D.I.Y. Laundry Soap

The title says it all, I've watched too many U-tubes :surrender: ...anyway, my wife made the powdered laundry soap last year and I wanted to make the liguid or 'Gel' type--- just because

This is the recipe I filtered out of all the videos.

You will need 1 clean 5 gallon bucket with cover

1 bar of Fels-Naptha laundry soap grated, some stores carry "Zote" pink laundry bars, this is fine and your soap will be pink
1 cup 20 mule Borax laundry boost
1 cup Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda...NOT BAKING SODA!...this is yelled in every video
Optional: I added 2 tablespoons of fabric softener for scent, some people use essential oils of various types...to each his own

Put the grated naptha in a pan and add 2 cups of water
On medium heat melt the soap, I used a whisk until melted
Fill 5 gallon bucket half way with warm tap water. Pour in melted bar soap, add the 2 cups of dry ingredients and stir, I used a wooden spoon.
Cover the bucket and let it sit for 24 hours.
Uncover and you will find half of a bucket of soap jello, add 2 and a half gallons of cold water and stir, I used a hand drill and a paint mixer and it worked perfectly in 2 minutes.

The videos say to fill empty containers half way with the new soap and add water to fill thus getting 10 gallons of laundry soap. I am testing my brew at the 5 gallon quantum and I will decide if it can be diluted further.

I'm not a prepper in the technical sense but I am a skeptic...when a company tells me to use a certain amount of their product like laundry and dish washing soap I use half, have you noticed the little measured pouches of soap, I've used half in my dishwasher and by golly my dishes are spotless!

My wife makes this same detergent. She just made a second batch after finishing off the first one which lasted almost a year. It works great! We heard it costs a penny per load.

5 gallons is a lot of soap! Would last me half a year in a regular washer and a year in my wringer. I'll give it a go this summer when it warms up.

Im the opposite and use 50% more than they recommend, lol I do usually have auto oil on my clothes though.

My wife makes the powdered version of this twice a year. Works as well as anything you can buy.

Well as previously stated the liquid soap worked very well and when I diluted it to the 10 gallon saturation it worked A1 on a 7 yr. old's clothes ketchup, mac and cheese, more ketchup etc.

We've been using a similar recipe for a little over a year. We do it mostly because the store bought stuff is so horribly overpriced.

It works great and is WAY cheaper

Do you guys have front loading washing machines? Just wondering if there is any issues with foaming when using this DIY soaps.

I like the idea of a powered version, seems like it could store better.

Today's liquid laundry detergents don't seem to rinse cleanly, even with soft water. Out front loading washer lost its musty smell about 3 days after we started using powdered detergent.

Not DIY stuff, but we tested this stuff out last week. Got my grease and dirt soaked pants SPOTLESS. Highly recommend it. Made in USA too! Can't believe that is so surprising this day and age ...

Looks like treehugger stuff, but it works. I could give a crap about that - I just want my clothes clean!

My brother got it for us for Christmas ...

jpete wrote:My wife makes the powdered version of this twice a year. Works as well as anything you can buy.

Do you have a recipe for the powdered version of this?

I have one of those new "HE" high-efficiency washers. The soap for those is ridiculously expensive and it doesn't always rinse out with the clothes barely getting wet during each cycle ! Leaves white marks on dark clothes unless I use the "bulk" setting, which then uses as much water as the old type washer.

The sad part is I don't see any difference between the HE and using regular laundry detergent. Either one leaves soap in the clothes if I don't use the more water bulk setting.

Thanks guys - think I'll give this a try.

Paul

ok while we are the subject of making laundry soap which is great ! does anyone have a recipe for making hand soap also would really like to give that a try to ! thanx and all have a great rest of your day !!!

coalfan wrote:ok while we are the subject of making laundry soap which is great ! does anyone have a recipe for making hand soap also would really like to give that a try to ! thanx and all have a great rest of your day !!!

Put a pot of coffee on and go on You-tube...I saw a nice one for Olive Oil soap and start buy milk or Almond milk in the paper wax carton they make good molds for soap

NJJoe wrote:

jpete wrote:My wife makes the powdered version of this twice a year. Works as well as anything you can buy.

Do you have a recipe for the powdered version of this?

You-tube again and a blender works well to grind up the grated Fels-Naptha bar soap...remember to grate it first.

thanx ma will do gotta start somewhere and thanx to u all for the laundry soap ideas to headin out now to pick up supplies !

Rob R. wrote:Do you guys have front loading washing machines? Just wondering if there is any issues with foaming when using this DIY soaps.

I like the idea of a powered version, seems like it could store better.

Today's liquid laundry detergents don't seem to rinse cleanly, even with soft water. Out front loading washer lost its musty smell about 3 days after we started using powdered detergent.

Yes we are using a front load HE washer with the liquid DIY stuff. Haven't had any issues with odor or clothes not rinsing.

We do leave the door cracked on it when not in use and also always make sure the soap trays are empty of water when we are done. Doing those two things have elimated any odor issues we had even using the store bought stuff

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