Fels Naphta versa Octagon Bar soap for laundry detergent?

[Kingsfarm]

since reading Fels Naphta not so good what about Octagon Bar soap....The bars I have were purchased years ago when a Winn Dixie went out of business.....Good or No...what conclusion do you come to about all this...

Bubblingsprings - what do you say....all responsed welcomed...

 

[savingdogs]

I've been using the homemade laundry soap for about two years now, I love it. I have used Fels Naptha and Zote as the bar soap, we liked both but preferred the Fels Naptha as the Zote came out clumpier, perhaps it was our technique.

I'm not familiar with the brand Octagon, but I've heard you can use any detergent bar of soap. Actually, I've heard you could use ANY bar of soap, but in the more complete discussion of this at BYC, people mention issues with using any bars that are moisturizing, like body soap, Dove, Ivory....although there is a lady on their that uses Ivory all the time. Apparently there could be an oily residue on your clothes from moisturizing bars? I'm not speaking from personal experience.

Why did you not want to use Fels Naptha or Zote? Where did you hear that Fels Naptha is not so good? I would disagree, I love the stuff. Tell me why you don't like it, I'm curious.

The way I understand it, aging soap just makes it harder, which isn't a problem if you are making the liquid laundry recipe because you are going to grate and melt the soap anyway. Perhaps someone using the dry recipe has imput on that, but I've never made that one.

I'd say the only negative thing I can possibly come up with to say about homemade laundry detergent is that your colors can get dingy after awhile, you need to use bleach occasionally on your whites and make sure to wash same colors together.

Edited to reflect I've found and read the other thread, so I understand why this was brought up here now.

 

[sunsaver]

I love the smell of Octagon, but Zote is just cheaper for dirt poor people like me.

 

[Kingsfarm]

I bought MANY - MANY _ MANY bars of octagon bar soap...That's why I wanted to use them... I am totally in agreement that home made laundry detergent is better than store bought chemicals in a box.....better for all around health....just wanted to know if anyone knew anything about octagon (a negative thing) thank you for responding savingsdog and sunsaver....I didn't want to have to spend again if I can use WHAT I HAVE....frugal as I can be....

 

[calendula]

Honestly, I have been using my homemade soap and soap scraps to make laundry detergent, so I don't know much about any of these soaps. The action of the clothes being agitated in the water gets them very clean in itself, so I see the laundry soap as just being a little extra help for tough dirt.

 

[justinwrites]

First post, woot. Uh, ok so I tried making my own using fels and washing soda and borax. I used quite a bit more fels (adding more after some time) as load after load would fail the sniff test. I don't mean right out of the dryer lacking the air freshener odor we're used to, I mean full blown BO. I'm a big guy, and a sweater. My wife is a nurse and works her butt off. We use a front loader HE washer, added vinegar, and eventually added oxyclean. When none of that helped we tried soaking in vinegar water for a while before the wash.

We've given up until the heat of the summer passes and we might try again. Anyone have suggestions?

 

[savingdogs]

Hmmm....we have not had that problem.

Perhaps try using scented laundry softener and scented dryer sheets? Add an extra spin cycle to your washer? I wash a lot of animal blankets and have a cat that thinks my bathroom rug is a litterbox sometimes, and P.U. (holds nose) does that stink! I have sometimes added a second rinse cycle or washed a second time.

Do you wash in hot or cold? Hot might work better on the smell.

Maybe pre-treating the armpits of the clothes with a spritz of vinegar directly on the odors? Or OxyClean w/h20.....

 

[aggieterpkatie]

Do your clothes actually smell like BO when they go *in* the wash? I ask because I think sometimes the homemade detergent leaves the smell. I noticed sometimes our clothes would actually smell like urine or some other funky smell after being washed and dried.

 

[justinwrites]

@Savingdogs I tried all of that. We used the bounce fabreeze sheets, and I spray vinegar on the pits, even rubbed a wet fels bar on the bad parts. We wash in cold as much as possible. I may try hot for the sweaty stuff. I even tried "heavy duty" plus the extra wash, extra rinse options were enabled lol. Now this was with a powder formula, and I am hearing lately that the liquid is better. So that is what we'll try next.

@aggie Ya know, I'm not proud. I sniffed my laundry, even my undies, for a comparison. I did that because I really, really wanted it to work. My mom would've laughed all the way back to her sun tea jar that her college graduate, metropolitan, gen x, son was growing his own food, canning and then making his own detergent. She was a professional hippy for a long time

And the smell would get worse the instant you started to sweat again. Now I am willing to admit that I have a very sensitive nose, and that the nose isn't always right when it comes to laundry. But there was an immediate improvement the instant I gave in to the siren song of my arm$hammer he detergent -- ending 1 month of experimenting.

And my dishwasher detergent met with instant failure but that is another thread

 

[savingdogs]

Wow! well I'm sorry you didn't have more luck with it! I wonder if it has to do with your water or your machine itself, that doesn't work as well with the soap, because we just haven't had those issues here.