Laundry Soap Percent Super Fat

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J-Soaper

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I'm considering making laundry soap.
1. I certainly would not want any extra fat, but what about going maybe one or two percent negative. That is, just a bit more lye than will be consumed in the saponification process? I understand that it would be very rough on skin, but I won't be adding it to my bath water.

2. I have a high efficiency front loading washer. A high efficiency washer only uses just enough water to wash the clothing and the detergent needs to be non-sudsing. Is it possible to make a non-sudsing or minimally sudsing laundry soap? My preferred oil is coconut oil.

3. After I have shredded, baked, and ground the soap into powder, I was thinking of boosting it's cleaning power by adding one or more of the following. Can you make recommendations for which items to use and what percent (by weight) should be used:
a. baking soda
b. washing soda
c. borax
d. tsp -- trisodium phosphate
e. OxiClean®
 
Yes, you can make the soap with a zero to slightly negative superfat. The excess NaOH will convert to sodium carbonate by reacting with carbon dioxide in the air. I'd handle the soap with gloves when processing it to protect your skin, however.

By the time actual lye-based soap is dissolved in a large amount of water (even in a HE washer), there will be little to no lather.

My brief opinions about the additives you listed --
Baking soda has no place in laundry soap mix because it lowers the pH too much for soap to stay an effective cleanser.
Washing soda is more effective than borax, but doesn't stay effective in a water-based liquid. Best to use in a dry mix.
Borax stays more effective than washing soda in a liquid mix.
No point to using washing soda AND borax -- pick one or the other.
TSP is an irresponsible choice if your country regulates the use of phosphates in cleansers to control water quality.
Oxiclean is fine.
 
Yes, you can make the soap with a zero to slightly negative superfat. The excess NaOH will convert to sodium carbonate by reacting with carbon dioxide in the air. I'd handle the soap with gloves when processing it to protect your skin, however.

By the time actual lye-based soap is dissolved in a large amount of water (even in a HE washer), there will be little to no lather.

My brief opinions about the additives you listed --
Baking soda has no place in laundry soap mix because it lowers the pH too much for soap to stay an effective cleanser.
Washing soda is more effective than borax, but doesn't stay effective in a water-based liquid. Best to use in a dry mix.
Borax stays more effective than washing soda in a liquid mix.
No point to using washing soda AND borax -- pick one or the other.
TSP is an irresponsible choice if your country regulates the use of phosphates in cleansers to control water quality.
Oxiclean is fine.
Great info DeeAnna. The only thing I would add is that borax dissolves best in warm to hot water - as does the grated soap.

If you wash in cold water, you may want to keep a container handy to dissolve the appropriate amount of your mix in a cup of hot water, and then put that into your washing machine with your load. Unfortunately, the borax tends to separate if you mix ahead and let it cool, so you should make just the amount you need for the load you are doing in that moment.

I wash most things in hot water because I prefer the results. However, many delicates and certain fabrics call for cold water. That’s when I use the dissolved laundry powder solution instead of dry powdered mix.
 
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