Whipped up a batch and it's working great!  Pre-treating greasy food stains on shirts gets them out, which is kind of important for me.

Adding TSP should give it a boost but how much would be right for the 4 gallon batch?  Anyone care to make a guess?

tsp dilution 1:20 ?youtubeI keep a squeeze bottle of my soap concoction for pre treating stains etc.I made a 1/2 bar Zote,1/2 bar Fels and a cup of WS and a cup of Borax.GF likes/LOVES the Zote fragrance WAY better then the non scent of the Fels.

TSP?

Trisodium Phosphate. Which is what USE to be in our laundry detergents, you know when they actually worked.





You can get it at Home Depot in the paint section. I use it on bed sheets and it takes body oil out very well.

I made a 5 gallon batch last November.  Finally ran out and made another batch today.  So far we like it.

Surprised to see this thread is still kicking.  

FWIW I tried TSP and it made the batch worse.  I think it's something about detergent and soap not playing well together.  

The best thing seems to be to keep it simple.   Grate a bar of fels and melt the soap in 2G hot water in as stock pot on the stove- when it's melted add 2c borax and 2c washing soda, stir until dissolved then put in a homer bucket and dilute to 4 gallons.  

I had been stirring it with a paint mixer stuck in a drill but the more I mixed it the more it seemed to separate into layers.  Something must be oxidizing or something.

I follow that recipe more or less. I have a five gallon bucket that I keep the surplus in.  I kept an old detergent container that I use for routine laundry; it's easier to shake this container to mix the stratified solution and then utilize the containers measuring cup and pour spout.  

When it gets low, I stir the solution in the five gallon bucket with a whisk to mix it well and then pour into the detergent bottle using a funnel or measuring cup with pour spout or both.

It sounds complicated but really it's not.  Shake well before use. How often is one required to do this with certain beverages?

This thread will not stop going.

Cool, time to actually do this.

TXL

I saved a few gallon (?) sized containers of laundry detergent when they were emptied, and eventually cooked up some of this stuff. It works really well and should last a long time.

Made the powder version last night. Worked great! Just threw it in the machine (teaspoon in a top loader) and it dissolved nicely in warm water.

Now that is cheap soap.

Wife used the powdered stuff I made and she was complaining.

 

I use Ivory soap instead of the Fels due to my sons skin.

It works just as well but I have to use a bit more (about 1/3 cup) to do the job.

Yup, the soap. Seems to have less density and tends to pocket.

Bump

Me and the sammich maker have been making/using this a while. It works really great, even in a high efficiency front load machine. We keep it in an old liquid detergent container. Right before I get ready to pour it, I give it a really good shake to mix it all back together and use about 3/4 of capfull. This stuff work really well. May try the ivory or irish spring sometime, because the fel naptha is a bitch to grate up.

find a hand crank cheese grater...
I think I paid $5-$10 for my antique Climax cheese grater on Ebay
not even kidding... Climax is the brand

it turns a fels naptha bar into dust very quickly

I originally recommended a cheap plastic hand crank cheese grater but turns out they are only good for one bar before they crap out

I use a heavy knife to shred the bar into bits, then run it through the spice grinder attachment on my Magic Bullet.



 

My family and I have been using this for about three years now.  Works great!

This is one of the best threads here in while. My wife and I tried this out a while back. Works pretty well. And is definitely cheaper than stock piling tide.

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It's ALIVE !!!1!

We've been using the liquid version for three or four years.  I just smile every time I walk past the laundry detergent aisle in the store and I look at the prices.

Just ordered all the stuff to do this.
I wonder if it will affect my garden as my washer drains to it?
I assume it will not have a negative impact.

I would run a search on grey water to find some sites discussing uses for it and read up on laundery soap.



I would probably want a filter to catch all the lint and junk and I don't see any reason for the soap to go in the garden.  



But I don't know how much it would hurt it.  I just always figured I would do a simple sand filter, 5 gallon bucket of sand, for any grey water I messed with.  It won't catch everything but should catch a lot of it.



I am still using real laundery soap I got as hand me downs when people bought front loaders, have one big jug left I think.  This stuff is made sort of recently and sucks, so I tend to add stuff to it to help get the clothes decently clean.



I do recomend keeping the old jugs since they are easy to shake up.



If you do the powder form you can get a couple cups of hot water from the kitchen sink and disolve the powder in it and still run the laundery on cold/cold if you want to do that.  I think it was the wife who did it posted somewhere up above.



I prefer to make it a liquid but I also don't grate it all that well.  Melting everything down and mixing it up for a bit is how I deal with it.  If you grate everything up nice and fine to make an even mix of the soap through the whole thing then I could see having it in powder form.

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Still relevant.

I forget if it is covered in here, but the epa went after tsp and/or stpp, I think those are right, and you can buy those and add em back in to your laundery detergent.



Read up on the stuff and use caution as needed, but for some stuff this can help those who might not be great at pre treating stuff and what not.



