Homemade Laundry Soap (Detergent Free)

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Re: Homemade Laundry Soap (Detergent Free)
« Reply #180 on: October 18, 2006, 09:06:58 PM » by Kitty

Thanks for the tips, HB. Our W-M doesn't carry the Downey ball, and it's even a "Super" W-M. Shopko and local grocers are my next option, I guess, if I really want one.

My liquid has indeed gelled, but is fine when shaken. The load using it smells great...haven't challenged either soap w/ a really dirty load yet.

Now to find homemade dishsoap...I think I saw a post there somewhere... Wink

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Re: Homemade Laundry Soap (Detergent Free)
« Reply #181 on: October 19, 2006, 01:03:11 AM » by KeepItSimple

Glad you were answered!!! Sometimes I get a message of replies sometimes I don't, not sure why..maybe I have to click 'watch' just in case sometime doesn't reply to my direct post.

At any rate, glad you are liking it so well. My husband likes it bunches too...says it doesn't smell like chemicals anymore..or something to that effect!

I'm going to bed...toodles!

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Re: Homemade Laundry Soap (Detergent Free)
« Reply #182 on: October 19, 2006, 09:29:25 PM » by Lovin'myHoneyinVT

Melissa here, I am new but I have been reading these posts and they are very informative. Why don't you just use the laundry soap for dish soap? It won't suds as much but it still cleans. I volunteer at a history museum and have done research on how they used to make soap in the 1700's. If you use lye, it is very caustic and can blow up if you add the "fat" or vegetable oil too quickly. People have lost their eyes because of this...just be careful if you use Lye.

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Re: Homemade Laundry Soap (Detergent Free)
« Reply #183 on: October 19, 2006, 10:03:40 PM » by KeepItSimple

I've seen pictures of the lye mishaps..but in making laundry soap...you are taking some form of soap already made and mixing it with other stuff for the laundry room, so no straight lye involved. A lot of the gals do make regular bar soap..but I'm still in 'home making' elementary school. Not sure when I will be promoted to that grade Grin

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Re: Homemade Laundry Soap (Detergent Free)
« Reply #184 on: October 20, 2006, 02:24:37 AM » by healthybratt

Quote from: Lovin'myHoneyinVT on October 19, 2006, 09:29:25 PM

Melissa here, I am new but I have been reading these posts and they are very informative. Why don't you just use the laundry soap for dish soap?

I tried but it won't rinse off my dishes and it won't take grease off plastic dishes at all.

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Re: Homemade Laundry Soap (Detergent Free)
« Reply #185 on: October 20, 2006, 06:39:45 AM » by anynomouse

Quote from: KeepItSimple on October 02, 2006, 11:09:39 PM

Quote from: BeeyoutifulGirl on July 11, 2006, 08:18:06 PM

I think I'll spend money (since this is so cheap) on buying more expensive soap that has a more natural list of ingredients and a natural scent. The white Ivory that I used (one bar) is just too toxic smelling for me. The second bar was a natural olive oil and rosemary bar. It smelled great.

Rebekah

Rebekah...Did you ever try this with a different type of soap? Let me know what other brands you are thinking of, cause I agree on the Ivory smell. I bought a bar of Nel Naphath today, and they list all of their ingredients...at least not to my understanding.

I made mine today and it is not so much a liquid as it is a gel...is this what you got when you made yours?

Thanks - Camille

I have a "natural" soap that is only $1.00 a bar....but it will dry your skin out super fast! I bet it would work great for this. It is Kirk's castile. I found it on the very bottom shelf at our grocery store. It only has three or four ingredients...I tossed the package so I can't remember what they are or the order, but the main is coconut oil. I bet this would work super great for home made detergent!
I would like to try the powdered detergent, perhaps I will make it within the next week.

