Making Laundry soap?

[bergere]

Does anyone know if it is possible to make Laundry soap for an H.E. machine?

[deedubl]

I have been making laundry soap for my HE machine for several years, and love it. No soap grating either!
Our clothes are clean and there's no residual buildup either.
I use an old laundry jug I had when I ran out of store bought stuff.

I start by putting a little hot water in the bottom of jug first. Then add powders and shake to let it dissolve. Add Dawn last, and slowly fill jug rest of the way with cool water. I simply give it a shake each time before I put it in the washer.

3 Tbsp Borax
3 Tbsp Washing Soda
2 Tbsp Blue Dawn

I only use about half a capful per load. It's been great and I have used this for years.

[Deleted]

I make soap with washing soda, borax and ivory soap

[bergere]

Thank you Both.

Will need to find some place to get Borax, washing soap.... is there any brand that works better than others? Dawn dish washing soap?

Haven't been able to find Ivory soap in awhile. Will have to look out for that too.

[oldmania]

I tried homemade laundry detergent. Clothes got dingy. For me it wasn't worth it. I now buy a large jug of H/E detergent. Such a small amount is needed that the jug lasts for months.

[Muller's Lane Farm]

I'm with you, oldmania.

[claytonpiano]

Yes, and eventually the homemade soap begins to clog the filter. Don't ask how I know. YUCK! Big repair bill. I have tried both powder and liquid. I am back to HE detergent from Costco. Yes, you are right about the dingy clothes.

[Muller's Lane Farm]

There are so many folks that just won't believe this .... I think they must have super softened water or something.

Back in the day (was it WWI or WWII??) that detergents finally made it big because of the war effort and the tallows that used to be used to make soap were being used for the war effort and detergent became the Big Promoted Thing ...

Housewives celebrated because their laundry was no longer dingy. They no longer had to do an acid (i.e. vinegar) rinse. They no longer had to use bluing to try to get their whites 'whiter'.

There is a time and place for soap (on your skin) and a time and place for detergent (for household cleaning)

With the water I have, I have to use the washing soda and the borax to soften my water enough for the regular detergent to work.

If I have unusually dirty, oily clothes, I may do a soaking in some of my handmade soap with borax & soda as a pre-soak, but it is always followed up with a detergent wash to remove the soap scum.

[Muller's Lane Farm]

Thinking about it though ... if one uses a chelating agent such as edta, the soap scum (the stuff that leaves the dinginess) could be mostly washed away ....

[mzgarden]

I've used deedubl's recipe above in our HE for about 2 years now. I tried several others - clothes got dingy, didn't smell very good, etc. Switched to the liquid version of Borax, Washing Soda, and Dawn and we have had no issues. I generally add a small squirt of bluing to the gallon bottle of washing liquid.

[pammysue]

May 3, 2015 10:59:34 GMT mzgarden said:

I've used deedubl's recipe above in our HE for about 2 years now. I tried several others - clothes got dingy, didn't smell very good, etc. Switched to the liquid version of Borax, Washing Soda, and Dawn and we have had no issues. I generally add a small squirt of bluing to the gallon bottle of washing liquid.

Thanks for the tip about adding a small squirt of bluing to the washing liquid ... I'd have never thought of that.  I've been using this recipe for some time now and have been happy with it so far even if I don't have a HE, just a plain ole washing machine.

[Deleted]

Deebubl, what size jug are you using? I'm bummed - just made some laundry soap with bar soap etc. Everything I was reading compared it to Tide with color safe whitening. So I'll use that up and the try the stuff with dawn.

[bergere]

This is all great info everyone. Thank you.

What ever I try, it will have to be easy to use. As the others in the house need simple.

Part of my problem, is a lot of commercial laundry soaps make me itch. So I need to find something that doesn't.

[jamiecatheryn]

I use a tiny amount of regular scent free laundry detergent plus some washing soda and borax (sold in some obscure little section in the laundry aisle). Sometimes grated soap instead of detergent and then use vinegar as a rinse aid.

[ketoriverfarm]

You can get washing soda and borax at Walmart. I also found zote flakes at Walmart. I have a HE machine. I pre-soak whites in oxyclean before washing. The HE machine with regular laundry detergent does not get the dirt out of white hand towels and washcloths. Sigh!

[ohiodreamer]

I've been making our soap for more then 5 years now. Haven't noticed them any dingier then before. White undershirts and men's briefs are always dingy in our water....I've tried every store bought soap (even the ones that make me ill from the scent). Same gray over time. Luckily for us we don't prance around in our underwear, so no one knows (unless I tell the world on an open forum on the internet, lol). Our darks and colors are perfectly fine....and we have HARD water, even with a softener. I don't make the liquid type, maybe that's the difference.

[adirondackgal]

I have been making our detergent for years with Borax, washing soda, and Dawn. I use the Ultra Dawn. I use the same formula as posted above. It costs pennies to make compared to store bought. I have a regular washing machine so I don't know if it makes a difference. I use a little bleach on white clothes and towels. I am very pleased with the results of my detergent.

[Deleted]

I tried the homemade powdered stuff. It didn't mask odors, but it didn't remove them, either. Once I used up the batch, I went back to my regular detergent.

[deedubl]

seraphgirljudym, I am using a jug that is 100oz, or about 3 liters. It's just an old Gain jug. I guess the amount I use per load equals about 1/4 to 1/3 cup of soap. You can always play around with how much you use. I may use a bit more for a more soiled load. I haven't had any issues with buildup or anything.
I realize that some folks have oily or dirtier clothes than we do, but this has worked great for me for several years and I just pre-treat spots before washing.
This is a huge money saver for us. I also just use diluted vinegar for softening instead of laundry softener.

