Uses for Fels-Naptha Soap
Fels-Naptha soap is a multi-use product that’s been around for over 100 years. It’s manufactured by Henkel Consumer Goods Inc. I’ve mentioned it a couple of times as an ingredient to make homemade laundry soap (www.frugalvillage.com/2009/04/03/have-a-clean-and-green-home). But it can be used in many other ways in your home and garden, too. If you’re unable to find it (and other hard-to-find products such as washing soda) locally, it can be bought cheaply from Soaps Gone Buy (www.soapsgonebuy.com). Owner Stephanie Woods was kind enough to share some of the many uses for Fels-Naptha, so I’m passing some of them along to you.
TO CLEAN YOUR SHOWER:
Rub a nonabrasive scouring sponge with a wet bar of Fels-Naptha and start cleaning. It will take a little hard work the first time you use it but it will be a breeze after that.
POISON IVY PREVENTION OR TREATMENT:
Fels-Naptha Soap has been used for over 100 years for the treatment and prevention of poison ivy, sumac and oak rash. If you think you have been exposed to poison ivy, oak or sumac, shower immediately with Fels-Naptha to remove the resin from your skin, and it will help to dry up the rash, as well. This will greatly reduce and in most cases prevent any skin reaction to the poison ivy oil. Make sure to launder your clothes in some shaved or grated fels naptha (about 1/16th of the bar) to remove the resin from your clothes. Poison ivy resin can stay on your clothes for over 1 year even if the clothes have been washed with normal detergent.
DEER REPELLENT:
This requires a little work and smells bad but it works.
1 bar of Fels-Naptha soap — grated
2 bunches of scallions — chopped
2 heads of garlic — separate the gloves but don’t peel
4 eggs — whole
1 small can of chili powder
Fill a 5-gallon bucket with a lid about half full of hot water. Pour the grated fels naptha into the water and stir to dissolve. Put all the other ingredients in cheesecloth or pantyhose and place in bucket of soap mixture. Take a spoon and crack the eggs against the side of the bucket. Fill the bucket up completely with hot water, leaving the cheesecloth submerged. Put in a shady place for about seven days with a lid on it. Hold your breath and place small amounts in a garden sprayer and spray where the deer are foraging. Reapply after each rain or about every 14 days.
STAIN REMOVER AND PRE-TREATER:
It works especially well on oil-based stains. Just rub the stain with a wet bar of Fels-Naptha Soap. Let it sit for a while and launder as usual. It works great on baby clothes, which often have formula stains.
– Chocolate smudge on clothes. Rub the stain with Fels-Naptha Soap and let sit in your filled washer with 20 Mule Team Borax for 30 minutes. Launder as usual.
– Clean white canvas tennis shoes. Work the Fels-Naptha Soap into a lather and use a soft brush to work into the canvas. Launder as usual without chlorine bleach.
– Remove old stains on colored clothes. Make a solution of 2 cups warm water and 1/2 cup white vinegar. Pour on stain. Let soak for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Rinse well and work in Fels-Naptha Soap. Launder as usual.
Posted by Sara Noel
on May 6 2010. Filed under Home & family.Sara Noel owns Frugal Village, LLC and is a nationally syndicated columnist with Universal Uclick. Bio, Follow me on Twitter, Join us on Facebook
I’ve used the Fels-Naptha soap to make homemade laundry detergent, and am looking forward to trying some of the other uses listed here. I’m particularly eager to try it for cleaning the tub and shower, as that would mean I could do away with the more expensive cleaner I’ve been using!
1I will have to look for this at my store ~ I’ve never even heard of it. Thanks for the informative post!
2.-= Nancy´s last blog ..Au Gratin Potatoes =-.
HI! This soap is wonderful; I remember my mom always having a bar near her wringer washer for spot treatment. I make my own laundry detergent with it, and won’t ever go back to anything else. I have read where it might be a little rough on darks, but I haven’t noticed anything different with ours. Going to try it on the shower and tub next.
3Thanks for the link to “Soaps Gone Buy”. I do want to try the home made laundry soap, and noticed that it is good for HE washers, which I have. Detergent for HE washers tends to be more expensive, so that will be a real money saver.
4I had no idea it could be used for poison ivy, etc. or that it was a good stain remover too. I have a bar that I was going to use to make homemade laundry soap, but then dh told me that he didn’t want me to. So I’ve had it for a while just waiting for new ideas to use it up. Thanks
5i just bought my first bar and i am in love.
6it turned a white cotton shirt that was a dingy grey cuz of grease turn white again. friggin awsome.
I have been able to find Fels-Naptha soap and washing soda at Ace Hardware and their website. Just FYI!
7Who knew? I’ve heard my neighbor, who does a lot of gardening work, mention a soap she uses right away if she’s come in contact with poison ivy but she always said the name very quickly, this is the one, lol. I’m going to have to pick up a bar of this on my next shopping trip to keep in my laundry area to pre-treat and in my linen closet for the “first aid”. Thanks for all the information!
8I use Fels-Naptha to make my homemade laundry detergent and I love it! I buy mine at Schnucks in the laundry aisle. It’s fairly cheap and I make 6 months of detergent with 2 bars.
9How is this done, sounds interesting and economical
9.1I have loved Fels Naptha since my mother introduced me to it when I was growing up. It takes out things other soaps and detergents don’t touch. Even blood and mustard are no problem with this soap!
It didn’t work for me on the poison ivy, though. It was my first case of it, and I tried the soap, but it spread….
10Hunted down a case of Fels Naptha a few weeks ago and have already converted my neighbor. I keep a bar in a recycled plastic peanut butter jar next to the washer and we just wet and rub anything with a stain then toss it into a bucket of water until wash day. It works better than soaking alone (which by itself is also surprisingly effective on many stains) and at $1.29/bar it’s a lot cheaper than those spray stain removers. Will try the laundry detergent mix next, though at $2.99-on-sale per 32-wash bottle our store brand works pretty good and is cheap ($.09 cents) enough that it may not be worth the effort. I ordered a case at the Ace hardware buy-and-ship-to-store website (free shipping to store) and had it within 5 days.
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12You can buy this at some Wal-Marts for only $.97 a bar! We also found washing soda and borax.
I’m so excited because we moved down here not to long ago and have been using Purex because we couldn’t find the ingredients for our laundry soap.
13I LOVE Fels Naptha soap!! I started using it as a child when I would help my mother with the wash and have used it ever since. Gets out baby stains wonderfully, always got out the grass stains from my Son’s uniforms for baseball, soccer and football, (we use to use a lot back then…lol) and now I am making my own laundry detergent with it and will never use anything else. My Son got married in December 2010 and I have been introducing my Daughter-in-Law to the joys of making your own products and she loves it too. They have a baby on the way now and I am sure she will enjoy getting all the stains out of the baby’s clothes when he or she comes. Walmart sells it pretty cheap too. I will look into the case from ACE though as the cases online that I have found, seem to be a little more costly then buying it from the bar at Walmart.
14My grandmother who is 87 used it when me and my sister were small. Grama swore by Fels-Naptha. She even made a poltice out of it to draw infection out. My sister said she used granulated sugar and worked it her hands for awhile. Has anyone heard of this? My son has a nasty bump on the back of his neck that wont go away. It’s like a pimple or a boil, and the odor from it (when pinched) is foul. Gonna give it a try!
15Can I use it for a stain on silk, or is it too harsh?
16Try a little on the underside of the silk item. Depends on the silk itself, or whatever else is combined in the material. Does the laundry instruction say it can be washed or dry cleaned? That will be a clue.
17