100% lard soap. But I think lard soap will probably be fine.

 

[Steve85569]

Lye= sodium hydroxide and water OR potassium hydroxide and water
Once upon a time soap was made by boiling ashes in water and using that as lye.
How "natural" is that?

Lye soap is made by reacting acid ( oil(s) ) with lye. Different oils contain different fatty acids ( called the fatty acid profile) and will react differently with lye to produce a soap with different cleaning properties. All soap is made with lye. Synthetic detergents ( chemical detergents) like sodium laurel sulfate are not produced by the methods we use.

We use lye soap made at home for laundry. We do NOT use the same soap for showers since our skin is much more sensitive than our clothing - completely different recipe is used. One of us grates up the soap so it dissolves into the water quicker. there are lots of steps in the process that I will not cover here because they have been covered many times in the previous posts and threads on laundry soap. Just do a quick search here and I'm sure you will find more information than you need to answer your questions.
Steve

 

[DeeAnna]

Any alkali solution that can be used to make soap can be legitimately called "lye." In other words, lye is not just a solution of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and/or potassium hydroxide (KOH). You can make soap using potassium carbonate, sodium carbonate, and even baking soda if you use the right technique. Any of these chemicals when mixed with water is "lye."

Modern makers of handcrafted soap who only make bar soap (with NaOH) often get the idea that "lye" means NaOH, whether the NaOH dry or in solution form. It's not.

"...this woman said her lye soap is made of lard, but her other soaps are made of different oils..."

And I'd guess her other soaps are also made with lye, so they're "lye soap" just like her laundry soap.

If you use just plain "lye soap" in your laundry, you will find the soap will not be very effective. The hard water minerals in normal tap water will combine with the soap to form soap scum. Soap scum does not clean; it actually makes fabrics scratchy and harsh.

You need to also add additives that are able to remove or combine with the hard water minerals so these minerals cannot react with the soap. The most effective and inexpensive additive is washing soda (sodium carbonate). If enough washing soda is mixed into the wash water before the soap is added, this will reduce the hard water mineral content in the water and will improve the ability of the soap to clean.

 

[soapmaker]

One thing I have never read in all the discussions on laundry soap.....I use a 100% CO soap, no superfat. I unmold and grate in several hours, cure and then powder in the food processor. The dust or fumes from this is absolutely choking! I used to do it in the kitchen, now I only do it in the garage while I'm wearing a paint mask. Perhaps it was the volume I was doing (5lbs) but my sister was visiting one time when I powdered the soap. She and my husband had to leave and go upstairs because of the choking and coughing. Or perhaps I cured for too long. How long do you cure shreds?

 

[DeeAnna]

I don't have a problem with a lot of dust, but then I don't cure the soap as it sounds like you do.

I use a food processor to grate it shortly after making the soap -- when it's just at the point of being firm and dry enough (like firm cheddar cheese) so it will grate properly. That might be a day after making if the soap is nice and firm or it might be a couple-three days if the soap is softer, but not any much longer than that.

I spread the freshly shredded soap out in a thin layer to cool and dry for maybe 1/2 to 1 hour, and then powder the soap using my food processor blade. I add enough washing soda per batch so the soap doesn't overheat and smear together when I'm processing it into powder. The granule size I want is no larger than coarsely ground pepper.

The most dust comes from pouring the washing soda, but it's not remotely enough of a problem to drive people out of the house. I don't use a dust mask either, and I'm a stickler for using one when it's appropriate. The finished batch is about 10-15 pounds, so it's probably comparable in size to yours.

 

[dixiedragon]

This is why I make the liquid vs the solid. I shredded my 100% co soap but I didn't powder it/ process it, so it's in curls. And i think it's just too hard on the food processor. So I make the liquid version, which is fun and snotty.

 

[soapmaker]

I don't have a problem with a lot of dust, but then I don't cure the soap as it sounds like you do.

I use a food processor to grate it shortly after making the soap -- when it's just at the point of being firm and dry enough (like firm cheddar cheese) so it will grate properly. That might be a day after making if the soap is nice and firm or it might be a couple-three days if the soap is softer, but not any much longer than that.

