More Laundry soap Qs

[jettibo]

OK, so I tried a recipe in a book for laundry soap. I took 10 oz of my Beef Tallow soap and melted in 40 oz of water (I used a crock pot like suggested on here in another thread). The soap is not fully melting so I got frustrated and turned the crock pot off before bed. I woke up to a white mass of gooey mess. So I thought, maybe it needs more water and added another 24 oz of water and I'm still getting some soap that's not fully melting and floating on the top. I was under the impression that Borax would make it thicker when it cools down, so now I'm confused as to what to do? Is it just ruined? Do I add MORE water? Get Borax to add?

Thanks for any help in advanced.

 

[Chay]

Please post the recipe your trying to follow.

 

[jettibo]

It's just the 10 oz of soap in 40 oz water. Melt and add EO of choice.

 

[Chay]

Here's the recipe I use. It is a great use of end peices or batches that don't quite meet standard in appearance.
When making liquid laundry detergent I fill a five gallon bucket about 3/4 full of room temp water. On the stove I melt 3 bars of grated soap into about 1/2 a gallon of water. If you still have a few peices that have not melted all the way it won't hurt anything. After the soap has melted add 1 cup of Borax and 1 cup of Washing Soda. Once this has dissolved add the mixture to your water and gently stir. (Fragrance optional) Let set for 24 hours, it will gel on top, stir again until well mixed as needed.

For laundry powder, I grate 1lb of very dry soap into a powder then mix in 8oz of Borax and 8oz of Washing Soda. (Fragrance optional)

 

[IanT]

thats a great idea for a recipe, Im going to have to try that! ...so do you just leave it in like a 5 gal bucket or something?? and probably need to stir before using right?

how long would it keep for?

 

[Chay]

I pour it into gallon jugs. Whenever I'm getting ready to open a new container I give it a good shake.

 

[MikeInPdx]

I have made a recipe that's very similar to Chay's liquid and it does work well and it's cheap to make.

I also make a similar powder and that works well.

What I've been doing lately is just taking a gallon and a half of cold water and dissolving 6.5 ounces of lye in it. I do this in a huge bucket...five gallon or so.

Then I melt a 3 lb can of vegetable shortening and pour that in. Then I add a cup of borax, and a gallon and a half of hot water and stir it all up.

I stir it about three times a day until it sets up into a soap paste and then let it set for a week.

It makes a nice laundry soap that doesn't require grating....let's face it. I'm lazy.