The Laundry Soap Recipe! I know you've missed it

[LaLa]

Making your own laundry detergent:

grate a half bar of soap (I like to use a vegetable based soap)
put it in a pan with just enough water to cover it.
On low heat, until it melts

In a gallon bucket (ice cream pails work nicely!)
Fill with Hot water, mix in 1 Cup of Washing Soda (or baking soda, but baking soda won't give you the Gel like consistancy)
Mix well

Then add soap, stir, let sit overnight and viola!

I've tried this both ways, adding the soap first vs adding the soda first, and I like the gel I get from adding soda first. Play with it and let me know what you like! Also, different bar soaps make for a different consistancy.
My favorites so far have been Bean Tree Lavender and Earth Friendly Baby Lavender :)

[Corriander]

You are so sweet to post this again! I have been waiting for the the box of Tide to get used up so I can try this out.

[TripkeHughes]

what is washing soda and where can I find it? I have been waiting to try this out. Thank you.

[LaLa]

I got arm and hammer washing soda at the grocery store. It was in the laundry detergent section. It was kind of hard to find. They didn't carry it at targer or the co-op. I found it at econo foods

[Sierra]

Lala, I just want to thank you for emailing me the recipe while the boards were down!! It took us a little bit of time to go out to a grocery chain to get the washing soda and the 3 gallon bucket with a lid to keep it in, but we finally made the soap the other night. We made the full batch rather than the half batch (is there an advantage to just doing half?), and when we run out of the commercial laundry soap we've been using (in about a day), we're gonna get started with this stuff! I can't wait!

BTW, I normally shop at a health food/co-op type store (from which we ordered the Earth Friendly Baby Soap) and a local, neighborhood like grocery store, but the washing soda is found in almost all chain grocery stores, I've found. In our area of the country, those are: Safeway, Albertsons, King Soopers, Fred Meyer (?I don't know if they carry it?), etc. It wasn't hard to find once I realized that I had to go to a bigger grocery store vs. my corner store. Also, as for what washing soda is, it is similar in composition to baking soda (but with more carbons?), but it does better with the water for washing, if I understand correctly. I believe it is also used in making tye die.

Sierra

[Lena]

Lala, the recipe I've been using calls for borax in addition to washing soda.

1 bar of soap, grated,
1/2 cup washing soda
1/2 cup borax
2 gal of water

But I remember reading on your Sleepingbean site not to use borax for washing cloth diapers-- is that right? DO you know something about borax that I am missing?

[LaLa]

I have read that borax, like bleach, breaks down the diaper fibers, shortening teh life of your dipes, but I wouldn't think that applies to using it as an ingredient in your homemade soap! That is probably more so for excessive use, but that is only my guess.

:)

If it works and you like it, keep on using it!

[elnachick]

thanks for posting the recipe once more - I made my first batch about a month ago, I used a bar of Dr. Bronner's peppermint (not the liquid, the bar soap), washing soda, and had to use two old gallon sized pickle jars to mix it up in, but it worked - added soap to water before soda. Others in the household were skeptical but everyone's using it, no babes yet so I don't have the diaper test, but my partner's boxers are a pretty good test of its effectiveness :) - what a great feeling to be able to do something so simple on my own, no more expensive laundry soap for me! Next time we are trying the lemon bar of Dr. B's, to check out that fragrance. Peppermint smells minty while washing, but clothes just smell fresh when done, not minty. btw, we have very hard water and this works well.

[Ceili]

If you are having trouble finding washing soda locally, you can buy it at http://grocery.com/

I looked all over in town and couldn't find it.

[Elphaba]

can you use liquid soap or must it be a bar? i just bought a giant bottle of dr. bronners and want to use it for everything.

[Baby Phat]

*bump*

[LaLa]

I don't know about the liquid soap. Try it and let us know!
:)

[MamaDub]

I also love this recipe, it gets clothes clean and very soft. My only problem is that the wonderful smell almost completely disappears after the clothes come out of the dryer. I used a lemon verbena soap that I got at Trader Joe's and the wet clothes smell great. How can I keep that smell after the dryer? I don't use dryer sheets but I'm looking for an alternative. Are there any, for reducing static at least? I'm kind of tired of the sparks that fly off my kids blankets.