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Re: Homemade Laundry Soap (Detergent Free)
« Reply #186 on: October 20, 2006, 06:43:54 AM » by anynomouse

Quote from: healthybratt on April 11, 2006, 01:04:27 PM

Quote from: mrsroeser on April 11, 2006, 06:07:43 AM

Thank you Healthybratt for doing the trial run for all of us!! Hopefully we won't make the same mistakes you did.... I have been dying to find out how to make my own laundry soap since I've been joined my local organic food co-op.... I've gotten rid of all my other cleaners and have been cleaning with vinegar... I have no idea why it took me so long to do this... ugh... sigh... oh well... better now than never... So I'm almost out of laundry soap and was going to buy some today.. but I think I will try to make some!! How wonderful! I will let you know how my whirl at things turns out...

I'm rooting for you. I also found some other stuff on natural cleaners. Vinegar WAS at the top of this list, but if you want that clean FRESH smell, you can incorporate lemon juice into your cleaners. Do a google on homemade cleaning products and you'll find lots of suggestions.

Here's just a couple of the ones I found.

NaturoDoc
Recipe Goldmine

I uses Vinegar for most of my cleaning, you can add essential oil directly to the vinegar. When the Vinegar dries it has no scent, so you end up with a light scent of whatever you added to the vinegar. Mind you, if you are cleaning your whole house with vinegar it will smell like vinegar for most of the day! I have gotten used to it; it sure beats the bleach smell I used to have!

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Re: Homemade Laundry Soap (Detergent Free)
« Reply #187 on: October 20, 2006, 07:05:16 AM » by anynomouse

Quote from: kittyninja on July 08, 2006, 06:43:50 PM

Hey i learned from Alton Brown of Good Eats that essential oils are volatile and will just evaporate in warm or hot liquid. just thought i'd share cos i wanna add smelly good stuff to mine but someone said it didn't end up smelling like anything, but then it worked for Beka! Sorry if you all already know this!
Kittyninja

You can try this.....I have heard (not done it myself yet) if you wet a washcloth and spray your favourite parfume on it it will work like a dryer sheet and smell your clothes up nice and purty Wink

I would think instead if you put some essential oil on it...about 5 drops and throw it in the dryer perhaps that would do the same??? Or maybe the smell would just evaporate? Just a thought
I am full of "thoughts at 5am"! Kiss

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Re: Homemade Laundry Soap (Detergent Free)
« Reply #188 on: October 20, 2006, 07:10:55 AM » by anynomouse

Quote from: BeeyoutifulGirl on July 11, 2006, 08:18:06 PM

Good idea!!

I made some more today. 6 gallons, 2 bars of soap, 1 1/2 cp baking/washing soda, and 3 droppers full of GSC (Grapefruit Seed Crush) and several drops each of lemon and lime oil once the mix had cooled down a bit. I skipped the borax as I want to keep my gray water friendly for the verds. (My mint is growing like crazy in the front yard this year.)

I put in the GSC for extra bacteria killing power. Grin

What about a melt and pour soap base? this website has a goats milk one and an organic essential oil one, I think they are like 3.00 a for a 1lb slab. (I found this when looking for a way to make soap with my daughter as Christmas gifts) I emailed the lady and she said no chemicals in the two that I mentioned.
the web site is www.organic-creations.com
Just a thought if you want to use a "better" soap....especially if you do use the water on your garden.

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Re: Homemade Laundry Soap (Detergent Free)
« Reply #189 on: October 20, 2006, 08:26:51 AM » by Lovin'myHoneyinVT

Quote from: healthybratt on October 20, 2006, 02:24:37 AM

Quote from: Lovin'myHoneyinVT on October 19, 2006, 09:29:25 PM

Melissa here, I am new but I have been reading these posts and they are very informative. Why don't you just use the laundry soap for dish soap?

I tried but it won't rinse off my dishes and it won't take grease off plastic dishes at all.

Okay, I've been reading Dom's sight on Kefir which would have no application here except that he talks about making a homemade detergent for cleaning the kefir utensils. (sorry, I closed the webpage and can't get back to it) This involves taking the ash from your woodstove and adding it to a few cups of water. Let it sit 24 hours and the strained water is then lye for washing the dishes. Sounds pretty cheap to me!

