I am going to scream

[Gryfonmoon]

Seriously, I cannot find a good recipe to make laundry detergent...I've Googled the crap outta this and I still just get people telling me how to grate up Dr. Bronner's or whatever into a pot of boiling water.

I am about to tear my hair out, I have like 2 pounds of potassium hydroxide and I'm out of dish and laundry soap. AND NO RECIPES TO BE FOUND

*hyperventilates*

I think I need to take a Xanax and go relax.

 

[nebetmiw]

Do an advance search on here. Look up top and hit the down arrow click on advance search. Type in laundry then put it on topic only and hit search.

 

[green soap]

http://candleandsoap.about.com/od/liquidsoap/ss/basicliquidsoap.htm

For the last year I have been using variations of the recipe used in the linked tutorial. It works pretty well for us.

We use this basic recipe (with different oil % and combos) for dishwashing liquid soap, laundry liquid soap, and bath liquid soap.

It does seem really intimidating the first time you do it. Just relax, it is a very forgiving method.

Achieving clear liquid soap can be a little trickier and does require very low stearic acid, distilled water, etc. However, liquid soap works great whether it is cloudy or clear.

 

[Gryfonmoon]

Thanks for the help, guys.

 

[newbie]

I've used this recipe for laundry soap but it calls for sodium hydroxide, not potassium. Perhaps you could still work with it, though.No help for the dish soap, sorry.


1 gallon heavy plastic or glass container with wide mouth
1/2 gallon cold water
2.25 ounces lye
1 lb lard, melted
1/2 cup washing soda
1/2 cup borax (up this to 1 cup if you can't find the washing soda)
Fragrance oil or essential oil of your choice (optional)
Hot water to fill the container

Add cold water to container. Add lye; stir well (this barely gets warm because lye is so diluted) Add lard, washing soda, borax, fragrance oil. Add hot water to finish filling the container and stir well with a wire whisk.

Whisk 3 times a day or so until set up. Initially, it will start with a glob of soap on top but will set up more each time you whisk it. After three days or so, you will be left with a nice, powdery liquid that you can use in your laundry.

Add 1/2 - 1 cup for a top loading machine. Dissolve in hot water before adding to a very cold wash. Otherwise, just add it while the machine is filling. Use less in a front loader; this one WILL suds if you add too much

 

[Crocoturtle]

I know you want a liquid soap but I do a 100% coconut bar with 0% superfat and grind it up and combine it with equal parts washing soda and my clothes are the cleanest they have ever ever ever been. Without borax and without fading.

Note: on the above recipe if you can't find washing soda, doubling the borax will fade your clothes. you can find instructions on how to make washing soda from baking soda online. It's very simple. Also, borax is very toxic, I don't use it.

 

[houseofwool]

I've always done the grated up bar soap, borax and washing soda without giving any of it much thought... In my quest to detox my life (remove as many synthetic or highly processed things as possible) this combo still seems better than, say, Tide.

What purpose do the borax and washing soda serve in the recipe?

 

[melstan775]

Borax isn't toxic. Some people call it boric acid, which can be toxic, but this is incorrect. Borax is a separate compound, sometimes labelled sodium borate, sometimes sodium tetraborate. Both boric acid and sodium borate are related to boran, however, they are not the same thing and are not different stages of the same thing.

Boric acid is found as sassolite in mineral form, and comes from sulpharic sources like volcanos and hot springs. Sodium tetraborate is a naturally occurring salt found in boron mineral deposits.

Chemically borax is a BO4 (four units of hydrogen) compound and boric acid has three units each of hydrogen and oxygen. They are so different it would be like trying to call HO water, or straight up O ozone. Can't do it, has to be H2O to be water, and to be ozone it has to be O3.

So , the long and short is, these are two different compounds, and the one called Borax is safe, and it has been in use for thousands of years. You're all good as far as "toxicity" in Borax goes, unless you yourself are sensitive to the salt.

 

[Gryfonmoon]

http://candleandsoap.about.com/od/liquidsoap/ss/basicliquidsoap.htm

For the last year I have been using variations of the recipe used in the linked tutorial. It works pretty well for us.

We use this basic recipe (with different oil % and combos) for dishwashing liquid soap, laundry liquid soap, and bath liquid soap.

It does seem really intimidating the first time you do it. Just relax, it is a very forgiving method.

Achieving clear liquid soap can be a little trickier and does require very low stearic acid, distilled water, etc. However, liquid soap works great whether it is cloudy or clear.

In other news, I'm making this recipe right now in my crock pot.

 

[Crocoturtle]

Borax isn't toxic. Some people call it boric acid, which can be toxic, but this is incorrect. Borax is a separate compound, sometimes labelled sodium borate, sometimes sodium tetraborate. Both boric acid and sodium borate are related to boran, however, they are not the same thing and are not different stages of the same thing.