[LaLa]

Idealally, you should not smell a soap after it has been rinsed off. If you can, then there was too much fragrance. If you like an added smell on your linens, I would suggest a linen spray of floral water. You can make this if you have fresh aromatic flowers, or you can purchase it for little money at TJMax/Marshalls type stores.

[LaLa]

Just tried it with liquid bronners, and it never got gel like AT ALL. Just liquid. I'm still using it. In theory, it should work the same. Just different form.

[TripkeHughes]

We are running low on laundry soap so I made my list of ingredients and went on a search. So far I can't find the washing soda but I'm going back out again tomorrow. I am picturing it coming in a box like baking soda, hope that is right. We'll see :)

[Dancinmom]

my only question is once you have made it, how much do you use per load?

[LaLa]

I have a big ladel in my bucket, adn I use a ladel full per load (not quite a cup).

?

[Chanley]

I have issues with this.

Perhaps it is the container. I have a glass gallon size pickle jar. What I get is a thick ring of white chunks on top and when I mix it with the ladle, i get what appears to be curdled milk in water. Does this make sense???


Perhaps I should post some pics of this.

I hear you all talking about gel and I am not getting this but I WANT GEL!!! Not curdled milk.


any suggestions?

[elnachick]

Chanley, we've made 3 batches to date, all using Dr. Bronner's bar soap and washing soda, adding the melted soap to the water b/4 the soda. The consistency of ours is about like slightly runny grits, when it is mixed up, but it still seems to work great. What I've found so far is that two things impact how it turns out - I need to stir the melting soap occasionally so it doesn't gell/glob together, and have the patience for it to melt (takes a long time, over an hour), second, hanging in there to stir and stir in the soda to get it as dissolved as I can, with only a very few tiny chunks visible. Also, using HOT water seems to help. My first batch was in gallon pickle jars, too. I have yet to achieve a good "gel" myself, but we're using the "grits" and it seems to do a great job!

edited to correct the spelling of "pickle" :)

[Mommy22B]

I tried it using just some Dial soap...The soap is globbed up into little chunks. and it has all risen to the top. ??? Did I do something wrong? Do i need some special kind of soap??? Is it okay to use it with the soap globs?

[elnachick]

mommy22b, not sure if you can use what you made, but I think generally you want to use a castile soap, as opposed to a tallow type soap (dial, ivory, etc.). I've used the bars of Dr. Bronner's, which I can get at my grocery store as well as natural stores, but I've also seen people here in past posts using Kirk's Coco Castile Soap, which you can also find in grocery stores (or if you are really stuck, try horse supply companies, such as State Line Tack and/or Dover Saddlery, Kirk's is pretty popular to clean tack with so many horse catalogs carry it:))

[Mommy22B]

Thanks so much. I used it today on my dipes cause I really needed dipes. They seem to smell and look ok. I went to the natural store today to get some suplements and I saw some Bronners soaps. :) I was really excited because I hear such good things about them and didn't know they were anywhere in town. I will try again with that. Thanks again!
Beth

[TripkeHughes]

silly question: What is Castile?

[LaLa]

Now adays when someone says castile they are referring to a soap made with vegetable oils (no animal fats or products)
:)

It used to be more specific to one certain oil, but now it pretty much includes all vege oils

[Mommy22B]

I did it! LOL I got some Dr Bronners (bythe way, I love that stuff..smells great!) and it worked. Thanks!!!
Beth

[TripkeHughes]

Just bought the soap, found it at Trader Joes, now I need the washing soda. We are in DIRE need of laundry soap so my motivation is HIGH!

[nj_hipmama]

I read the recipe for laundry det & can't wait to try it. I'm going to the market this w/e and get a bar of soap. This may seem a little anal, but what size bar of soap? And what about the pan? I use only cast iron. Do you know if that will affect the consistency? I also make my own liquid hand soap if anyone is interested.

[Kelakemama]

NJ-Hipmama, what's your recipie for liquid hand soap?? I'd love to have it!!

[abimommy]

I found washing soda at price chopper...they didn't have it at the one down the street form me so I went to the HUGE price chopper.....so you need to find a HUGE grocery store.....

the box is about the size of dry dishwasher detergent....I didn't see a bigger box anywhere...I was excited to find it at all...

