Powder Homemade Laundry Soap

[Emerald]

I added the salt water to all of my loads yesterday and the whites are a bit "whiter" than the last load I did without.. I really noticed it when I added my dish towels(all the plain white bar mop towels) to the stack.. they just looked whiter and cleaner.
I just put 1/2 cup of the salt into a quart mason jar and put hot water in and stirred it and not all the crystals dissolved but I used about 1/2 cup in with the soap and 1/4 in the softener spot(Oh and I hadn't cleaned that puppy in a while and pulled the little "drawer" out and there was tons of goopy build up..I cleaned all that and put it back together) . I have been washing all of our cold weather stuff and they came out quite soft and nice. I may just try to dissolve more and add right to my mix when I make the next batch. Or hubs thought about maybe getting two of the inline water filters(the smaller ones) and right behind the washer where the lines go in just attach them and add the salt instead of the filter and a mesh on top(to keep it from sucking salt into the machine) and see if that would work like a big water softener. All these weird ideas lately.. I must be rubbing off on poor old hubby!

 

[RobinsValleyVT]

I use 1 bar grated fels naptha
1 cup borax
1 cup washing soda
1 cup baking soda

I use 1/4 cup per full load....I have always used the dry cause it is easier to clean up if it gets spilled

I have a regular old washer that is extra capacity so I tend to do really big loads. I use straight white vinegar in the fabric softener dispenser. For stains I use Grandma's Secret Stain Remover.

Where does everyone get their fels naptha, borax and washing soda?

How long do the ingredients store separately? Do you stock up on the ingredients?

How long does the detergent store mixed together?

I want to make my own, but am completely new to this.

 

[Britesea]

I get my ingredients in the laundry detergent aisle, but you have to look closely because usually they get a very small display area compared to all the commercial detergents. I've found them at Walmart, but I prefer a small chain store we have here- Sherm's Thunderbird (the last completely local store went belly up about 3 years ago here). You could also try any hispanic stores you might have in your area.

In a pinch, you can find everything online. I've found several sources by just googling the ingredients.

One thing I've found-- let your soap get hard if you want to make the powdered stuff. I got some Zote soap once that was still soft and I finally ended up making liquid soap because it didn't make a satisfactory powder. Or you can get already flaked soap powder online if you are lazy (I used to be able to find soap powder in the grocery stores, but no longer).

I've never used baking soda in my mix- just the first ingredients. I bought a bag of water softener pellets (potassium chloride because it's better in my grey water system) and I just had a small handful to my wash. My clothes seem softer since I started doing this as well as brighter.

 

[goatilocks]

Is dry detergent ok for a septic system? I read somewhere that it can clog it up...

 

[miss_thenorth]

I have been using it for four years,and no problem.

 

[piecemaker]

If you can't find washing soda you can bake baking soda at 250* for an hour. It causes a chemical reaction that changes the baking soda to washing soda. You can look it up on google. Have done this with my last batch it worked just as good. Also found recipe to make that shower spray you use after the shower to help keep it clean, works good on my stainless steel kitchen sink. For the dishwasher I mix borax and washing soda half and half, use 1 tablespoon in small dispenser and then put vinegar in the one with the lid. You get a wash with soap then a rinse with vinegar then a clear water rinse.

 

[Farmfresh]

Dry recipe here as well:

1 cup grated basic soap *
1 cup borax (20 mule team)
1 cup washing soda (sodium carbonate)
cup baking soda (sodium bicarbonate)

(Add 1/2 cup of salt if you have hard water)

I don't use the Fels or any other purchased soap. I make my own basic lye soap with lard and tallow as the oils and use that in the recipe.

 

[RobinsValleyVT]

Maybe a bit off topic, but how do you determine if you have hard water? We have a drilled well, and have not had any testing done. Is there an easy way to find out?

 

[piecemaker]

My DSIL said the softer the water the less soap you need. He says if he uses the same amount of shampoo at our house that he does at home it takes forever to rinse it out

 

[SSDreamin]

Do you have a lot of scale build up or discoloring in your sink or tub? That is usually hard water.

My old house had nice, soft water. No stains in the tub, no icky scaley build-up on the faucets. This house is just the opposite. Orangey brown stains in all the sinks, crusty scale on all the faucets, and stinky to boot! The water here is pretty hard!