Vintage Laundry Detergent & Soaps

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launderess

launderess

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Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage
 
Everything But The Oink!

Armour company of course got it's start in slaughtering and meat packing. They were famous for using pretty much every part of animals besides what was sold for meat consumption.

Fats from hogs, pigs and beef long was (and still is) rendered to make soap so there you are.

Post WWII success of P&G's Tide detergent saw other companies that made soap products for laundry or other cleaning uses rush to catch up. In 1951 Armour Company's answer was "Armour Suds" a "heavy duty" detergent which like Tide they claimed could be used for everything from laundry to washing up of dishes to general housecleaning.

Dreft was P&G's first synthetic detergent introduced. Introduced in 1933 Dreft was composed of an alkyl sulfate surfactant. P&G "borrowed" this technology from Germany's Henkel who thanks to Heinrich Bertsch had launched world's first synthetic detergent, FEWA in 1932. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinrich_Bertsch

"FEWA, which are everywhere - FEWA washes and maintains the same,
because FEWA washed neutral"

"Everything washes with Johanna FEWA fine to fine, that's why every housewife for FEWA raves alone."





Henkel of course then had long dominated European detergent market with their self activating soap and perborate wash powder PERSIL. However soap for wash day or cleaning does have drawbacks, especially when used in hard water so hunt for something else was on.

FEWA, Dreft and similar products were all fine for light duty washing of laundry, washing up of dishes/glassware/pots and pans, general duty housework and so forth but couldn't tackle very soiled laundry. For that people still had to use soap.

P&G tried and tied all through 1930's to develop a heavy duty detergent based on surfactant technology they had with Dreft, but nothing worked out. It took efforts of scientist David "Dick" Byerly, who didn't have word "quit" in him to finally reach a break through. By 1941 Mr. Byerly had cracked it and "Product X" was launched as "Tide" detergent, world hasn't been same since. *LOL*.[this post was last edited: 8/22/2023-19:15]
 
I recall the people who used conventional washers were loathe to switch to detergents as they could keep lots of suds with the soaps.
And that was the catch-22 when using soaps in automatics. Especially in soft-water areas. Using soaps in front-loaders? Fahgetabboutit!
The soap manufacturers recommended you fill the washer 1/4th way with hot water and agitate to dissolve the soap-------then add clothes and fill to desired water level.
In a community such as metro Atlanta, with fairly soft water, a cup of Ivory Snow in a quarter tub of water would quickly create a billowing tub full of suds. When you started to add the clothes there was no room for them and the displaced suds would start to pour over the top of the machine. Then adding the water to fill the tub would create even more suds overflow.
This scenario created a lot of entertainment for me when I was young. The alternative was to just dump the soap in (with HOT water) and hope the agitation was vigorous enough to break-up the inevitable clumps of soap. A Frigidaire would certainly do it, and a Roto-Swirl equipped Kenmore no-so-much.
A load of heavy fabrics, such as towels or a load of diapers was almost sure to sudz-lock the machine on the first spin.
Those were the days. I miss all those different soaps and their entertainment value. Of course there is always Zote-------------. I also recall that those with detergent allergies were forced to use soaps. I always felt like the REAL issue was poor rinsing for various reasons.
 

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