STUPID DETERGENT IDEA 2-28-16

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tomturbomatic

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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?
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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
 
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.
 
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.
 
I'll say it again....

Using true soap for laundry requires skills and knowledge that many today simply not have. The result is washing that would put our great-grandmothers to shame; tattle grey laundry.

To launder with soap you not only need the proper concentrations but plenty of warm (good) or hot (better) water. A hot or warm wash must be followed with at least two hot (best) or warm (ok) rinses. A few more rinses follow to ensure all traces of soap and soil are removed.

Aside from controlling the excess froth created in front loading washers from using soap, you need a few hot or warm rinses. Commercial/steam laundries used soap in H-Axis washers for years before detergents came along, and they had great results.
 
My great-great-great grandmother used soap

And her laundry was perfectly clean.

Of course, she used boiling water. Boiling soft water.

Lots of borax, lots of chlorine bleach.

Lots of boiling hot rinses.

And a wringer washer coupled with a stand-alone spinner (about 2000rpm?).

As Laundress has taught us over the years, properly used, soap cleans really well.

Just - soft water, hot rinses (lots of them) and proper auxiliaries and it works great.

But - in cold water? Cold, hard water with no proper agitation, one half-hearted cold rinse and those dosage instructions?

Worthless. Worse than worthless.

This is why I say cold-water washing is of zero value.
 
In my perfect world

Would couple a wringer washer for capacity and a hydro-extractor like a Monex or Bock.

Have been trying for years to find a Thor Cylinder Washer in good condition, but no such luck so far. http://www.automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?21790

No, I tell a lie. There was one on CL about a month ago. However the seller was one of those idiots that never answered emails or other methods of contact. In a few weeks the listing was taken down so presume it sold.
 
"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."

Yes, you do have to buy these ingredients, but they are CHEAP. Like, way cheaper than buying laundry detergent. And yes, you do have to take out the time to put these ingredients together, however, I only had to do it twice per year. I was making the liquid in a five gallon bucket, which would last six months for a family of four.

I am still bummed that my homemade liquid detergent was making my laundry dingy, as detergent is on the pricey side and I'm frugal. Maybe I will figure something out though. I was thinking about putting a bar of white Zote soap in some sort of mesh bad on a long string, wrapping the string around the top of my wringer's agitator, and leaving the bar in there to dissolve a bit of it while I fill the tub with hot water. I may just try that next time and see how it works out. Zote is only $1 a bar. I have oxy "bleach" on hand as well as super washing soda and borax. Anyone have an idea of how much of the latter two ingredients one would need to add? I know the water must feel slippery or it's not ready.
 
What we do...

I make my own detergent and have had really good results (especially considering the fact that we cloth diaper our baby... if that doesn't put it to the test, don't know what does!).
All I do is combine 3 bars of handmade coconut oil soap (approx 5 oz each) with 6 cups of washing soda. I use my food processor with the blade attachment to get the soap to a fine crumble/powder.
I just store it in a bucket with a lid and use about 2-3 tbsp per load. The diapers come out fresh and without residue. The only area that I find this mix is lacking is in stain removal. If there is a dark stain on something (like when my son spilled hot chocolate down his shirt last week... :/ ), I have to pre-treat it with something like Oxo-Clean spray or whatever, otherwise it will be faded but still visible.
Just wanted to share my experience.
 
My mix

I use about 40% homemade lye soap (by weight, 40% washing soda, and about 20% STPP. I use 1/2 to 3/4 cup per load in my Whirlpool DD, and wash in warm or hot. After the first spin,I reset the washer for a short wash at warm or hot, then let it proceed thru the deep cold rinse and spin spray rinses. Clothing turns out clean, with a lovely fresh scent, and no rashes for me. Proving again that Launderess is correct.
 
Great to have you back Keven....

Just the other day I was wondering where you and a few others from the past were and how you were doing.

Laundress, I forgot how much fun that thread was... have you used any more of the vintage Persil since then?

How different is the scent from the modern German Persil?

Alan
 
@miele_ge

No, haven't made a dent in that Persil soap powder stash! *LOL*

Scent wise both the vintage Persil59 and Persil soap powder are nothing like today's offerings from Henkel. The first has a mild fresh scent many of us recall from the laundry detergents our grandmothers and mothers used back in the day. The Persil soap powder as a light "soapy" scent which is also divine.

One can only use small amounts in either the Miele or AEG due to forth issues and quite frankly excessive use is not required.

If my plans for a conventional washer gel maybe things can be different. Probably should sell up a few boxes as am sure otherwise my estate will end up getting rid of it after my demise. *LOL*

Other worry is have so much vintage laundry soaps (Kirkman's Borax, P&G white, savon de Marseille, Ivory Snow and Lux) that tend to swap things up when wanting to play about.
 

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