[TripkeHughes]

guess what I am doing right now :)

VERY EXCITING :)

[nj_hipmama]

My dh refuses to use a bar of soap once it has gotten down to about 1/4 original size. (some questions I don't ask.) So I save up all these little bars until I have about 4 or 5. We usually use seaweed or cucumber soap, but this will work w/ any kind. I grate the soap into my blender, (bonus; the blender gets really clean),

add about 1/2 to 3/4 C water
10 drops tea tree oil (antibiotic)
1/2 oz of 'oil' for a moisturizer (I like Burt's Bees Apricot Oil, but if I don't have that just regular olive oil will do.)
and 3 drops essential oil of your choice. (The essential oil isn't necessary but I like to add a scent. My choice is lavender.)

Then blend until the soap is all mixed with the water. About 5 minutes. You may have to stop and open it once or twice to scrape down the sides. It will look like just a lot of foam. Then I pour it into my soap dispenser. Any left over I just store in a closed container. If it separates just shake it up again.

[TripkeHughes]

Do you use this soap on your cloth diapers? Does it get them clean?

We love using it but have only used a few loads so far. Love that we make it ourselves.

DOES THIS GET YOUR CLOTHING CLEAN? I am noticing that ds still has messy on his clothes. It isn't just his, ours don't seem to be getting very clean. Did any of you notice this when you made the switch? What do I do? I love making my own but it isn't getting our clothes clean.

I used Dr. B's soap, hot water, and Arm and Hammer's washing soda. What did I miss?

[TripkeHughes]

bump

[TreeLove]

oh dear Trip, I used the SAME exact ingredients. I hope it works on the dipes at least, but I just ralized that Gus and Emmet are allergic to the laundry soap I bought on sale! I made my soap this morn and I'm waiting for it to gel-up. I was really hoping on using ot for the twins clothes...

[nj_hipmama]

I made up a tub of this and it's working great for me. I was so excited that I kept peeking at it waiting for it to gel up. I've already used it up and am ready to make a second batch. It seems to be working fine on my clothes, but I also use a scoop of OxiClean in all my loads. I know there is another thread on this and I have read that discussion. I swear by it in the laundry. My dipes I don't dry in the dryer, but line-dry so the sun will bleach out any stains left. I check all my clothes before I put them in the dryer and anything that I think didn't come clean I put out in the sun, also.

[LukesMum]

Is it really cheaper to make your won?? I apy about $5 something for my earthsave laundry powder..............??

[TreeLove]

Well, I tried to figure that out last night. I used 1/2 of a bar of Dr Bronner's Lavendar Hemp Soap ($2.99/bar)
plu 1c of washing Soda ($2.19/box)
So that's a grand total of about $1.75/gallon of wonderfully smelling baby sensitive earth friedly soap.
Sounds good to me. I'm gonna try it out on the boys clothes today because they are allergic to the cruddy cheapo soap I bought. They've had hives for days and I finally realized that it must be the new soap!

[abismommie]

Thank you so much for the liquid hand soap recipe and the laundry soap - can't wait to make them!!!!!

Hugs,

J

[TripkeHughes]

I'm so bummed out. It just isn't getting my clothes clean, just looks like I washed them in water. So we went out and bought "green" liquid laundry soap and I'm using 1/2 and 1/2 mixture.

Ok, shoot me down, just tell me what I did wrong. I so want to make my own and USE it.

[elnachick]

oh dear... I don't have babes yet so no diaper test but SO's white boxer shorts are a darn good test and it works on them. You've used the same products that I have - Dr B's (I've used peppermint, lavender, and lemon soaps to date) and A&H Super Washing Soda. I have made the soap in gallon glass jars, and now use a plastic bucket with an attached lid I found at Wallhell. I bought a used small saucepan to melt the soap in, grate it with an old cheese grater then rinse the grater off into the pan for part of the water, then add just enough water so the soap is just barely covered (little soap grates poking up through). We have an electric stove, I set it on the lowest setting and stir occasionally with a popsicle stick. Once it is clear and melted (this stage is never perfect, I just try to get it close) I'm ready to mix. I have added the soap to the water then mixed in the soda, and have done the reverse. The first method seems to set more quickly and is a sort of grits consistency when done. The second takes longer to set but ends up a clearer, lumpy jelly type of consistency. I use HOT water to mix the stuff into, and whichever is added first is totally mixed in b/4 the second ingredient is added and totally mixed in. It sits in the kitchen uncovered for a few hours, stirred occasionally, then is capped and left in our fairly chilly laundry room. We have a plastic ladle that we leave next to the soap, and we mix the glop up b/4 using, each time. We use two good ladle fulls per load, which is about a generous 2/3 cup, a tad more if it is really grimy (work clothes, etc.). I just rinse the ladle off under the water filling the machine, so it doesn't get crusty. We have quite hard water, it is well water. Not sure if any of this helps you out, I have had great luck with this stuff and will probably never buy laundry detergent at the store again, but if it isn't getting your duds clean, then that's no good! Do you think you made it correctly, are you using enough, etc.? I hope something clicks and it works for you!
peace,
jen

