Soaps Gone Buy 'Old-Fashioned Laundry Soap' Arrives

[frigilux]

This came via UPS (The REAL Santa®) yesterday. It's the house brand at Soaps Gone Buy (soapsgonebuy.com). I've used it on a couple of lightly-soiled loads and there are a couple of things I really like about it.

1) It produces suds during the wash portion of the cycle, but its all gone by the final rinse (3rd rinse on my Frigidaire FL'er). Yay!! This is exactly what I've been looking for. My uber-soft water doesn't allow detergents to rinse away completely without some help from a bit of fabric softener in the final rinse.

2) A light, clean scent of soap remains at the end of the wash cycle. Clothes emerge from the dryer scent-free.

3) There are two drain standpipes next to each other in my laundry set-up. When the TL'er drains wash water(standpipe on the left), a lot of foamy suds comes up and out of the standpipe for the FL'er. This happens on every load, so I have to stuff a rag around the drain hose to keep it from flowing all over the floor. This doesn't happen with the soap, even though there was a good inch or two of suds in the water. No need to stuff a rag in it. Again, Yay!

Here's a photo of the label. The soap came in a very heavy zip-lock bag, but I transferred it (like I do all my detergents) to a Rubbermaid container.

 

[frigilux]

This is what the powder looks like.

 

[frigilux]

This is the recipe for the laundry soap. It's on the Soaps Gone Buy website, along with a couple recipes for liquid laundry soap.

I prepared three more stain-test towels before I went to work this morning.

I'll be testing Soap Gone Buy's Old-Fashioned Laundry Soap, Ace Acti-Blu (a powedered Mexican detergent whose exquisite lime scent has hooked several of us at AW), and Sam's Club Powdered Detergent (their low-sudsing detergent in the 5-gallon bucket) tonight when I get home.

Hope to post the results late tonight or early tomorrow morning.

 

[hoover1060]

Hmmmm

Very interesting, especially the recipie.

Where would one buy washing soda from though?

 

[frigilux]

You can buy all the ingredients for their soap recipes at soapsgonebuy.com if you can't find them at your grocery store. Mine carries washing soda and the borax, but not the Fels Naptha.

In fact, Soaps Gone Buy has a number of retro soaps which will bring back childhood memories---bath soaps, laundry bar soaps, all-purpose cleaners, etc.

 

[peterh770]

The problem is that 3 tablespoons might be enough with a small load in an Energy Star front loader. I use 3 tbsps alone in my little Miele without any water softening agents. For a conventional toploader, you need at least 1/2 cup and probably 1 full cup. Remember this is SOAP -- if you don't have a suds layer, you probably don't have enough to suspend minerals in the water, causing "soap curd" and "tattletail gray" clothes.

 

[mickeyd]

You're so organised, orderly, methodical.......

and now the artisitc swirl in your open face soap sandwich.

It would be so cool to be inside your head.

Can you work your magic and find the scents of Dash and Calgon circa 1970?

I love soap too and am forever covertly sniffing boxes and jugs in the soap aisle.

 

[frigilux]

I was wondering about that, too. My highly-concentrated SA8 requires only 2 tablespoons, but it's very dense. I used 2 tablespoons of the soap in my FL'er for a full load of bath towels. I also used that amount for a small load of whites in the TL'er (water level set halfway between low and medium). Got plenty of suds both times.

I'm going to use 3 tablespoons in the FL'er when I do the stain test, since that's what they recommend for a heavily-soiled load. If stain removal is poor, I might just try 1/2-cup and see what happens.

Also: I've been told---I think Launderess mentioned this, and maybe you, too, Peter---to use a warm 1st rinse. However, neither my TL'er or FL'er allows me to opt for this. Most annoyingly, the TL'er has a warm/warm setting, but the deep rinse is actually tap cold with a warm spray rinse during the final spin.

Anyway, I chose a warm final rinse in the FL'er, but the suds flush and first two rinses were tap cold. Do you think this is going to be a problem in the long run with graying/yellowing of whites?

 

[frigilux]

Mickeyd--- I do tend to be organized and methodical. However, I spent the better part of 40 years trying to get outside my head, LOL. I have since come to terms with myself and am a fairly well-adjusted middle-ager.

 

[oxydolfan1]

oops outside ya head

And this hobby can help that.

Remember, Iggy Pop attributes much of his newfound serenity to his vacuum cleaner fixation.

 

[danemodsandy]

Have never tried the laundry soap recipe, but anything that begins with Fels-Naptha can't be all bad! The only thing Fels couldn't clean up is Congress.

 

[geoffdelp]

I've been using Fels for years, off and on, and I used to make this same recipe; I can still get all 3 ingredients in our stores.

But, I no longer use the borax and baking soda; I use just plain Fels. In the wringer washer, I start with 1/4 to 1/3 cup of finely grated Fels and only use it in really warm to hot water. I have used Fels in my automatic with good results, too. No more than 1/8 to 1/4 cup of grated soap, however. Too many suds!

I believe PeterH is right; you need the suds to determine if the soil is being suspended properly and your water is soft enough. I get "mounds" of suds and normally add just enough Fels in between loads to keep the suds 2-3" thick.

I would use all warm water rinses when using soap; the old "method" used to be that your first rinse water needed to be the same temp as your wash water. I find that a really warm first rinse followed by a 2nd warm rinse works well.

