Some tips

[baxjul]

Saturday, July 01, 2006
A lot of bang for a buck

It’s a little weird, quite old-fashioned and increasingly more difficult to find. So why should you know about Fels-Naptha heavy duty laundry bar soap? Two reasons:

1. It is an amazing product.

2. It is cheap.

Fels-Naptha has been around for more than 100 years, manufactured by The Dial Corporation. If you can find a store that carries it, most likely it will be in the laundry aisle with stain treatments.

How to use Fels-Naptha

Clean the shower and tub. Got soap scum and hard water build up? Rub a non-abrasive scouring sponge with a wet bar of Fels-Naptha and start cleaning. The first time will require a little extra work but it will be a breeze after that.

Clean paint brushes. To clean a paint brush, rinse it well with either water or paint thinner. Now simply drag the wet brush through a lathered bar of Fels-Naptha and work it in with your gloved fingers. Rinse well with warm water. The brush will stay soft and supple for the next use.

Zap aphids. Dissolve three tablespoons grated Fels-Naptha soap in one gallon of hot water. Mix well and let cool. Spray as needed on infested areas.

Laundry stains. Fels-Naptha soap is a fantastic stain remover and pre-treatment. It works especially well on oil-based stains. Just rub the stain with a wet bar of Fels-Naptha soap. Let it sit for awhile and launder as usual.

Baby stains. You know what they are and from whence they came. And they can be difficult to remove. Fels-Naptha will make quick work of every kind of baby stain on bibs to diapers.

Chocolate smudges. Rub the stain with Fels-Naptha soap and let the item sit in your filled washer into which you have added 20 Mule Team Borax. After 30 minutes launder as usual.

Bye-bye makeup stains. To remove makeup from clothing and face cloths wet the stain, rub the end of the Fels-Naptha bar into the stain until it begins to foam and launder as usual. It may take a repeat washing to completely remove the stain.

Clean white canvas 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.

Old stains. To 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 Fels-Naptha soap into the stain. Launder as usual.

Poison ivy relief. If you are exposed to poison ivy and you have a reaction, wash the area with Fels-Naptha to remove any resin then rinse well. Fels-Naptha helps dry up the rash as well. Fels-Naptha is not a body soap and should be used with caution to treat poison ivy.

Remove poison ivy from clothes. Poison ivy resin can remain on your clothes for a year or longer. Washing with Fels-Naptha will eliminate the dangerous resin from your clothing. Thoroughly wash all of your exposed clothing in hot water and grated Fels-Naptha (about 1/16th of the bar). This will effectively remove the poison ivy resin and prevent further outbreak.

Bug bites. Washing the area with Fels-Naptha can greatly reduce the itching and discomfort from bug bites.

Tough stains on hands. Even though the label clearly states it is NOT a hand soap, Fels-Naptha can cut even the grimiest of messes on hands—ink, grease or any variety of nasty stains.

Soap vs. detergent

A century ago, Fels-Naptha was the most commonly used laundry product in the U.S., prior to the development of modern laundry detergents. Which brings up an interesting question: What is the difference between soap and detergent?

Briefly, laundry soap is made from natural ingredients. Soap works well with soft water to remove dirt and odors from fabrics. But when soap meets up with hard water some chemical thing occurs and traps it into the fabric fibers turning clothes and linens a dingy shade of gray. Trapped soap also makes fabrics stiff and scratchy.

The development of commercial detergents fixed this problem. Simply put, detergent is a little soap and a lot of synthetic water softeners, perfumes and other additives. You can spend $.30 on the low side, up to $1.18 (no kidding, check TheLaundress.com) per load for laundry detergent. But what if I told you that with just a modicum of effort you could make your own highly effective (some say more effective) laundry detergent that rinses out well even if you have hard water—leaving clothes clean and soft, for as little at $.02 per load? Two cents! Would you want to know more? Read on.

Homemade Laundry Detergents

Liquid. Grate one 5.5 ounce bar Fels-Naptha soap into a sauce pan and add enough water to cover. Heat over low heat until soap is dissolved, stirring constantly. Remove from stove. Pour 4 1/2 gallons of hot water into a 5-gallon bucket. Add the melted soap and one cup Arm &
Hammer Super Washing Soda. Stir until combined.

As it cools this liquid laundry detergent will thicken to be slightly gel-like. To use: Add 1 cup per wash load (up to 2 cups for heavily soiled loads). Cost per cup: $.02.

Powdered. Combine 1 cup grated Fels-Naptha soap (1 bar equals 1 cup grated), 1/2 cup Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda and 1/2 cup 20 Mule Team Borax. Mix and store in an airtight container or bag. For light loads use 2 tablespoons; 3 tablespoons per heavy load. Cost per tablespoon: $.06.

These detergents are excellent for high efficiency (HE) front-loading washing machines, as both are non-sudsing.

Note: If you need to see suds, you will be disappointed in these detergents. Both are highly effective non-sudsing detergents. The Fels-Naptha removes dirt, the washing soda (sodium carbonate, which is a natural product and is not the same as baking soda) and borax (also a natural ingredient) remove odors and soften the water so the soap and impurities rinse out efficiently.

[lilk]

Thanks Julie, I can't fine Fels local. I know I can get it from a store called Meijers, but that is an hour away from my home. I do make hm laundry soap, but I used grated Ivory soap.

[dwallyfam]

You can always ask you favorite store to order it for you.

Kellie

[KatieInLa2]

Thanks! I am going to try this on my rose bushes. I have been fighting aphids for several weeks now.

[bee9984]

I couldn't find Fels-Naptha here either so I had bought the bars of sun lite soap which is located in the laundry section at the grocery store.

These are excellent tips! Thanks so much baxjul

I will have to see if maybe my grocery store can order it in for me , Good idea Kellie!:

[AmyBoz]

Never heard of it! Thanks for the heads up!

[Mom23boys]

The store I used to purchase it from stopped carrying it. Now I order it online from Soaps Gone By for around $1.25 a bar.

Here is a link:
http://www.soapsgonebuy.com/SearchRe...=10&Search.y=6