[nj_hipmama]

Did I mention before that I'm really anal?? Well, you all said that the grated soap should 'melt.' I couldn't get it to melt the way I thought it should. And then you said 'HOT' water. So . . . I put a gallon of water on the stove to boil, added the A & H, and after that was dissolved, grated the soap into that same pot. It dissolved really great!! (I warned you I was anal) So I let it cool a little while before I poured it into the bucket I was keeping it in. It set overnight and was a perfect gel consistency. I used Dr. Bronner's Hemp soap and to quote elnachick: I use "a generous 2/3 cup" in my laundry. Good luck Tripke!

[TripkeHughes]

Maybe I didn't use enough soap. We made a double batch (2 gallons) thus I used a whole bar of soap. Maybe I should have used two? Otherwise it was exactly as elnachick said. Maybe I'll try again using nj's method.

Bummer! For now we add a natural soap to it. That is working okay.

[RasJane]

Oh my, we love using what we know as "soap jelly." I found the recipe along with my homemade soap recipes. good ol' Country Living Encyclopedia by Carla Emery. We take 1# homemade soap (of various fats), grate it and boil it with 1 gallon of hot water.
It turns to a semi-solid gel. I use this for everything. I mix it with hot water to make dish soap, pick up a chunk of it for tough dishes as-is, and throw a handful in the wash alone, or with borax and/or tea-tree, and sometimes vineagar. I have a bowl of jelly in the bath and we pinch off a piece for washing our hands. I keep meaning to make hand soap, but I am a little on the lazy side! :love

[bebe luna]

I just wanted to say Thank you for posting this recipe!!!
I made a batch yesterday and did a load of laundry today- it came out great!!!
I used 1/2 a bar of "Kiss My Face" Olive oil, fragrance-free soap... as well as 1/2 cup washing soda, 1/2 cup borax & 1 gallon water.
It gelled beautifuuly and cleaned my clothes so well.
No more over-priced store bought stuff for me!!!

[Corriander]

I made my first batch last week. First I used a whole bar of Dr. B's peppermint soap instead of half and the finished product was practically solid. I was able to melt everything down again, add another gallon of water and another cup of washing soda. It turned out great. Not quite so solid. Just wanted everyone to know that you can fix it if you mess it up the first time.

So far it seems to be cleaning everything. We have a front load washer and I am used to seeing the soap suds sloshing around in there. Now the water doesn't even look cloudy, but everything seems clean, especially diapers. Is it my imagination or do the diapers seem to come out really soft?

[ekblad9]

I finally found washing soda! Netgrocer.com has it again! I ordered 8 of them! I can't wait to get them and use my soaps to make the detergent!

[abismommie]

Hi,

I found it at Pathmark - a supermarket here in NJ. I'm not sure they are nationwide - but I know they are in NY/NJ.

Hugs,

J

[3kaw]

I've been looking for this, i can't wait to make and try it. Amazingly I already had all the ingredents in the house LOL.
One question, how long does it last?? I do about 1-2 loads a day :crying between, cloth dipes and 5 people!!

:hippie

[ekblad9]

I finally got everything and made the detergent! It's been sitting 24 hours so I'm going to try it out in a bit! I can't wait!

I don't know how long it will last. I was trying to figure it out last night. I'm thinking through maybe 30 loads? That could be way off. Can you double the recipe?

Amy

[TripkeHughes]

ekblad6, try making a double batch. That is what I did last time. Worked great. Today I am trying the all in one pot method. Don't worry, I'll report back tomorrow with all my wonderful luck!

[abimommy]

Bumping for the pickle..:)

[Aurora]

Thanks for this!! I am so excited !! It will be a fun Friday night for dh and I . LOL
:love