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Re: Homemade Laundry Soap (Detergent Free)
« Reply #190 on: October 20, 2006, 09:28:15 AM » by mommyoftwins

HB: Kirk's Coco Castile Bar Soap Ingredients: Coconut Soap, Water, Vegetable Gylcerin, Coconut Oil, Natural Fragrance.

I just wanted to mention that my mom, who lives with us, asked me what I used on her bath towels. I told her it was that "stuff" I made. She was shocked at how clean they smelled. She uses bleach on her towels to get them cleaner Tongue

, so I was pleasantly surprised that she liked it! She asked me to make her some, too!

Now, what to do with all of that other detergent we already had. I had a couple of bottles just in case I didn't like the homemade. Undecided

Guess I won't be needing it!

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Re: Homemade Laundry Soap (Detergent Free)
« Reply #191 on: October 20, 2006, 09:41:33 AM » by mommyoftwins

I also wanted to mention this really good book I got at my library. "The Naturally Clean Home" by Karyn Seigel-Maier. It has tons of recipes for cleaning, including laundry detergents. I'll try to post a couple of them soon...

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Re: Homemade Laundry Soap (Detergent Free)
« Reply #192 on: October 20, 2006, 09:42:59 AM » by KeepItSimple

Quote from: mommyoftwins on October 20, 2006, 09:28:15 AM

Now, what to do with all of that other detergent we already had. I had a couple of bottles just in case I didn't like the homemade. Undecided

Guess I won't be needing it!

Perhaps you could donate them to a homeless shelter, women's home or something like that in your area?

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Re: Homemade Laundry Soap (Detergent Free)
« Reply #193 on: October 20, 2006, 09:44:13 AM » by KeepItSimple

Quote from: mommyoftwins on October 20, 2006, 09:41:33 AM

I think that is one of the books I just ordered!

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Re: Homemade Laundry Soap (Detergent Free)
« Reply #194 on: October 23, 2006, 05:34:08 AM » by blessedmommy

i finally made the powder soap form... just 1/2 bar of ivory 1/2 c. soda ( i used baking) and 1/2 c. borax............3 T. into a large load and used hot water...........

AND IT WORKED!!!!!!! Grin

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Re: Homemade Laundry Soap (Detergent Free)
« Reply #195 on: October 23, 2006, 06:09:39 AM » by SC

I'm gradually phasing out my pre-packaged cleaning supplies. I've been making liquid hand soap from bar soap using the following method:

Grate bar soap (I purchase homemade bar soap) and place shreds in a glass, 2 quart container. Boil 1 quart water and pour over shredded soap, stirring until melted/well distributed. Let stand. In an hour or so, this will be jelled. To this, I add another quart of boiling water and stir. After it cools, this is what I use to fill my soap dispensers.

We ran out of liquid dish detergent (the kind you use to wash dishes in the sink, not the dishwasher) and I figured it was time to try HB's recipe -- Only I didn't want to have a 5 gallon experiment go wrong (It's been one of THOSE weeks! Roll Eyes

)

So, reduced the ratios of HB's recipe. I took 1 quart of the liquid soap I made, put it in a 1 gallon bucket and added the following (this is based on a 1/2 bar soap flakes): 1/4 cup washing soda, 1/4 cup borax and filled the rest with hot tap water. I stirred the whole thing and let cool (which didn't take long). I filled a dispenser to keep by my kitchen sink and put the remainder in an old plastic jug.

So far, it works really well -- even on broiler pan goo. I like the smooth texture. It even suds up a little. I keep a spray bottle of vinegar to mist the dishes as I rinse them. We don't use it in the automatic dishwasher. I use straight baking soda in the machine with vinegar in the rinse dispenser.

I plan to try it on a load of laundry soon and see how it goes. So far, so good.