I spread the freshly shredded soap out in a thin layer to cool and dry for maybe 1/2 to 1 hour, and then powder the soap using my food processor blade. I add enough washing soda per batch so the soap doesn't overheat and smear together when I'm processing it into powder. The granule size I want is no larger than coarsely ground pepper.

The most dust comes from pouring the washing soda, but it's not remotely enough of a problem to drive people out of the house. I don't use a dust mask either, and I'm a stickler for using one when it's appropriate. The finished batch is about 10-15 pounds, so it's probably comparable in size to yours.

I''m seeing the difference. Mine is hard enough to grate with the food processor in about 8 or less hours. I then spread it out in a thin layer for a couple weeks. When I grind it in the fp with the blade is when I choke and cough. I didn't realize 1/2 hr. -1 hour would be enough. I will try it your way. Like Dixie I was concerned about it being hard on my kitchen aid fp.

DeeAnna what lye concentration do you use? My soap would be rock hard if I left it go till the next day.

 

[DeeAnna]

Usually 30% to 33% lye concentration. It is usually quite firm and ready to be grated and powdered the next day after making, but I've had a couple of batches that stayed softer for some reason, and it was pretty obvious they needed to sit a bit longer. A person has to "read" the soap and proceed accordingly.

 

[soapmaker]

Usually 30% to 33% lye concentration. It is usually quite firm and ready to be grated and powdered the next day after making, but I've had a couple of batches that stayed softer for some reason, and it was pretty obvious they needed to sit a bit longer. A person has to "read" the soap and proceed accordingly.

Yes, I agree. The other thing I do is mix everything up in a rubbermaid tote (powdered soap, borax and washing soda) and at that time add spearmint and eucalyptus essential oils and incorporate it well. (Long rubber gloves and manpower) It's a wonderful fresh scent. Laundry soap posts will never die!

 

[DeeAnna]

A dry mix really doesn't benefit from borax. Washing soda works much better than borax as long as the laundry mix is dry up to the time of use.

A wet mix should use borax instead -- no washing soda. Borax is less effective than fresh washing soda, but washing soda degrades in water and exposure to air. Borax will remain effective over time in a water-based mix, so is the better choice.

 

[soapmaker]

I know I've read that. But my recipe worked well. I thought borax helped at the time you added it to the water. So if I would change, would you replace the borax with equal amounts of washing soda? Would the addition of the essential oils change the efficacy of the washing soda? I bag it in brown paper bags, so it is not wet.

 

[earlene]

Any well cured soap I have ever run through my food processor always produced a lot of dust. I've been making homemade powdered laundry soap for about 20 years now.

I think it's because of the dust that it produces when it is turned into a powder may have been the reason the company that makes Fels Naptha advised against making your own laundry soap with their bars of soap. Perhaps they didn't want to be liable for respiratory issues of a consumer who ended up with complications. Just a guess, because when responding to consumer's questions, that was their stock response, 'we do not recommend...' Which seemed really strange since it is a laundry product in the first place.

 

[Primrose]

Hi All,

I am a newbie in soap making. In some of my CP soaps I find there is a distinct smell of oil (with the fragrance) and in others there is no oily smell only fragrance. I have used same ingredients while making the soaps but some have only fragrance and some has distinct smell of oil.
Does anyone know why is it so and how to reslove this issue with smell.

Thanks
Rims

Primrose...not sure what you're confused about. To me it makes sense that she uses lard for laundry soap, and other oils in soap for the body.

I am confused by the statement that appears to infer that "lye soap" is only made with lard and only for laundry. Unless the other bars with other oils are syndets, they are all "lye soap" as they are all made with lye.

I thought that was pretty clear

 

[Alzie]

.I use coconut oil for cleansing and lard for conditioning in my laundry soap.

I have used both fels naptha and zote grated in my laundry. They both worked well but I wasn't crazy about the scent.

I'd have to agree, I'm not a fan of either of those scents, very overpowering for me.