[Deleted]

Thanks deebubl, I actually started using the dry recipe and presoaking heavily soiled items - like I always did - and haven't noticed any difference AT ALL! When I presoak, I use the amount of soap I would use for a full load but only fill it to small load capacity, then let it agitate a few minutes, then just let it soak for a minimum of 20 minutes. I don't have a HE machine and do have good water, not too soft, not too hard. I've been adding vinegar in a downy ball to almost every load. So far so good! I've done about a dozen loads now.

[hobbitlady]

May 31, 2015 22:36:04 GMT @seraphgirljudym said:

Thanks deebubl, I actually started using the dry recipe and presoaking heavily soiled items - like I always did - and haven't noticed any difference AT ALL! When I presoak, I use the amount of soap I would use for a full load but only fill it to small load capacity, then let it agitate a few minutes, then just let it soak for a minimum of 20 minutes. I don't have a HE machine and do have good water, not too soft, not too hard. I've been adding vinegar in a downy ball to almost every load. So far so good! I've done about a dozen loads now.

I use the standard borax,washing soda and Fels bar(ground to powder before boiling) but make mine stronger than the original 5 gallon recipe(I make about about 2).   I also found that a long pre-soak made all the difference!!!  We have a red-iron soil that can really stain some things but if I leave a soak overnight it actually comes out of our standard jeans and t-shirts!

[Deleted]

I use homemade laundry butter on most of it, but store bought detergent on the whites.
I posted the recipe I use in Angie's new forum.

[Deleted]

I just started making laundry soap last week from a recipe on the howdoesshe site. It has borax, baking soda, washing soda, Zote soap and Purex crystal, and oxi-clean. I think thats all. Directions say use 2 Tbs. per load but for whites I used three. Don't know if I needed to but I did. The only think negative so far is since I wash in cold water I need to add the powder to boiling water and shake it. Directions didn't say to but I didn't want to have a mess. The borax and oxi are the two that don't dissolve well otherwise. About the oxi. I read that the Awesome brand that Dollar Tree carries works just as well so thats what I got. I soaked some white mens underwear in it for maybe an hour, lost track. Because the husband had diarrhea I knew that even with bleach it wouldn't come clean. It did the job. The borax, Purex crystals,and washing soda and Zote came from Walmart, baking soda from Aldis. I figured it to cost .06 per load. If I had had coupons even less.

[Callie]

I've used the powdered formula for washing detergent for a long time. The only time I notice a smell or dinginess afterwards is when I used one batch of my homemade soap. I do not know the what the difference was but when I switched to a different batch of my soap, the clothes were clean and bright again. Barring homemade soap, Zote or Fels Naptha work. The soap has to rinse out or it will lead to a soap residue which is what causes the clothes to the smell. Also check to make sure you aren't using too much in each load. That will also leave the residue. I only use a TB per load but I have a "sport" type front loader (smaller loads). With a really dirty load, I add Oxy-clean. I love how much I save with homemade laundry detergent.

[mzgarden]

I'm still using our homemade liquid laundry soap in our HE washer - it's been more than a year now. Dawn, Washing Soda, Borax, Mrs. Stewart's Laundry bluing and a few drops of essential oils cause hubby likes it. So far, still good for us.

[Deleted]

Jul 7, 2015 12:34:38 GMT Callie said:

I've used the powdered formula for washing detergent for a long time. The only time I notice a smell or dinginess afterwards is when I used one batch of my homemade soap. I do not know the what the difference was but when I switched to a different batch of my soap, the clothes were clean and bright again. Barring homemade soap, Zote or Fels Naptha work. The soap has to rinse out or it will lead to a soap residue which is what causes the clothes to the smell. Also check to make sure you aren't using too much in each load. That will also leave the residue. I only use a TB per load but I have a "sport" type front loader (smaller loads). With a really dirty load, I add Oxy-clean. I love how much I save with homemade laundry detergent.

Muller's Lane Farm, I think, said that Fels Naptha has brighteners in it, I guess Zote does too.

[Deleted]

I've been using homemade laundry soap for many years. First made a liquid/gel but for the past five years have been using a powder. Have no issues with dingy clothes or other issues with cleanliness. I use a combination of Fels Naptha soap and the remaining slivers of Zest bar soap from our shower. Also grind up hotel soap bars and throw that in the mix. A batch lasts a long time as there are only two people in our household.

[Deleted]

I make the dry laundry soap with Ivory soap, washing soda and borax.
Our clothes get dingy no matter what laundry soap I use, must be our well water.
I just read an article on TSP, so I am going to make a batch this week and see how that works

mises.org/library/why-everything-dirtier

[jamiecatheryn]

That is interesting about the TSP. They put a little in Cheerios oddly enough. It's really bad if much is swallowed and sort of irritating on the skin, and bad for waterways if it gets in there untreated. I guess using a little on clothes and rinsing it out well wouldn't hurt so long as you don't have a graywater system, might be better for whites than using bleach anyway.

I've been using shredded Zote, washing soda, and borax. It mostly works well. Whites get a little bit dingy and oil stains don't always come out. I do make my own soap but I think the Zote is a better deal than my homemade stuff.

[Deleted]

Jul 7, 2015 18:09:08 GMT @janisr said:

I make the dry laundry soap with Ivory soap, washing soda and borax.
Our clothes get dingy no matter what laundry soap I use, must be our well water.
I just read an article on TSP, so I am going to make a batch this week and see how that works

mises.org/library/why-everything-dirtier
Have you tried to add Oxiclean to the dry mix? That might help with the dingies. We had lots of iron in the well water at our previous house. It was a big no no to use any bleach as that discolored the clothes when it mixed with the iron.