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Re: Homemade Laundry Soap (Detergent Free)
« Reply #196 on: October 23, 2006, 08:43:03 AM » by healthybratt

Quote

Grate bar soap (I purchase homemade bar soap) and place shreds in a glass, 2 quart container. Boil 1 quart water and pour over shredded soap, stirring until melted/well distributed. Let stand. In an hour or so, this will be jelled. To this, I add another quart of boiling water and stir. After it cools, this is what I use to fill my soap dispensers.]Grate bar soap (I purchase homemade bar soap) and place shreds in a glass, 2 quart container. Boil 1 quart water and pour over shredded soap, stirring until melted/well distributed. Let stand. In an hour or so, this will be jelled. To this, I add another quart of boiling water and stir. After it cools, this is what I use to fill my soap dispensers.

Why do you let it set up before you add the 2nd quart?

Also, I tried this soap for my dishes and it didn't work well and it sticks to the dishes. What kind of bar soap are you using? What's in it?

You've not had any trouble with the baking soda in the dishwasher? Everyone else has white powdered spotty dishes including me - even with the vinegar in the rinse.

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Re: Homemade Laundry Soap (Detergent Free)
« Reply #197 on: October 23, 2006, 09:26:44 AM » by SC

Quote from: healthybratt on October 23, 2006, 08:43:03 AM

Why do you let it set up before you add the 2nd quart?

It's just my preference -- probably not necessary -- I like a smooth consistency and this just lowers the ratio of water to soap and shortens the cooling time (not so much hot water at one time). I get a jelly-like glob after the first adding of water has cooled a little. This is easier to dissolve with the second addition of water.

Quote

Also, I tried this soap for my dishes and it didn't work well and it sticks to the dishes. What kind of bar soap are you using? What's in it?

I use a vegetable-based fat, lye soap with vitamin E. I don't know the lady's recipe, just that it has these ingredients. No colors, no scents, additives or preservatives.

Quote

You've not had any trouble with the baking soda in the dishwasher? Everyone else has white powdered spotty dishes including me - even with the vinegar in the rinse.

No, haven't had any trouble. I use about 2 to 3 Tbsp per load. Is it possible that I'm using less than others? Undecided

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Re: Homemade Laundry Soap (Detergent Free)
« Reply #198 on: October 23, 2006, 12:18:27 PM » by mommyoftwins

Quote from: SC on October 23, 2006, 06:09:39 AM

Thanks for posting! I just tried to make handsoap on Saturday. I put a little to much water in it & ended up with a perfect soap to put in the foam pumps. Besides the bar soap, I also added a capsule of vitamin E, GSC, & a little jojoba oil. I figured a little moisturizer would be helpful for this winter!

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Re: Homemade Laundry Soap (Detergent Free)
« Reply #199 on: November 02, 2006, 05:30:44 PM » by sunshine4th

I just found out that the Wal-Mart that I shop at is not going to sell Borax anymore... Sad

Wal-Mart had the best price. So, you might want to inquire at your store to see if they are going to continue carrying it. I think I'm just going to double up on the washing powder because it is cheaper.
Jessica

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Re: Homemade Laundry Soap (Detergent Free)
« Reply #200 on: November 02, 2006, 09:46:33 PM » by queentea

What do you ladies do for spot treating?? I have been making my own laundry soap for a few months now and love it, even though it always "boogers" up on me no matter what I do. I am having trouble with getting stains out though. I've tried rubbing a bar of soap on the stains, but that isn't working good. Maybe just use some of the detergent, but then will go way to fast with the family of dirty birds that I have Cheesy

. I am bad about waiting to treat until I do that load. I usually put a load in at night and let the stained stuff soak all night then put the rest in the washer in the a.m. and I am still having problems with stains...I've tried adding extra borax to the load also. Maybe I will just have to buy spot treater? I hate to spend the money though if something else will work!

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Re: Homemade Laundry Soap (Detergent Free)
« Reply #201 on: November 02, 2006, 10:54:20 PM » by KeepItSimple

I rarely pre-treat stains..lol. You know, since making this soap, I have noticed that some shirts of mine that had spatter grease stains (from cooking) are much cleaner now. One shirt that had some spots all over it from bacon is totally spot-free now. Which I was very excited about!

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Re: Homemade Laundry Soap (Detergent Free)
« Reply #202 on: November 02, 2006, 11:00:15 PM » by 4myhoonie

Quote from: mommyoftwins on October 20, 2006, 09:28:15 AM

, so I was pleasantly surprised that she liked it! She asked me to make her some, too!