And I resemble that remark.  I like to be able to put a load of laundery in the washing machine and have it come out all nice and clean.  No stain treating or this or that, heck I hardly check the pockets before tossing stuff in the washing machine.



This can also help with dishwashers.



Read up on what it does and keep in mind there is a reason the gov did what it did, I just happen to not be happy about them doing what they did.

I had pretty bad heat rash on my legs last year and some old lady on my route gave me a half bar of Fels Naptha and told me to rub it on my legs.

its one of those "helps everything" old school kinds of medicine lol  

but... it actually does work  
it helps dry out and clear up poison ivy
and helps clear up psoriasis
probably would help with other skin issues

did you try it?  might give it a shot

been making my own for a few years now
ran into a new issue you might want to look for

I buy cheap detergents and mix them in so I can get fresh stock of detergent containers
watch your new bottles.... seems like newer bottles are more fragile and I have had two develop pin hole leaks
and a gallon of liquid detergent can make one hell of a mess

With people wanting everything biodegradable or made with less plastic or just a company saving a penny, current containers mostly suck.



I still have a couple of the big gallon, heck might be 2 gallon, laundery jugs you can put on their side and push the button to let out the laundery soap.  But once those die I am thinking real hard about just repurposing an old 5 gallon water cooler, the yellow ones you see on all the work trucks, that is beat to heck.  It does need a new spout.  Would be easy to pop the lid and stir up if I kept a drill with paint stirrer on it right there.  And I have the space for the thing to just sit there and not be in the way and then when I make a new batch I can add it in all at once to one container.



Last year, heck 3 years, I went a tad nuts on ammo cans.  I use em for everything.



Kitchen has all kinds of heavy duty rubbermaid and other containers, some are used for work but some are used full time in the kitchen for odds and ends that come in weak sucky containers.



I sometimes look for decent coffee in a metal coffee can because I like to use the metal coffee cans for projects but they are getting harder to find with decent coffee actually in the can.



Amazon had a case of the small era bottles pretty cheap and those might be the last actual laundery detergent bottles I buy.  Once used up I plan to use them for cleaning supplies or something I guess.  But they sure the heck are not like the old bottles I still have a few of.

that is a excellent idea  
I bought one of those for $5 probably 8 years ago and never use the thing

As I understand it if you mix soap and detergent they react chemically to cancel each other out.   I tried mixing in TSP to a batch and it seemed to come out worse.

My usual batch works well - 1 bar fels and 2c each borax and washing soda.  Grate the soap then dissolve it in a gallon of hot water on the stove in a big stock pot.  It's really important to dissolve the soap completely before you add the other ingredients or the soap will never completely dissolve.  I made that mistake once and got clumps of undissolved soap that wound up on the clothes after the wash and rinse cycle.  Don't mix it too much, just stir the soap, let it dissolve then add the other ingredients 1 cup at a time stirring as you go. Over mixing with a power mixer does something bad and tends to separate later - you get a gel like layer on top and a watery part  on the bottom..   Just stir in the ingredients and give them some time to dissolve. Don't over heat the mixture either.   Then dilute it to about 4 gallons or so.  This method doesn't seem to separate as much.. 1 cup per wash load seems to do fine.

Pretty sure the Zote bars have citronella in them. We use them instead of the Fels. Anything to possibly repel a bug is a good thing.

Lots of people are very happy buying tspp or whatever the heck it is and adding it into their laundery and/or dishwasher.  So I guess your experience may vary and everyone needs to try it out.



On the game of dissolving and mixing and what not.



If you ever do it and get clumps just use hot water from the washing machine to get things melted before putting the clothes in.  I have an old school top loader, I like my old cheap inefficient and wasteful stuff.  But anyway, I can let it start filling with hot water and using a larger container than the measuring cup put the measure of detergent in the larger container, talking something like a small rubber maid container or something here, and fill it with hot water from the washing machine fill.  Takes maybe a minute or two to melt things down and then I pour it in right with the stream of water filling the washing machine.



As a single guy I have used all sorts of hand me down odds and ends for doing laundry.  I learned long ago to make sure it dissolves and then let the machine work on filling with water a little bit and then I finally add in the clothes.  



If someone finds a decade old bottle of laundry detergent and it is gooey, I am 50-50 on adding it to my next mix of laundry detergent to make use of it or just tossing it out.  Or using it to really annoy someone but I try to avoid pranks these days.  They don't avoid me.



Walmart and others probably have closeout deals on their stuff for the kitchen where you can mix up lemonade and put it in a container and it has a spigot on it near the bottom of the plastic jar.  Something like this might work as well for people.



But I like the big insulated coolers.  They are double wall so a leak is contained mostly.  Lid fits well so I don't mess with it very much.  Can change its spigot out to something else if you wish to do so, unscrew it and take it to the hardware store to match threads.  And when making a batch it lets things slowly cool off after melting the soap down.



I have never kept a home made soap mix in dry form but I know some people do and they melt the needed amount down when washing clothes with hot water like I talked about above.



