STUPID DETERGENT IDEA 2-28-16

[tomturbomatic]

From MSN article entitled household essentials you may never have to buy again:

"Laundry detergent isn't a staple you can forgo--but you don't need to keep buying it. Make it instead with 3 simple ingredients. Grate a bar of Fels-Naptha and mix it with 1 cup of borax and 1 cup of washing soda. Mix it for several minutes in a blender or food processor to make a fine powdered consistency that will easily dissolve in water. Keep the mixture in a sealed container and USE 1 TABLESPOON for every load of laundry (or 2 -3 tablespoons for extra dirty loads)."

Rosalie's Zero Suds this ain't. I did not waste any more time reading further foolishness. Can you imagine people trying to use this in winter cold hard water?

 

[petek]

ain't got time for that.   :0 

 

 

 

[iheartmaytag]

Had a co-worker that made her own Automatic Dishwasher detergent with three ingredients.

Citris Shine

Borax

Salt

 

A month later her Dishwasher stopped working altogether, after springing a leak.  Go figure.

 

 

[dustin92]

I don't know about the powder, but a few years back, I made a liquid version with the same ingredients, which called for 1/2 cup per load, and it really and truly did work as sell as store bought detergent. I always used it in warm or hot water, but it did a really nice job and left the clothes soft. I doubt it would work well if at all in cold water. We had soft water and a top loading washer, so I don't know hpw it would work in very hard water, or what it might do to the workings of a front loader.

 

[stan]

Don't know if I'd call it stupid, but

This homemade formula has been around for years.
The Fels Naptha soap has changed a couple of times since it first came out over 100 years ago, with the most recent change in 2013..well after this formula was being touted over the Internet.
I have use this myself. I used the dry mixture, predisolving for each use.
(I predisolve any powder prior to adding to the machine, that's just me)
However, and this is a big "however" I did not use those proportions! IMHO...one would be better adding one more bar of soap to the mix, and use more than 1 tablespoon per load. That skimpy amount isn't enough to do anything!
Also STPP added to the mix would take this up a notch, but you still need more of this mix in the machine!
And of course... at least warm wash, and if possible, warm rinse.

 

[launderess]

As God as my witness, I'll never be hungry again!

Homemade soap powder! Bah!

 

[roto204]

Can you imagine people trying to use this in winter,,,

Hopefully they have solid-tub overflow rinsing...

 

[launderess]

Back on topic

This homemade laundry dreck recipe has been on the Internet and elsewhere for ages. It is also one of the biggest rip offs and bit of misinformation taken as gospel you can find.

One need only look online or in a library at any laundry or domestic housekeeping manual to find laundry detergent formulas based on soap.

Ratios vary slightly but mostly one bar of laundry soap/250 grams dissolved in one or two quarts of water. More water makes a liquid, less a jelly. Allow to come to a simmer until all soap is dissolved. Entire amount is enough to launder *TEN* pounds of laundry. This would vary by soil level, water hardness and a few other factors.

On the contrary this "Fels" recipe uses one bar of soap to be dosed out by the *tablespoon* full? No wonder people who use this stuff complain of dingy whites along with dirty and foul smelling laundry.

 

[tomturbomatic]

Read the post by Laundress to see why I called this stupid, if you need it spelled out in detail. I would imagine it would mineral up a washer pretty quickly also.

 

[washingpowder]

I made the liquid version once, was using *way* more than the suggested 1/4 cup - pouring freely until a layer of suds appeared in the GE Spacemaker.

Biggest issue in my opinion are those bored moms with ***IDEAS*** that decided to write blogs and pinterest posts.

It also shows how detergent reviews are biased being based on claims rather than performance. Most "natural" products get fantastic feedback just because the bottle said it was natural, non-irritating, non-polluting, yada yada.
Organic detergents get the best reviews with a sporadic "doesn't work" only.
Remember a bottle of GreenShield that didn't produce any effect whatsoever even when using exactly half of the container. Not even a single bubble.
Of course it will rinse out well, it's water.

Had to go through dozens of bottles myself to figure out what actually works and what doesn't.

 

[gmmcnair]

I do make it....

...I have sensitive skin and I still make my own. I do ingredients by weight with a high percentage of my own homemade tallow soap. I use about 1/2 to 3/4 of a cup of my mix in my top loader and get a rich layer of suds in warm or hot SOFT water.

