Natural Laundry Soap (no shredding)

[MikeInPdx]

yep,thanks mike.I was thinking canola,-Ive a ton of it & have decided with all the dos talk & our very hot humid summers I dont wanna risk it in my cp anymore..ah well... loving the coconut anyways

Coconut's always a good choice.

Here's an excerpt from one of my early attempts with canola oil.....it was a hilarious disaster......that left a scum ring in the washing machine.

"Toasted Canola Laundry Soap
1 lb Canola Oil that needs to be used up before rancidity sets in
Lye and Water According to SoapCalc for 0% Superfat
1oz lemon fragrance oil
A Butt Load of Borax and Washing Soda
More Than a Touch of Inexperience

Mix lye into water and set aside. Pour into oil, and blend to false trace. Add borax and washing soda at this point and blend together.

Pour into mold and cook in 170 degree oven until separation occurs. Swear, turn off oven and decide to deal with it the next day.

Next morning, pour soap glop into pot for rebatching, cook over low direct heat until mixture sticks and starts to burn in places.

Swear, add water to the pot and set aside. Deal with it later, and vow never to use canola in soap again. "

 

[Guest]

This sounds great-- (the laundry soap, not the canola disaster...heehee!) I would like to try it, but I have a brand new HE front loader machine. Is there any risk of damage to the machine using homemade detergent? Is it very sudsy?
We have soft water here, but I have been using water from my Britta filter jog for soap. Would that be ok?

 

[xyxoxy]

I finally made my first batch of this last night and just wanted to check. I know it take at least 3 days... but so far I just have a 2 inch glop of something white floating on top of a gallon of water.
I've stirred several times but it just goes back to a floaty within seconds.

I did substitute baking soda for washing soda... I know they are 2 different things but I thought it wouldn't hurt... was I wrong? Or is this gonna be OK?

 

[Guest]

uh oh. I don't think you can substitute baking soda for washing soda-- they are completely different. Hope it works out though.

 

[xyxoxy]

uh oh. I don't think you can substitute baking soda for washing soda-- they are completely different. Hope it works out though.

I knew they were different but I don't think they are COMPLETELY different.

This article...
http://www.diaperpin.com/clothdiapers/article_bakingsoda.asp
...indicates that washing soda is slightly more alkaline (caustic) but either can be used in laundering (in this case cloth diapers) and also in this case the baking soda is preferred because it is more gentle.

Of course that means nothing for how it reacts with lard, borax, and lye.
So... we'll see what happens.

 

[Guest]

Why not just grate old soap and put with the borax and washing soda?

I once used soap in my top-loading washer.
Used it for about one month--until I noticed a
"bath tub" ring in the washing machine!
End of that -- I'll clean my tub,
but I'll be darned if I will clean my washing machine too!

 

[MikeInPdx]

The point of the recipe is no shredding. I hate to shred up the soap. This you just have to stir together.

The baking soda won't hurt anything and it does separate at first like everyone described.....just keep stirring and stick blending for a couple of days and it will all come together.

The only way I think it would hurt an HE machine is if you used too much. It will suds up if you do. I'd start with a couple of tablespoons to 1/4 cup, see if you get a sudsing error and go from there. I know lots of folks who use homemade soap/detergent with no issue.

ETA: 1/4 - 1/2 cup vinegar in your final rinse will take care of the vast majority of the "bathtub ring"

An addendum....

If you cannot find washing soda at all, please feel free to up the borax. It will still work fine.

Don't use an oxyclean type of bleach. The sodium percarbonate releases oxygen bubbles when combined with water and can cause your soap to foam and volcano out of the container. Plus, once the oxygen bubbles are gone, it's of no use.

You can also use 1/3 - 1/2 cup of ammonia in the mix......just don't add chorine bleach.

 

[heyjude]

For Mike or other makers of the laundry soap,

Found both the washing soda and borax at the grocery store. Yea! Now, I "think" I have hard h20 and am not quite sure what I was suppose to do before I add the laundry soap to the washer. Please advise! TIA.

Jude

 

[MikeInPdx]

For Mike or other makers of the laundry soap,

Found both the washing soda and borax at the grocery store. Yea! Now, I "think" I have hard h20 and am not quite sure what I was suppose to do before I add the laundry soap to the washer. Please advise! TIA.