Boric acid is found as sassolite in mineral form, and comes from sulpharic sources like volcanos and hot springs. Sodium tetraborate is a naturally occurring salt found in boron mineral deposits.

Chemically borax is a BO4 (four units of hydrogen) compound and boric acid has three units each of hydrogen and oxygen. They are so different it would be like trying to call HO water, or straight up O ozone. Can't do it, has to be H2O to be water, and to be ozone it has to be O3.

So , the long and short is, these are two different compounds, and the one called Borax is safe, and it has been in use for thousands of years. You're all good as far as "toxicity" in Borax goes, unless you yourself are sensitive to the salt.

Borax was added to the Substance of Very High Concern (SVHC) candidate list on 16 December 2010. The SVHC candidate list is part of the EU Regulations on the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals 2006 (REACH), and the addition was based on the revised classification of Borax as toxic for reproduction category 1B under the CLP Regulations. Substances and mixtures imported into the EU which contain Borax are now required to be labelled with the warnings "May damage fertility" and "May damage the unborn child".[23]

It's actually illegal in Germany and other countries due to toxicity. AND it's not necessary for getting clothes clean. Yes, I mean borax, not boric acid.

 

[melstan775]

Borax was added to the Substance of Very High Concern (SVHC) candidate list on 16 December 2010. The SVHC candidate list is part of the EU Regulations on the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals 2006 (REACH), and the addition was based on the revised classification of Borax as toxic for reproduction category 1B under the CLP Regulations. Substances and mixtures imported into the EU which contain Borax are now required to be labelled with the warnings "May damage fertility" and "May damage the unborn child".[23]

It's actually illegal in Germany and other countries due to toxicity. AND it's not necessary for getting clothes clean. Yes, I mean borax, not boric acid.

It's because of the concerns of boric acid, which people want to insist is the same, and it's not. I will look more into this however, as I was unaware Borax is now considered toxic. I am going back to school in fall for a Chemistry degree, there may be a research opportunity here, so thanks for the heads up, I was not aware of it!

 

[CaliChan]

It's because of the concerns of boric acid, which people want to insist is the same, and it's not. I will look more into this however, as I was unaware Borax is now considered toxic. I am going back to school in fall for a Chemistry degree, there may be a research opportunity here, so thanks for the heads up, I was not aware of it!

Ive only ever herd rumors about Borax being toxic. I once spent an entire afternoon trying to look up information on it. and i only found 2 websites with really bad references. So I dont pay attention to it.

 

[Gryfonmoon]

Oh man, Borax is dangerous? I'd better stop eating that big bowl of Borax every morning at breakfast.

 

[lizflowers42]

Oh man, Borax is dangerous? I'd better stop eating that big bowl of Borax every morning at breakfast.

baaaaahahahaha! Thanks for a morning giggle!

 

[sweethavenarts]

I did want to jump in and see if anyone had a borax free liquid soap suitable for laundry. Apparently I'm sensitive to borax- the grated soap/borax/washing soda I've been using on my clothes for the past few weeks is making me itch and giving me a rash. Now some of it IS the washer, we know it doesn't rinse very well, but I can't replace it (too much $$) so I need to try something else.
ETA: or does using the borax like that "neutralize" it? I'd just hate to make a liquid soap only to find my self itching again....

 

[thefarmerdaughter]

While I agree with melstan, and calichan about Borax being safe to wash clothes with. I also agree with the poster who stated it was not necessary to get clothes clean. Couple months ago while making powder laundry soap I realized I was out of Borax. So I doubled up on baking soda and never noticed a difference. Since my main reason for making my own laundry soap is to reduce household costs, I figured why pay for an extra item if it doesn't make a noticeable difference in my recipe.
In case anyone was wondering, using a food processor to grate soap bars (instead of hand grating) Makes a very fine powder like baby powder, and it dissolves like a dream!

Having said all that I'm very interested to hear about Gryfonmoon's liquid laundry soap. My curiosity has gotten the best of me, again! It's something I want to try.

 

[green soap]

I did want to jump in and see if anyone had a borax free liquid soap suitable for laundry. Apparently I'm sensitive to borax- the grated soap/borax/washing soda I've been using on my clothes for the past few weeks is making me itch and giving me a rash. Now some of it IS the washer, we know it doesn't rinse very well, but I can't replace it (too much $$) so I need to try something else.
ETA: or does using the borax like that "neutralize" it? I'd just hate to make a liquid soap only to find my self itching again....

The method I use with initially extra KOH has to be neutralized, but both citric acid and borax work, so just use citric acid.

 

[CaliChan]

if green soaps idea doesnt work id just try replacing your borax w. more washing soda

 

[MaitriBB]

I just shred up a batch of my own CP soap, usually the ugly ones , and add 1 cup of Borax and 1 cup of washing soda for each bar I grate. Works great.

 

[Gryfonmoon]

baaaaahahahaha! Thanks for a morning giggle!

LOL, no problem. It was really funny at 2 AM.