Teach Soap

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

Linda, can it be used in an HE washer? My husband would have a cow if I killed the washer.

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Linda

I learn so much when I can't leave well enough alone!

You probably should check with the manufacturer just to be sure. I know a couple people that use it in their HE machines, but I don't know what kind they have.

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

I made this a few nights ago (using the liquid soap instead of grating a bar). Is this pet-safe? No rashes on us yet!

Thanks

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

OMG bedding is what I meant! I don't have any bathable cats at the moment LOL

Thanks!

I make Laundry Soap all the time. I do the dry/powder recipe rather than making the liquid kind. I think the liquid kind is more work than I'd like to deal with, and I've heard that it can separate over time - that it needs to be occasionally remixed?

Anyway, my thought is that if the recipe is exactly the same minus the water that's fine enough for me, and should result in a more concentrated detergent! The water will always get added in the wash anyway.

I just do 1 bar Fels Naptha, 1 cup washing soda, 1 cup borax, and 1/2 cup oxyclean or other oxidizing agent. I shred the bar of soap in my food processor using the grating blade, then I put it through a second time using the steel chopping blade until it's super fine. Then I add the powdered ingredients and pulse a few times till it's well mixed.

I'm sure I'll eventually burn out the motor on my food processor, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it!

I only have to use 1 Tablespoon of detergent per load - slightly more if an extra dirty or extra large load. I have an HE washer, use twice as much if you have a standard washer. I actually believe I could use less detergent than that, as much as half of what I use, but I'm so used to using extra detergent due to dirty kids and hubby who works in a dirty job.

Thanks for the input! I haven't tried the dried version though I've seen that others like it.

I did make the liquid form the other night. Do NOT like the perfume smell of Fels Naptha. It doesn't seem to transfer to the clothes but I still don't like it. I wasn't expecting that at all, I thought it would be more bland. I actually have a couple of ancient bars of FN that came with the house and I remember my grandmother using it - maybe the formulation has changed?

Define dirty jobs? We often have greasy clothes. Right now I am sanding a floor in the house which leaves me sitting in a nice bath of wood stain and polyurethane. Plus I work out a lot so that can lead to some super stinky clothes. Sometimes I have stuff that only a sports wash can get out - one such was saved a pair of sneakers that stunk of river mud!

I've used the powdered version of laundry soap, but prefer the liquid. It is true that it separates a bit, but I just mix it really well before putting it in smaller containers and then just give the smaller jugs a quick shake before using. It's not a problem at all. My husband works outdoors and his clothes can get pretty stinky in the summer-this soap has always gotten the smell out.

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

I noticed a huge difference in the quality of my laundry soap after adding oxyclean to the mix. Maybe that would make the difference that you're looking for?

I don't mind the smell of Fels Naptha, but you're right, it is pretty strong. Especially when you're grating it! Once it's in the soap it calms down quite a bit, but the grating... oy!

My husband works at a marine terminal, and he often has this funky smell of river muck and grease. I do wash his stuff in a separate load and my machine has an "extra rinse" feature that I use for his stuff. I also use 2 Tablespoons of the powdered detergent for his things. And that seems to do the job.

AG77 - So you can appreciate river muck and grease! Maybe I can add some OxyClean to a container for the really dirty stuff. Just trying to stay away from extra chemicals (without looking to see what really is in oxyclean).

Do you pretreat with anything?

I don't mind giving the bottle a quick shake either. I don't have a food processor and I already know from other things that my blender (even though it seemed to be decent when I bought it) doesn't chop up hard items very fine.

I make the powdered version exactly the same as ariagirl. Love it. I mix in my old crappy thrift store blender works just fine. I like that the powdered version takes about five minutes to make a big batch. I use the Zote soap mostly because that's available at the Dollar Tree but it is harder to grate than the Fels Naptha.

My 17 yr old son will NEVER again mention that he's bored while I'm making laundry soap. I handed him the soap and grater and told him to knock himself out.

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

Oxyclean is just one ingredient = Sodium Percarbonate

You can get it as Sodium Peracarbonate through some places online for really cheap, but i just go ahead and buy Oxyclean off the shelf because it's more readily available. You can get it at Costco for pretty cheap.

Sometimes if there's a bad stain or something I'll pretreat with a commercial spray product, but I usually don't. Who has time for that?!