Homemade Laundry Soap

[Alix]

Just made a new batch. I used Ivory this time and the resultant liquid is almost clear. My last batch was a bit cloudier. I am pleased so far. I will post about its cleaning ability after I use some. I can't see it being different than the last batch though.

I calculated out my cost for making the 5 gallon tub. $1.93. Whoa. Considering that the same sized tub of DRY laundry soap was $18 thats a pretty big savings. I gave about half my first batch away and it managed to last until now. Sooooo thats probably less than $.01 per load.

Compares with Tide for cleanliness and gets grass stains out of white knee sliders and shale stains out of socks. I'm sold. Guess I'm done buying commercial detergent for good now.

 

[blissful]

If a small family (say 3 people) wash 200 loads a year (which is probably an over estimate) with 3/4 cup of homemade laundry soap each time, they will use 10 gallons, so $4, compared to buying commercial at say $32/year, saving $28 dollars. Over 10 years saving $280.

After doing that a number of years, it starts to make you think, 'how else can I save some money?'
The other night I ran out of lotion, and I decided I would stop spending so much on it. I melted down some wax and heated up a some oil, added some water and created an emulsion. (it's like making mayonaise almost) Then I added some essential oils for fragrance. It really did turn out nice.

Making lip balm is just as easy, just use oils and wax--the stuff I use at work, a girlfriend at work made and gave me, I like it.

My last batch of homemade soap, I added pumice, for one of the guys at work that wanted some. I didn't think there was enough pumice in there to make it like 'Lava', but, when it dried out (cured) it was great. I use that in my kitchen. It's a very fine pumice and cleans up garden hands easily.

So you can save $10 here and there and it all adds up over time. Besides, it's fun to play in the kitchen (err Chemistry Lab).

Alix, glad it worked out for you. Everyone has so many good ideas. I do keep Fels Naptha on hand for scrubbing stains on clothes before I wash them, and I like having a little around in case of poison ivy too.

Happy soaping! ~Bliss

 

[ellakav]

Just made a new batch. I used Ivory this time and the resultant liquid is almost clear. My last batch was a bit cloudier. I am pleased so far. I will post about its cleaning ability after I use some. I can't see it being different than the last batch though.

I calculated out my cost for making the 5 gallon tub. $1.93. Whoa. Considering that the same sized tub of DRY laundry soap was $18 thats a pretty big savings. I gave about half my first batch away and it managed to last until now. Sooooo thats probably less than $.01 per load.

Compares with Tide for cleanliness and gets grass stains out of white knee sliders and shale stains out of socks. I'm sold. Guess I'm done buying commercial detergent for good now.

what did you use for your soap base the first time you made it?
Ivory does work well - it's pretty tough on grease, too if you just
wet a bar and rub it on the stain. be careful doing that though. I
wore a thin spot into one of my son's shirts that way - but by God
the stain came out!I actually keep a couple of batches with
different soaps in them. one is for my husband's clothes. I make
this one with Fels. he is a landscape construction worker and he gets
filthy. he's also allergic to poison ivy and has had to go to the ER
a few times to get shots. but in his job the poison ivy is kind of an
occupational hazard, and the Fels destroys the oil that causes the
rash. it takes it out of clothing, too. I made him a bottle of hand
soap with it to carry in his truck and remind him every day to wash
his exposed skin every two hours or so to protect himself. so far
he hasn't gotten it again, so he must be listening to me for a change!
the other batch I make with Zote and either Ivory or Lirio. mostly
Zote because it has citronella oil in it and it also brightens whites.
the Zote actually has mosquito repellent properties and oddly enough
is also used for catfish bait! I love the scent of it.
I know I'm going on here, but one more interesting thing I discovered
about the Fels Naptha. if you wet a bar and rub it on the bite right
after you get nailed by a mosquito, it stops the itch and a lot of times
stops the welt from the bite from forming. washing with it also helps
the itching from multiple bug bites, heat rash and poison ivy. mosquitos
love me and for some reason when I get bit the bites blister and scab
over and then they scar. this started happening last year and I have
scars by the dozen all over my legs and arms. when I tried the Fels
trick after my first bite this spring I was amazed and so far I only have
one bite that blistered and that was because I didn't get to it right
as it happened. so if it works for a mosquito magnet like me there
must be something to it, right?

okay, I know I've been windy this morning. I'm done now!

 

[Alix]

ellakav, you made me laugh with the windy comment.

I have never seen Fels soap. I think I'd like to though since you posted all the wonderful things you can do with it. The first batch of laundry soap was made with Lever 2000. Its all I had on hand at the time. Now this batch is not gelling like the last one did and it is much less opaque. The Ivory melted clean away and ended up being very clear with just a little soapy suds on the top of the liquid. So...we'll see how well it cleans.

blissful, thats exactly how I feel. If I can save a couple of bucks somewhere I'm all for it. I also like to mess around in the kitchen and pretend to be a chemist. LOL.

