How can it be Fels-Naptha with no napthalene in it?

[appliguy]

I was in my local Weggmans recently and I bought a bar of Fels-Naptha for removing stains and I noticed the wrapper said that there was no napthalene in it. So my question is why do they still call it Fels-Naptha...shouldn't know just be called Fels?

Patrick Coffey

 

[frigilux]

...in the same way Grape Nuts has neither grapes nor nuts in it.

 

[toggleswitch]

or that commom sense, is nether common nor involves a "feeling".

 

[rayjay]

My grandmother used Instant Fels Naptha laundry detergent/soap. I used to love the smell of that detergent. It smelled like the clothes were boiled. I guess I am dating myself.

 

[veg-o-matic]

And baby food doesn't contain...

Oh, never mind.

veg

 

[launderess]

Napthalene is Benzene

Long banned, IIRC because if it's cancer risks. Napthalene is also known as "lighter fluid", which is why old Fels was so great at removing certian stains. Remember until dry cleaners began appearing on every street corner, it was VERY common for women and anyone else doing laundry to use petrol for "dry cleaning" and removing certian stains.

Today's Fels contains "Stoddard Solvent" which is another type of dry cleaning fluid.

Fels Naptha is the trademarked brand name, first registered by Mr. Fels then sold onto the Purex company who was in turn bought by the Dial company.

Have a nice stash of vintage Fels bars (some so old and hard they crack if dropped), and prefer it to the modern stuff by miles. Also have a nice big box of Fels Instant, but it is for "show" not "go" at the moment.

Am here to tell you vintage Fels and probably the new stuff as well works a treat on collar and cuff stains, and well as quite a bit else. Have removed everything from lipstick to crayon with vintage Fels. Stains that would not shift otherwise, came right out with Fels. Yes, the scent of the vintage Fels is wonderful, but as the adverts say "The Golden Bar With The Clean Naptha Odor". So basically one is sniffing petrol! *LOL*

Launderess

 

[frigilux]

I wondered why my clothes disappeared when I cleaned them with lighter fluid. Not that anyone should care, but I'm playing hooky from work this afternoon because I just installed a computer at my home! I've joined the 21st century!

Now I have to get a digital camera and post pics of my (unfortunately not vintage) appliances.

 

[westtexman]

Ah, the smell of Naptha . . .

I've never used Fels, but I remember my dad and I working on the family cars every weekend, and using Naptha to clean auto parts. My dad had an old enamel-painted steel wash basin filled with the stuff, and used it to clean just about EVERYTHING..... car parts, pipes (he's a plumber) and other miscellaneous items. I don't think I will ever forget that smell.

Tex

 

[gyrafoam]

Sure gets the poison Ivy off!!!

Years ago the old folks said if you were ever in doubt about getting into poison Ivy------take a good hot shower and scrub down with a bar of Fels. Well I did, I have and it works!

I always keep a few bars handy (especially during the summer months) and use it weekly to spot treat laundry. I have heard of people who toss the whole bar in the machine at the start of the wash and then fish it out again before the first spin! Supposedly does a great job with extra dirty loads.

 

[aamassther]

When I was a kid we used Instant Fels. I miss that smell too. To me it made the clothes smell like they were dried outside. It was the only one that my mum could use because of allergies. Seems it was the last heavy duty soap powder made. I remember her being upset when they changed it to a detergent, she said it didn't clean as well. We had a water softener, so that was probably why she had good results with the soap, no issues with hard water curd.
My mum still uses the bar to pretreat stains and collar soils. I remember also washing the dogs with it to kill fleas.

 

[jetcone]

I grind it up in my KitchenAid

and use it for washing today. Nothing smells as clean as clothes washed in Fels!
And Steve is right many is the time I have stopped Poison Ivy dead in its tracks with the stuff.

I'll have to look into that napthalene = benzene hmmmm..

 

[launderess]

From Medical Dictionary

Naphthalene (năfăf`thəlēn'), colorless, crystalline, solid aromatic hydrocarbon with a pungent odor. It melts at 80°C;, boils at 218°C;, and sublimes upon heating. It is insoluble in water, somewhat soluble in ethanol, soluble in benzene, and very soluble in ether, chloroform, or carbon disulfide. Naphthalene is obtained from coal tar, a byproduct of the coking of coal. It is used in mothballs and gives them their characteristic odor. From it are prepared derivatives that are used in the preparation of dyes and as insecticides and organic solvents. The molecular structure of naphthalene is that of two benzene rings fused together with two adjacent carbon atoms common to both rings.

 

[angus]

Hmmm..something I don't understand. This may sound like a bizarre question, but was naphthalene an ingredient in the old Fels Naptha? Why do I ask such a foolish question? Well, I was reading the posts and I noticed the difference in spelling of Fels Naptha and naphthalene. It probably has no basis in reality and I am bedridden with the flu so it could just be the fever talking, but I figured it couldn't hurt to ask.......

Angus ( who actually does have weightier matters to think about but can't summon his brain to think rationally today)

 

[launderess]

Almost certian "naptha" is short for napthalene. One tends to believe this otherwise why would Dial Corp go to the extent of printing on Fels Naptha soap labels "Does Not Contain Napthalene". According the the ingredient list on my vintage bars of Fels, the soap then did contain "naptha", but then again it is much easier on typesetting to use a short version instead of napthalene.

Oh yes, there is this:

Launderess

ARF: MSDS: Naptha

 

[petek]

I 'm cornfused as well, it says napthalene is insoluble in water?

 

[launderess]

Yes, but soap is not made from mainly water, but beef tallow and lye (though beef tallow is often replaced with other fats and oils.

Mr. Fels invented and patented a process for binding the naptha with the soap in such a way it did not evaporate, which leads me to again belive the chemical is binded with fat/oil instead of water. Do not think it is possible to bind solvents to water, especially to give a product any sort of long shelf life. I have bars of Fels that are over 50 years old and they not only still reek of naptha, but also clean just as well or better than Fels purchased today. This again, leads me to believe the solvent (naptha) is just as fresh as the day the product was produced.

Launderess

 

[launderess]

Lighter Fluid As Stain Remover?

For those that doubt lighter fluid (as found in vintage Fels Naptha soap) was used a stain remover, pipe:

Pardon Our Interruption...

 

[foraloysius]

More dangerous than dynamite!

Here's a movie about using gasoline for cleaning purposes...