My laundry is not dingy nor smelly, but I actually use more than a tablespoon...good grief. I wouldn't use it in cold as it simply would not work.

 

[launderess]

What is worse

Is modern automatic washing machines simply are not designed with laundering with pure soaps in mind. You don't have hot rinse options and warm is hard to find as well so am told. Neutral draining assures all that soap muck and scum is drained down through your wash. Lack of effective spin rinses *and* the fact you are going from a hot or warm wash to a cold rinse all but assures a disaster.

Old school conventional (wringer) washers and or automatics that had over flow rinses, hot or warm water rinse options are what is needed.

 

[stan]

Perspective

The online recipe calls for one cup of each ingredient, by a volume measurement.

So here's a different perspective..
By weight..1 ounce of grated Fels will produce a 1/2 cup in volume.
1 ounce of washing soda is only 1 1/2 TBLS in volume
1 ounce of Borax is 2 TBLS in volume.

So.. If anyone is using 1 cup of each ingredient...then what one is getting in is mostly Washing Soda, and Borax. Very little surfactant (soap)
Not much of any ingredient really if only using 1or 2 TBLS per load.
If someone wants to use this online stuff... You'd be better adding more of the Fels (two more cups) and cutting back on the Soda, and Borax by half of what's called for, and use at least 1/4 to 1/3 cup per load.
1/3 cup of just the Fels is what's recommended by Dail Corp (if washing with Fels alone) for a TL machine. At least that's what I as told by them a few years back.
BTW This is for the dry mix.

 

[washingpowder]

Ran into worse ideas

Favorite reviews include:

" I am confident that my two boys' mud-covered clothes are being properly laundered, and I can rest assured that they aren't absorbing any toxic chemicals or lab-created fragrences in the process. My toddler's cloth diapers feel so much more clean than they did with any detergent I was making on my own."

"These do a good job removing soil from clothes, but not so good with perspiration or urine odors. Adding a cup of homade laundry soap completes the process."

" I love this great product! No more laundry detergent to buy, ever! I was using another type of laundry ball before finding this product and was pretty pleased with it, but it needed to be replaced every year. This product lasts a lifetime and works perfect."

Is it possible that maybe those are the same people who were using gallons of detergent before switching to hippie laundry? Maybe it's the residue in their washers that aids those.... things?

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MH5DXAU?psc=1

 

[launderess]

Am quite sure these pepole don't know what they are doin

Would also love to see the insides of their washing machines, in particular what is between the tubs. Probably a huge mess of congealed gunk, mould, and God only knows what else.

If one knows what one is doing then using pure soaps on laundry day is fine.

 

[tolivac]

Can go along with Laundress on this one-that washer the reviewers used would need to be buried as hazardous waste!GROSS-and they think their clothes are CLEAN???Probably something is LIVING in between the drums of their washer!

 

[tolivac]

With that "magnetic" "Cleaning" product-a sucker born every minute!Thought these things were on here before!

 

[bobbi]

I use homemade dishwasher powder and white vinegar as the rinse agent. Been using these for four years with no problems.

For about four years, I had used the homemade liquid laundry detergent with the bar of laundry soap, super washing soda and borax all dissolved in 5 gal. of water. I used about 1/4 c. per load in my Samsung FL. After a while, I noticed dingy whites and lights. I had no idea if it was my Samsung or the detergent that was the problem. I have a water softener, so I knew it wasn't hard water. About that time, I had decided to get a wringer washer, as so many had said those machines really cleaned, unlike our modern machines. I did feel as though my Samsung was not really effective. It took about a year, but my husband found and saved a Whirlpool wringer washer from the salvage yard, and we refurbished it. But even with the wringer, my whites and lights did not improve.

My husband suggested that perhaps the problem was my homemade detergent. So we bought a bottle of Persil. I had seen it used many times in washer videos on YouTube. I was disappointed when whites did not come out gleaming with the first wash in the wringer. However, over a few more washes, my whites and lights were no longer dingy - and that was without bleach! My wringer does clean better than my Samsung, but it took a few washes to remove that old film left on clothes, and old stains can be lifted over time as well.

So the moral of my story is homemade laundry detergent wasn't worth it for me. That was a bummer, as I'm such a DIY type of person.

 

[delaneymeegan]

 

 

 

 

You "may never have to buy again" laundry detergents, but instead, you have to buy other ingredients.  Plus take the time and energy to put them together.