 

[Katie H]

Whoa, Alix. I made the comment in my little community that I made my own liquid laundry detergent and the local Ace Hardware store had a "run" on Fels-Naptha soap. Everyone in town is making the soap and I only told one girlfriend about it. Well, that's what happens when you live in a small community. They can't keep the soap on the store shelves. One lady bought 15 bars. What's she gonna do...eat it? My gosh, one bar makes enough concentrate to make 10 gallons of detergent!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Alix]

Heeheehee! I mentioned it at work and got that sort of patronizing, "well aren't YOU the little homemaker" comment that makes me want to smack people. LOL. They talk down to me when I'm talking food too. They manage to scarf enough when I bring some in though. (I don't share with the cranky ones anymore!)

Guess thats what its like in a big city. Sheesh! Think I need to move to KY?

 

[Katie H]

Heeheehee! I mentioned it at work and got that sort of patronizing, "well aren't YOU the little homemaker" comment that makes me want to smack people. LOL. They talk down to me when I'm talking food too. They manage to scarf enough when I bring some in though. (I don't share with the cranky ones anymore!)

Guess thats what its like in a big city. Sheesh! Think I need to move to KY?

Not to toot my own horn, Alix, but for many years I've written a Martha Stewart-like column for newspapers in the U.S. and my feedback is awesome. Especially in my local community, who seems to be proud of me. They glomm on to things I suggest/recommend/cook.

I was in that same Ace store today and the checker said she'd love to try the soap. I told her I'd gladly give her a quantity of mine. She was so happy, she said she'd take me out to lunch as a "thank you."

For goodness' sakes, it's only pennies-worth of soap.

 

[Alix]

You know, its so cool though. I am sure lots of folks do this but since its new to me I just think its the coolest thing going. I want to make all my own stuff now!

 

[Katie H]

You know what, Alix? I'm not a "mother earth" sort, but I've always preferred to make what we eat, wear, etc. There's something about the satisfaction in the "accomplishment" part that gets me.

I nursed all my children (in a way because I thought it would be a huge bother to wash, sterilize, etc. bottles), made all their baby food (from what we ate), sewed their clothes (mostly because I had a ball creating outfits for them), etc.

And, guess what? All that "fun" saved money and time, too. Hey, wasn't that a win-win situation?

 

[Alix]

Katie its so nice to hear that. I did all those things too. I LIKE doing all that. Its satisfying at a very basic level.

 

[ellakav]

I love making all my own stuff, I just wish I could do more! I REALLY
wish I could sew. my Mom is a quilter and the stuff she does is just
amazing.
and Alix, if you go onto www.soapsgonebuy.com you can order Fels
online. if you wanted to .

 

[Alix]

Is it worth it? I mean is it that much better than Ivory or any other bar soap I could get? The point is to save money and I suspect it would be pricy to ship it to Canada. If the cleanliness factor is significantly higher though I would consider it.

 

[GB]

I jsut realized I have been using way too much. I misread the original instructions and have been using a cup and a half instead of just a half a cup.

 

[Alix]

LOLOLOL!!! Boy are your clothes CLEAN!

Hey GB, I don't actually measure mine. I just fill the cap thing twice and I'm good. I'm guessitmating that its about 2/3 cup.

 

[ellakav]

I jsut realized I have been using way too much. I misread the original instructions and have been using a cup and a half instead of just a half a cup.

it's about the best there is for nasty, greasy, DIRTY stuff - read:
my husband. plus, it's versatile. like I wrote before, there are other
things it is used for as well and the thing is stuff like that has been
forgotten in favor of newer, pricier things that may or may not work.
(I'm talking about the poison ivy thing.) I use the stuff for everything-
I clean my carpets with it, I've cleaned my oven with it, if you dilute
it way down and put it into a spray bottle you can kill aphids on rose
bushes with it. it knocks the heck out of soap scum in your shower
or tub and keeps it from coming back. I love it, it has worked so well
and has really saved me a lot of money - something which has been
so important these last months at our house!
I know that there is a distributor in Canada, too. I ran across it
while I was pricing out buying the stuff in bulk as opposed to the
HyVee. if I run across it I will give it to you. maybe the shipping
costs won't be so steep.
gettin windy again!
have a great day! we're gonna be sweating it out again-90+degrees
and 68-70 percent humidity.

 

[Alix]

Is Fels Naphtha actually a laundry soap itself in bar form or is it a bar soap for the shower?

 

[Katie H]

Alix, it's strictly bar soap to be used for laundry.

 

[Alix]

Oooooooh! OK, see, now that might explain why I can't find it in the store. I'm looking in the soap section, not the LAUNDRY section. *forehead slap*

 

[Katie H]

I bought mine at my local Ace Hardware store. You might check hardware stores, too.

 

[GB]

OK you talked me into it Alix. I will make it this weekend and just leave it in the bucket if I do not have enough containers.

We will run out of our first batch this weekend so I will make my second batch tonight or tomorrow. A batch lasted us 3 months and we do laundry probably 6 days a week with multiple loads. And for the first half of the batch I was using about 3x too much. Man this is a money saver and it works so well too. I love this stuff.