Jude

Add about 1/2 cup borax, washing soda, or other favorite water softener (I like the White King with phosphates ) to your water and let it dissolve before you add the soap.

If you have a front loader (I don't), add the water softener directly to the wash tub so it can mix in as quickly as possible. Keeps the soap scum to a minimum.

 

[heyjude]

Thanks, Mike!

Jude

 

[Vintageliving]

Thanks for this recipe. I'm boiling the pig fat right now!

 

[xyxoxy]

As promised I'm updating this thread with my results after my second attempt. This time went MUCH better.

On my first attempt I gave up after 4 days. I still had a glop of white foam sitting on top of most of a gallong of water and it seemed no matter how often I stirred it was not incorporating the water... at least not as quickly as it should have. It's possible that the baking soda I used in place of washing soda somehow counteracted the process... or maybe I just needed to be more patient.

I did find soda ash at the local pool supply as a 10 pound bottle of PH Increaser. It cost me $12 but should last me a VERY long time and many batches of laundry soap.

The second time around, after 3 days the soap already looked mostly incorporated and by day 4 there was no doubt. I had a full gallon of a very white something that was the consistency of flan or custard.

So far I have washed 5 loads of laundry and it seems to clean everything very well. I use white vinegar in the fabric softener dispenser and the clothes come out clean and soft. I also add a few drops of a "Fresh Linen" FO that I had. I didn't like it in soap but adding it to the vinegar seems to work well.

The only caution I will mention is that it does not easily dissolve. I have a small wide mouth plastic bottle with a lid (formerly a lye container) by the machine and I scoop some "flan" into the bottle, start the machine, catch some water in the bottle, and shake hard with the lid on. Then I pour that into the machine. I'm still getting used to how much I need per load but at under $2 per gallon to make this I'm not too concerned. So far 1/4 to 1/2 cup for a normal load seems to work well.

So once again... Thanks for the recipe Mike!!
And thanks for your help along the way. This is MUCH better than shredding soap bars.

 

[Vintageliving]

This appeals to me much more than grating bars of soap.

What temperature is the "hot" water in making the soap?

Does the finished product need to be dissolved in hot tap water before using in cold water washing loads?

Thanks very much!

 

[Deb]

I just can't get the darned stuff to incorporate into the water....

 

[xyxoxy]

I just can't get the darned stuff to incorporate into the water....

Did you do any variations from the recipe?
How long has it been?
Are you whisking it well a couple of times per day?

 

[Vintageliving]

I made a small batch to test the recipe, using lard and borax, no washing soda. It took quite a few days for it to turn to a white, consistent liquid. Did a test load of laundry. Put white vinegar in the rinse cycle.

The laundry seems generally clean and has a nice, old-fashioned, clean-laundry smell. The soap didn't take out any stains or spots, though.

I will make several more experiments:

1) Using more soap in the machine
2) Adding more borax
3) Adding washing soda
4) Pre-treating the stains and scrubbing them by hand more thoroughly

Am hoping to find a combination that is not so labor intensive.

 

[MikeInPdx]

You definitely have to pretreat spots and stains. I use my own stain sticks for that.

Also, if I have really heavily soiled clothes, I will up my usage to 1 cup, maybe even 1.5 cups in my top loader. 1/2 cup works fine for lightly soiled stuff.

A little bit of Oxy cleaner also helps in the removal of tough stuff like spaghetti sauce, fruit stains and the like.

 

[anicca_kk]

Thanks for sharing the recipe. Is it ok to do it without borax? Can't find it yet...

Thank you.

 

[agriffin]

Bump

This is great- just wanted to bump for all of our new peeps.

 

[anicca_kk]

Here is the coconut/metric version I did.....

500g Coconut oil
2 Litres cold water
92g NAOH
1/2 cup borax
1/2 cup washing soda
1.25L hot water
20ml orange 5x eo
5ml lemongrass eo
.
.

Thank you for sharing this.. Thanks to MikeInPdx too for the original post.

I have doubt about 1/2 cup measurement here. Is this the measurement cup we use for baking? I have a cup and it said 250ml on the cup.

Would you be so kind to convert the 1/2 cup of borax & washing soda to gram? It would help those without a measurement cup...

Thank you...