Do It Yourself Laundry Detergent on the news

[shp1055]

An article appeared yesterday on the front page of my yahoo screen about making you own laundry detergent. Most of it we already know, but it was nice to see that someone with a "Money magazine" found out about it. Maybe more people will now start doing this also.

I tried to post the site, but got an error, so here's where I saw it:
on yahoo finance and it was titlled Do It Yourself Laundry Detergent.

If someone else can attach the url, please do so as it's an interesting read.

[Russ]

I think this is the article.

do-it-yourself-laundry-detergent: Personal Finance News from Yahoo! Finance

Can someone comment on the use of this in the HE washers?

[monkeywrangler71]

I don't have an HE washer, but there have been a number of threads in the past with people saying that they use it. It does not form any suds, which I believe is a good thing for the HE washer.

I was intrigued by this comment in the linked article:
As you've probably noticed, the latest twist in detergent is to sell us less product at a higher price with "ultra-new-and-improved" concentrates. "Use less soap, save the planet" is the basic idea. But smaller quantities mean more precise measuring is needed: fail to pay attention and you'll pour too much, which doesn't help the earth or your budget ... but does benefit Proctor and other purveyors of these products.

I did in fact notice that detergent makers were bragging about smaller and smaller packages (while quietly selling them for higher and higher prices), and felt that a lot of people would most likely still be using the same amount per load despite the higher concentration. Resulting in a big profit increase for detergent makers. This was the reason I switched to homemade. Despite the claims of being ultra concentrated, I could not bring myself to pay twice as much for a box or bottle of detergent that looked like it was made for dolls.

[Pemberleyan]

You could so a search here -- There was a thread about this here and someone (I believe it was Grainlady) explained that there is a difference between soap and detergent, that this home-made laundry soap that many of us has been making has a certain amount of fat in it. I believe some HE warranties are voided when this home-made soap is used. I felt like my clothes weren't getting as clean when I used it. I have so much of it, though, I will probably use a combination of it and store-bought to use it up.

[Mom2-3]

You could use it to do some handwashing/pre-washing.

I don't think I would use homemade soap in those HE washers. They cost too much to ruin.

[shp1055]

my friend told me this was on the television news last night (or maybe she said this morning's).

[krbshappy71]

I found it interesting that the writer says she tried it, and that we could go without using ANY detergent, but at the very end says she still uses 1/2 of her regular detergent. WHY? If you just told ALL OF US this great money saving tip and you are a finance person, why not save money yourself?

Is that the fine line between "those who can't, teach." ?

It annoyed me. Not that that takes much.

[Palooka]

I will not make HM laundry detergent for my HE ever again because I was not happy about the results...But I also hate my HE and it was the worst, overrated purchase...ever!!!

Glad Purex came out with one for HE(or have I been in the dark?) Love it so much better than Tide and of course cheaper.

[Liane]

I haven't made my own detergent yet. I plan to try it this week. Does anyone have a recipe? Also, has anyone had allergy issues when making their own detergent? The three of us have allergies and the last time I switched detergents my daughter got hives. Any help is greatly appreciated.

[Grainlady]

Here are 10 recipes for homemade laundry soap mixtures:
10 Homemade Laundry Soap Detergent Recipes : TipNut.com There are many adaptations available. I've used one recipe or another since the 1980's, but I use Charlie's Soap now. If one recipe doesn't work well for you, try another. If you have hard water, you may need to use as much as 1/2 c. for a large load of laundry.

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Charlies-Soap-Powder-2-64-Loads/dp/B0018B15FE/ref=tag_dpp_lp_edpp_img_in"]Amazon.com: Charlie's Soap Powder - 2.64 lb Bag (80 Loads): Kitchen & Dining@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/218rUdeZwYL.@@AMEPARAM@@218rUdeZwYL[/ame]

Cleaning clothes is such a personal thing because of so many personal variables (pets, kids, dirt level, type of clothing/fabrics, front-loader/top loader, etc.), and no one soap/detergent will work for everyone due to water hardness and the type of washing machine.

With my hard water, I could use homemade laundry mixtures for about 3-months before the whites got dingy from soap scum build-up and I would have to use commercial detergents for awhile. Then I discovered if I added Cascade Dishwasher Detergent to the whites (along with homemade laundry soap), the phosphates, enzymes and bleaches in Cascade helped to clean laundry better. Phosphates, which worked very well for cleaning laundry in hard water, has been removed from detergents AND now it's been removed from Cascade. Phosphate builders would tie up hardness minerals and hold them in solution so they could be rinsed away. So now detergents contain a high concentration of surfactants to aid in removing hard water minerals.

Soap scum build-up will also cause your clothes to wear out faster. If you have stiff clothes when you dry them on a clothes line, then you probably have soap scum build up in the fabrics.

Modern detergents include things like corrosion inhibitors, enzymes, optical brighteners, surfactants and chelating agents that are absent in homemade mixtures.

ZOTE is a good choice in homemade mixtures. ZOTE is designed for laundry, is dirt cheap (pun intended), has a nice citronella scent, and it contains optical brighteners to help clothes look white. You can use nearly any kind of bar soap, including bath bars, for these mixtures. The fats in them tend to cause havoc. These fats can cling to the fibers of the clothing and can go rancid, especially if you store off-season clothing, and make the clothes smell "sour".

Fels Naptha is also a popular laundry bar choice. Stoddard solvent was the active ingredients in Fels Naptha that made it clean so well, but it's been removed because it can - "affect your nervous system and cause dizziness, headaches, or a prolonged reaction time. It can also cause eye, skin, or throat irritation". Naptha in Fels Naptha is a nerve toxin and the bars do contain petrochemicals. So don't think it's all "natural". I also think it smells terrible.
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Dial-Corp-04303-Fels-Naptha-Laundry/dp/B00319LKSS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1271951944&sr=1-1"]Amazon.com: Dial Corp. 04303 Fels-Naptha Laundry Bar Soap: Home & Garden@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41jT-m5CcSL.@@AMEPARAM@@41jT-m5CcSL[/ame]

I made a dry mixture, rather than the liquid, because of limited space in the laundry room, but they all take the same ingredients - you'll find different ratios of those ingredients, however:

1/2 bar of ZOTE (grated)
2 c. Borax
2 c. Washing Soda

I eventually started adding Cascade or OxyClean to the homemade mixture, so the price was going up in order to get clothes clean.

Homemade mixtures work best in the hottest water that your clothes can handle. Even Martha Stewart advises, "The best way to retain whiteness is to launder white items together in the hottest water the fabric will tolerate (water that is at least 120°F is the most effective at removing soil).

If you have a septic system, be aware that Borax, a common ingredient in homemade laundry mixtures, can build-up in your septic tank. According to one source in my files, Borax is NOT bio-degradable.

If you have a front-loader or HE washer, I'd suggest you contact the help-line before using homemade laundry mixtures in it. I've heard that using it can actually void your warranty, as Pemberleyan pointed out. There is such a problem in FL with mold, and the ingredients in the bar soap you use in homemade laundry mixtures contain fats that can contribute to "gunk" building up in your machine.

LIANE - You might consider Charlie's Soap, instead of homemade mixtures, if you have allergies. My hubby has a lot of problems with soap/detergents, and I just love this detergent. Safe, Non toxic, Biodegradable Soap - Charlie's Soap

When I purchased the 5-gallon bucket of Charlie's Soap and started using it Nov. 2007, it cost me approx. 9-cents per load. NO softener! In fact, they suggest you NOT use softener. I'm still on the first bucket.