Fels handles Clorox (or Hi-Lex) really well; it is quite a strong concotion so be careful.

Clothes washed in Fels are nice and soft without fabric softener, but you can still use it if you want for the fragrance.

You gotta really like the fragrance of "soap" when you use Fels; especially if you hang anything outside. It is "unique" and differs quite a bit from detergent. The trick to using laundry soap is in the amount used AND in thorough rinsing.

 

[launderess]

Using Laundry Soap

Suds/foam per se are not an indication of soil suspension, but rather that one has enough soap in the wash water to deal with hard water minerals, and clean. Soap is and was one of the first water softeners in that it will combine with calcium and other minerals in water. Sad part is soap combines by turning those minerals into the crud one sees in bathtubs or around tops of washing tubs. This is why housewives softened water BEFORE adding soap, with either STPP (the best), or else washing soda/borax, or any of the packaged water softeners.

The reason soap foam "vanishes" usually at the first rinse, is because fresh water with lots of minerals meets soapy water. The remaining soap will now combine with those minerals. This is another reason why it is important to use hot or warm water for the first several rinses if using soap. You do not want that wash water crud to clamp onto your wash.

Housewives normally followed the rule of adding enough soap to produce and keep a layer of foam that would "stand up". Too much forth it was known then and now impeded wash action by cushioning the mechanical process of laundry. If reusing wash water, as with tub washing, one would add more soap as needed to keep up the suds layer.

Soap and Rinsing:

Unlike man made detergents, laundry washed with soap (always in warm or hot water),needs to be rinsed in hot or at least warm water for the first and perhaps second rinses. This is because soap residue (and the scum,muck, dirty wash water), will become trapped in textile fibers as they contract upon contact with cold water. This can result in tattle-gray laundry, and makes rinsing all more difficult.

To remove remaining traces of soap when doing laundry, one would need some sort of "sour", like a bit of white vinegar.

While one loves using vintage Fels, find it tis best to combine it with modern detergents. Just as many detergents now bost "contains natural soap", the small amount of Fels, or other soaps from my stash give a cleaning power boost, fresh scent and make certian items softer.

Soap and Laundry Softness,

Soap like fabric softeners contains fats/oils including tallow. Also like fabric softeners, soap never totally rinses clean from fabric, this is why Fels made the boast "contains natural fabric softeners); on their "Fels Detergent", which was mainly powdered Fels soap. One needs to be quite careful when laundering with soap, otherwise the residue will eventually turn one's laundry gray and even rancid. For these and many reasons, housewives dropped soap for laundry once man made detergents came on the scene in earnest.

Oh yes, when using soap for laundry, pay very good attention to keeping the tubs, and pump area of washing machine "clean". Just as one's drain traps can become clogged with soap residue/fats,crud, so can the washing machine.

As for the "home-made" detergent craze. Google and you will find many women give up on the stuff after a few weeks/months. Soap, washing soda and borax may clean well enough, but cannot remove all types of stains. Nor does the mixture contain the complex chemical cocktail designed to keep soil suspended, protect dyes/colours, protect washing machine parts, or any of the other functions of a top shelf laundry detergent. All that being said, one might find use for the mixture when laundering lighly soiled wash, but nothing delicate or made of silk or wool as this "detergent" is too harsh.

L.

 

[volvoguy87]

Stupid cold only rinses!

Most modern machines seem to only offer cold rinses. Would it be ok to reverse the fill hoses, on the machine, and then set it to "cold/cold" and really get hot/hot? I am curious to try some Fels, but I worry that my Norgetag won't rinse it out.

Sounds tempting,
Dave

 

[launderess]

Oh yes, I forgot

If one wishes to see how well laundry washed in soap is rinsed. Run the the load through a wash cycle with only a good dose of STPP. Phosphates "release" trapped soap and detergent residue from textiles, to make more "soap". This is why it is often suggested to whiten gray laundry for it to be rewashed in the hottest water possible and a water softener like Calgon. Calgon used to contain phosphates, but IIRC now is mostly washing soda and sodium citrate.

Oh, it is often suggested that when laundering with soap, if the wash water was softened, so should the first and perhaps second rinse water. That is if one adds STPP to the wash, add it to the first few rinses as well. This helps keep soap scum from becoming trapped in textile fibers.

L.

 

[sudsmaster]

Washing soda availability

If you can't find washing soda at your market, you could probably make do with something called "T.S.P." or "Totally Superior Product" available at most hardware stores/home improvement centers. It's meant to be a subsitute for Tri-sodium Phosphate, and it's mostly sodium carbonate, with some sodium percarbonate tossed in (as I recall). In fact, I also recall the package recommends its use for getting soap residues out of washing machines/clothing. Washing soda is the same thing as sodium carbonate.

One can also try real TSP or Trisodium phosphate. However, like natural soap and washing soda, it's a precipitating water softener and can result in a buildup inside the washer. After taking apart my latest vintage washer ('65 RCA Whirlpool) I was a bit stunned by the accumlation of hard, cement like plaque on the bottom of the inner tub. It's reaffirmed my preference for STPP, which really boosts cleaning and doesn't form a hard water precipitate. Unfortunately, many states and localities ban the use of STPP in residential washers.

 

[bpetersxx]

going to try this as I have tons of fels sal soda borax and a empty tempo plastic bucket