My little bottles of whatever I got on special from amazon have been sitting on the porch and catching a bit of sun.  They are not going to last long that way, been there a couple months I guess.



I have a big jug or two left I will just pour them all into most likely.  Will keep a cap or two for measuring stuff.



Oh, and I do kind of agree on over mixing doing weird things sometimes.  I prefer to almost under mix and then when stirring things back up before use it gets better.

im sure I said it before but let me say it again... if your soap isnt breaking down in the hot water
your grater is too course.

get you a hand cranked grater
nothing plastic... I bought one of those first and it broke on the second use

a metal hand crank grater can be had for pretty cheap if you keep a eye out
I bought a antique climax(thats the name, no kidding) grater off ebay for like $15 and restored it
turns bars into almost a powder very quickly
its pure overkill but much better than hand grating bars

because it grates it so finely it instantly dissolves once it hits the hot water

I like sharp cheddar cheese on things.  My mom decided if she bought a block of sharp cheddar cheese and made me grate it by hand, this might change my habits.



Nope.



I consider a bar of soap easy peasy.



I buy the 9 dollar or whatever blocks of sharp cheddar at wally world or where ever I am shopping.



I admit I have considered the food processor options, but have not made it there yet.



Oh, I guess I should add I am now in my 40s so this is not posted from mom's basement.

Wife and I have been using the dry version for about 4 months now and we aren't planning on going back.  

Been making the dry version for probably 6-7years now. Works great for me even in HE washer on cold.

One thing I do with the Fels is first run the bar through the food processor with the shredded cheese wheel in it. No surprise this turns the bar into something that looks like shredded cheese. Then i replace that with the regular food chopper blade and add a cup of borax and a cup of A&H washing powder. Put the lid on and let it spin for a min or two.

Comes out as really fine powder and seems to work great for me. 1Tbsp for normal load, 2 for large or extra dirty loads. I usually make a 6 bar batch and it lasts me about a year typically.

Also use plain white vinegar in the fabric softener tray. Works well for me. Women are leary on using this and think clothes will smell like vinegar but they don't at all. They also dont come out smelling like a flowery day in may either but I'm good with no chemicals for fake smells.

Before anyone balks on using a food processor, its soap and cleans up squeaky clean with water (and more soap if you like).

Has anyone used the kitchenade cheese grater attachment for the soap?

Holy shit, the thread lives lol. Funny I was just moving a bunch of crap over the weekend that I haven’t seen in years. Came across a couple boxes of the ingredients from the time period I made the original post. I’ll have to convince the misses (same one remarkably) to make a batch with the long lost and not temperature controlled stuff. Quickly looking it over the stuff all seemed to be in similar condition as it was put away in from the outside of the packaging (powder, bar, exc.) more to follow.

I need to make a batch and try it.

I use the same stuff to make powdered detergent, but I am lazy: one box of Borax, once box of Washing Soda, and 5 or 6 bars of Fels-Naptha.

My "one neat trick" is to cut the F-N into cubes, then microwave the cubes, about 4 at a time, until they puff up. I then toss the puffed F-N into the blender and grind into a powder. Don't use ceramic plates for this. I cracked two of them in half when they got overheated. I found that the heavy-duty paper plates work well for my method.

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TEXAS EMERGENCY PREPARATION SUPPLIES
SALES TAX HOLIDAY WEEKEND
bump

https://comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/publications/98-1017.php
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I bought all the ingredients, I'm going to make a batch this weekend.

How did it turn out? Going to make a massive batch tomorrow, will report back.

tag for later, didn’t read to much into this. How is this different from buying detergent from the store besides the fact that it’s home made

The difference is about $87

I bought a box each of borax and washing powder plus 8 bars of fels naphtha for under $17 tax included. That will last us years.

Okay, so update after making some...

Bought 1 box each borax and washing soda and 8 bars fels, seemed to remember 1bar/1c/1c but it is actually half, so I had plenty of bar soap left over - which is great as it was on sale for $0.80 per bar and it is, objectively, the best outdoors soap out there since it works on nasty plant oils, plus it is a good stain remover. So, lots of extra on hand, which is my goal with pretty much everything we keep in stock these days. Anyways...

1 box of washing powder is enough for 6 batches, you will have left over borax if you make 6 batches.

Bought a 1gal plastic container with screw on lid for $3.50 for powder detergent, a 2.5 gal h20 jug with screw on top and flip handle dispenser for $7.50, $5 each for borax and washing soda, 3x fels for $2.40, so total is $23.40 to do 768 loads, or 3.05 cents per load, including container costs (without container, 1.6 cents per load). That is about 1/7th (or 1/14th) the price of cheap liquid that is full of nasty stuff and fragrances. I could've scrounged free containers from something else obviously but wanted something convenient. All it needs now is approval from the laundry dept. - i'll report back with her observations after testing.

Attached File

Here is a 2 gallon batch of liquid and 5x batches of powder. Scoop on top is from a powdered drink mix canister (gatorade) and is exactly 1/4c.
Attached File

KitchenAid shredder works great for the bars of soap.