We have finally used the last of the powdered laundry soap we made. While it stored nicely, we didn't like it because it left a white powdery residue on the clothes and the grated bar didn't dissolve well in the laundry. The recipe we're trying today comes from The Tipnut and is as follows:
2 C. bar soap grated (1 bar Fels Naptha = 2 C grated)
1 Qt. boiling water
2 C. Washing Soda (made by arm and hammer but is different than baking soda)
2 C. Borax
2 gal. water
Boil the water in a large sauce pan. Add the grated bar soap and stir until dissolved. (This takes a while!)
Add the dissolved soap and water to a 3 gal pail and then add the extra water. We used one gal boiling water, added the other ingredients, stirred, and topped it off with one gal cold water.
Issues we encountered were that the bar soap irritated Chibi's hands when grating (as the packaging said it would). Perhaps use a bit of paper bag when grating. We had planned on putting it into an old liquid soap bottle we'd saved to the occasion but when it cools, the soap forms a firm gel and I wasn't sure about getting it back out of the bottle. We ended up keeping in the pail used to mix.
We do add just a bit of oxyclean to the laundry soap because we tend to get our clothes really dirty with animals and work. I do think it would be good to rinse the clothes with a bit of vinegar to get rid of any soapy residue.
I couldn't find the materials in town and so ordered a quantity from soaps gone buy (much better prices than Leamans for the same products).
The food storage feast for today is Lentel Soup using the Christmas ham bone, carrotts, onion, ect.
6 comments:
The homemade soups made my clothes chalky, too, and I gave up on it. We just went to free and clear type detergent again, but only use about a teaspoon at a time. Things still come out clean.
We got a kit from Soaps gone by as well. I went the lazy route though and made the powdered soap by combining washing soda, borax and grated soap. So far it works great but I use less than the recommended 2 tbsps. We wash in only cold water and I was worried about chalky residue.
Hey Verde, have you tried using the soapwort plant for your laundry, shampoos, soaps and kitchen needs? I love it, prepping it is simple, it is effective and gentle (they use it to clean the shroud of turin).
If you are interested the recipes are under the soap labels on my blog. Costs nothing but some time (and some oatmeal for the soap).
Molly, that sounds great. I will check it out...
I haven't made the liquid mix yet. I just pour from the boxes: I use 1/3 cup washing soda and 1/3 cup borax and then just grate the Fels Naptha bar soap directly into the washing machine 25 strokes (keep a designated grater for that purpose by the machine). Fill the machine with water and let it all dissolve. Then add the clothes. (I only wash SUPER size loads.) Sometimes, because the water is hard here, I add 1/3 cup baking soda to the water mix too. No chalky residue! But then I also sometimes use warm water instead of cold. I really like the results of this combo. For loads that I need to deep clean, I let the load soak in the solution before it runs through the cycle. Great way to freshen up old pillow cases.
I got my supplies at Fry's (Kroger).
PS I don't have a front loading machine. I realize that the amount of soap I use would be WAY too much for a front-loader.
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