Now, what to do with all of that other detergent we already had. I had a couple of bottles just in case I didn't like the homemade. Undecided

Guess I won't be needing it!

keep it on hand, just in case you don't get it made in time. Undecided

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Re: Homemade Laundry Soap (Detergent Free)
« Reply #203 on: November 03, 2006, 08:21:57 AM » by queentea

bump...on the spot treating

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Re: Homemade Laundry Soap (Detergent Free)
« Reply #204 on: November 03, 2006, 10:06:40 AM » by Kansas Girl

I have been extremely pleased with using my homemade laundry soap and vinegar in the rinse cycle, but now that it is drier I'm having trouble with static Huh

-any suggestions? Huh

-KG

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Re: Homemade Laundry Soap (Detergent Free)
« Reply #205 on: November 03, 2006, 10:19:20 AM » by mommyoftwins

Quote from: queentea on November 02, 2006, 09:46:33 PM

I have the same problems! Right now I use spray pretreat. I have Clorox Stainout & Melaleuca Prespot. I don't know that either of them is any better than anything else. I sometimes have to rewash & let soak. I haven't tried any of these, but I have a couple of recipes for stain removers.

All-purpose stain remover
1 T vegetable glycerin
1 T natural liquid dishwashing soap
1/2 c. water
Mix, shake, & store in squeeze bottle. Rub into stains & launder.

All-purpose stain remover #2
1/4 c. vegetable oil-based soap
1/4 c. glycerin
2 T borax
10 drops peppermint or tea tree oil
1 3/4 c. water
Combine in spray bottle & shake well. Spray, launder.

On-the-spot stain lifter
2 T cream of tartar
2 drops peppermint, eucalyptus, or lemon oil
water
Combine all ingredients in small cup, using just enough water to make a paste. Spread paste over stain & allow to dry completely before washing.

Also try washing soda/water paste.

Hopefully, one of these will work! Let me know if you try any!

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Re: Homemade Laundry Soap (Detergent Free)
« Reply #206 on: November 04, 2006, 11:40:41 AM » by healthybratt

Quote from: queentea on November 03, 2006, 08:21:57 AM

bump...on the spot treating

Try bar soap.

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Re: Homemade Laundry Soap (Detergent Free)
« Reply #207 on: November 04, 2006, 11:41:00 AM » by healthybratt

Quote from: Kansas Girl on November 03, 2006, 10:06:40 AM

I have been extremely pleased with using my homemade laundry soap and vinegar in the rinse cycle, but now that it is drier I'm having trouble with static Huh

-any suggestions? Huh

-KG

Try shorter dryer cycles.

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Re: Homemade Laundry Soap (Detergent Free)
« Reply #208 on: November 04, 2006, 01:53:30 PM » by blsd2bhome

I am soo excited to make some laundry soap today! I will let you know how it goes. I do have a question that I wanted to "pick your brains" about. When I was researching the Fels Naptha soap (I did find it in my grocery store-), the ingredient list on the bar was so vaugue that I wanted to know more. Come to find out that there are petrochemicals and toxins in the bar Shocked

-although the toxicity level is 1--and I assumed that it was all natural! Huh

Some of my information came from here:

http://www.dld123.com/q&a/qandatemp.php?id=Q61

Does anyone else know anything about this? What I read did not sound good, just like another detergent. I would love to have some more input. I will be using Kirk's Castille for today, I had ordered Dr B's Castille soap from my local coop, but it was $3/bar Shocked

Not sure if that will save me much $$ It is so confusing to try to be all-natural and cost effective at the same time! Undecided

Thank you for your help!
Rebecca

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Re: Homemade Laundry Soap (Detergent Free)
« Reply #209 on: November 04, 2006, 04:00:28 PM » by queentea

Quote from: healthybratt on November 04, 2006, 11:40:41 AM

Quote from: queentea on November 03, 2006, 08:21:57 AM

bump...on the spot treating

Try bar soap.

tried it, didn't work Sad