Homemade Laundry Soap ** With Tute! ** (picture heavy)

[violentjayne]

My mom and I make this all the time , I love it and it makes soooo much its the only thing that takes my hair dye outta the shower curtain lol

[MareMare]

Ok, finally gave this a go and well..it didn't turn out so well. 13 hours after putting the lid on, I have a 5 gallon bucket of liquid, no clumps or thickening at all. What did I do wrong? Reading over all the comments and back and forths, I think that my problems could have been the fact that I stopped the final stirring after just a few minutes, when I thought that it should be mixed well, just because of the fact that I couldn't see any part that wasn't homogenous. Also, my borax was clumpy...does that really make a difference? I broke up the clumps before measuring...also I know it's been said that soap is soap, but I used Dove Sensitive Skin No Frgrance...it should still have worked, right? Last question, even though it never gelled, can I still use this liquid as a concentrate? Thanks!

That might not be soap, if it uses the words "beauty bar" or "cleansing bar" it is probably syndets, synthetic detergents, which are not soap.

[greenfaerie]

Dove is not soap. I know that for a fact, they even run commercials bragging about it.  Try it again with actual soap (most "soap" you get in the soap aisle is exactly what Maremare said, detergent).  Ivory, Fels Naptha, Octagon, and any handmade soap from an artisan that's 100% real soap should work.

As far as using it, I don't know what it would do.  Perhaps this would be a great time to wash some rags and find out lol. 

For future reference, when you stir the concentrate, you'll feel it thickening, kind of like making pudding or from scratch alfredo sauce.  Fortunately, it goes a lot quicker.

Good luck!

[skullseamstress]

I just want to thank the poster for getting this info out there so effectively!  I have just now run out of my first bucket of soap, and made up my second. It was cake! once you have the stuff, it takes like half an hour tops, and you can multitask while doing some of it, too. 

I introduced the idea to my mother, and now she uses this, too!

So awesome, no more buying that stuff from the store anymore, for me!

Thanks again!

[bragginrightsbath]

I make this at home all the time and would never use anything else- you don't even need fabric softener when you use this!

[jungrrl]

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[Eclecticlyfe]

First off- Thanks so much for the awesome Tutorial. I have tried this (to the letter) twice now and have each time ended up with the egg-drop soup er...egg-drop soap. I've have of course used it because this is initially all about saving $. I say initially 'cause now I'm obsessed with getting it right. I am wondering if using my homemade (cp) soap is the problem. I used 5 oz of my typical stuff- with about a 6-7 % superfat content.  SOOOO- could that be the problem ? Does Fels Naptha have a higher lye ratio ? I visited their web-site to see if I could figure out what that ratio might be- all I could really get was that it had a warning on the package about being an eye and skin irritant.

Until I get it "right' I feel like I'm not measuring the soap correctly because it's a great deal of water in the mixture so I'm not sure how much to use. So I'm using more than I think I need - just in case. Anyway I went through the 5 gallons pretty quickly. We're a family of six with one in cloth diapers.
Wondering if I should make a small batch of 'stout' lye-heavy soap to use for the laundry recipe to see if that would work.

 ???What do ya'll think ?      

btw Thanks whoever it was who came up with the description egg-drop soup- PERFECT description !!


Okay- finally used up the soupy soap and was able to make more- I first made a batch of LYE_HEAVY soap and used it instead of my usual superfatted soap that I have around for bathing- The new soap worked- I think that was the answer to my "egg-drop soup soap" _ I now have a GREAT gel ! WITH Little to no water on top at all !!!   
Yeah- I think I solved the mystery

[Craftsomnia]

Great informative Tute!   I would think too if you are worried about the mold growing.. which can happen.. to use a preservative for the batch, there are many different types you can purchase from soap making websites that are used for lotions to keep them from growing...
just a thought!

[leadmomma]

I love all this information -- we've been doing this for about a year or so - my only info to add -- some plastic containers (recycled regular laundry detergent bottles) leaked somehow -- not sure why or how - everything was sealed, but somehow the liquid got out. So we used glass jars as storage.

We call it laundry snot   

I've tried the powered tutorials and found that didn't dissolve properly in the wash - and I would find a handful of soap pebbles in the dryer. I'll stick w/liquid.

[Crafty DIY Housewife]

Love to see I'm not the only one making homemade laundry detergent!! I've been making it for about 3 years and I never plan to buy store brand again!! I personally have used probably every kind of soap there is and I've been pleased with all of it so far! I once used some Zest (can't remember the scent) but it made the detergent a pumpkin orange color! laundry detergent can be pretty!! Awesome tute!