DIY Laundry Detergent Victory!

[rileysgranny]

I'm new to this thread, but wanted to let you know that I have found my Fels Naptha soap, washing soda and borax at Kroger! It is the only thing I go to Kroger for. I use Recipe #9 from tipnut.com - powdered. We have well water and this seems to work fine for us, but I do have to add a little whitener to my husbands t-shirts every once in a while.

Edited to add that I grate the Fels Naptha then let it sit overnight (or 2) to dry out, then run it through my blender to get it to a fine powder, before adding it to the recipe.

 

[miss_thenorth]

I'm new to this thread, but wanted to let you know that I have found my Fels Naptha soap, washing soda and borax at Kroger! It is the only thing I go to Kroger for. I use Recipe #9 from tipnut.com - powdered. We have well water and this seems to work fine for us, but I do have to add a little whitener to my husbands t-shirts every once in a while.

What type of whitener? AFter four years of using the stuff, my whites are dingy. i am doing a white load right now with storebought stuff(OH the HORROR!!!!!)

 

[rileysgranny]

Usually just a little clorox! I know - bad! but things do get dingy and something has to be done. But I don't do it very often. Not even once a month.

 

[savingdogs]

Usually just a little clorox! I know - bad! but things do get dingy and something has to be done. But I don't do it very often. Not even once a month.

This is what I do, too. I don't really have that many white loads, maybe one every month.

 

[rileysgranny]

My Grandmother used to use something called "blueing" (sp?) to whiten her clothes. Anyone know what that was/is?

 

[savingdogs]

I used to see that in the stores. Not any more though. My mom told me little old ladies would use it in their rinsewater for their hair as it made the yellowish cast look more gray.

Seems to me it would look GREEN, but she told me that was when they used too MUCH blueing!

I have not seen that in the grocery store in many years.

 

[Icu4dzs]

Out here on the high prairie, the Hutterite folks make their own soap/laundry detergent. I used it once and my clothes have never looked better. They just make a very simple soap/degergent and what I saw was large "cakes" of it drying on the floor of a shed.

The stuff is great and I will try to get their recipe and some more of it now that this has come up.

Who'd ever think about this unless you plan ahead, huh?

I was wondering about the combination of the powders because no one has mentioned how much of that combination is used in each load? There was a string I saw a little while ago that talked about the HE washing machines (I have one so it caught my eye) and there was a post by ~gd who said that there is a great deal of influence on the clothes and their appearance if you use soap rather than degergent because of the hardness of the water.
Anyone got any ideas about this now that we are discussing formulation?
Here is a link on the subject of blueing. Seems that this is a rather well accepted technique. I remember my mom using it but she never taught me how to use it. She just had it in the room with the laundry machines.

ETA:
http://www.mrsstewart.com/pages/purpose.htm

http://www.mrsstewart.com/pdf/aab.pdf Here is a PDF file called "All about Blueing"

What is Bluing Agent?
A bluing agent is a product used in most households to enhance the appearance of clothes, especially white ones. It consists of a blue color pigment, which can be either Prussian blue or ultramarine. Earlier, bluing agent for laundry was available in solid powder form, but now it is available as a liquid. This liquid is stored in bottles which are convenient to use, as their small nozzles prevent the spilling of excess liquid.


//BT//
Trim sends

 

[rileysgranny]

Awesome. Thanks for the link about blueing. I'll have to look for it when I go shopping this weekend.

 

[~gd]

Out here on the high prairie, the Hutterite folks make their own soap/laundry detergent. I used it once and my clothes have never looked better. They just make a very simple soap/degergent and what I saw was large "cakes" of it drying on the floor of a shed.

The stuff is great and I will try to get their recipe and some more of it now that this has come up.

Who'd ever think about this unless you plan ahead, huh?

I was wondering about the combination of the powders because no one has mentioned how much of that combination is used in each load? There was a string I saw a little while ago that talked about the HE washing machines (I have one so it caught my eye) and there was a post by ~gd who said that there is a great deal of influence on the clothes and their appearance if you use soap rather than degergent because of the hardness of the water.
Anyone got any ideas about this now that we are discussing formulation?
Here is a link on the subject of blueing. Seems that this is a rather well accepted technique. I remember my mom using it but she never taught me how to use it. She just had it in the room with the laundry machines.

ETA:
http://www.mrsstewart.com/pages/purpose.htm

http://www.mrsstewart.com/pdf/aab.pdf Here is a PDF file called "All about Blueing"

What is Bluing Agent?
A bluing agent is a product used in most households to enhance the appearance of clothes, especially white ones. It consists of a blue color pigment, which can be either Prussian blue or ultramarine. Earlier, bluing agent for laundry was available in solid powder form, but now it is available as a liquid. This liquid is stored in bottles which are convenient to use, as their small nozzles prevent the spilling of excess liquid.


//BT//
Trim sends

Bluing has pretty much been replaced by optical Brighteners. basically the blue from the bluing agent offset the yellow from soap scum and makes it appear much whiter to the eye but if you use a brightness measuring device cotton that has not been washed is brighter than cotton washed in soap and hard water and that is brighter than one that has been blued.
Optical brighteners actually shift the wave length of the light reflected back from the cloth, They absorbe the UV light that you can't see anyways and re-emit it in the visible range. Some cloth like Nylon now have the brightener built in to the cloth (white nylon panties will glow white under a blacklight) If you need optical brighterers to make your clothes look better RIT( the dye people) sell it (rather pricy) and it it is usually included in national brands of laundry products. BTW if you use bluing the untramarine is at least twice as effective as Prussian Blue.

 

[big brown horse]

I use blueing to get my white horse's dirty tail white. I just put it in a bucket with some water and hold the bucket up so his tail will sit submerged in the water for a few minutes. Up to ten is ideal.