Liquid Laundry Soap Help

[DeeAnna]

Quote from my Post #15 --

"...The problem with adding washing soda to a liquid laundry soap is the washing soda will gradually decompose upon exposure to water and the carbon dioxide in air. So adding washing soda in a liquid soap isn't a good idea if you are also going to store the product for a longish time. Add washing soda to a dry laundry soap mix or add it to the laundry water right when you do a load. Either of these options helps the washing soda to stay effective...."

 

[bmcknight86]

Quote from my Post #15 --

"...The problem with adding washing soda to a liquid laundry soap is the washing soda will gradually decompose upon exposure to water and the carbon dioxide in air. So adding washing soda in a liquid soap isn't a good idea if you are also going to store the product for a longish time. Add washing soda to a dry laundry soap mix or add it to the laundry water right when you do a load. Either of these options helps the washing soda to stay effective...."

Ok. What about borax ratio? I guess I have to concede on that front lol

 

[DeeAnna]

For moderately hard water, I would use 1 part soap to 3 parts borax by weight. Another way to decide is to read the borax box for the recommended amount to use per load, and combine that with the amount of laundry mix you normally use for a load. That will give you the total volume per load.

 

[bmcknight86]

For moderately hard water, I would use 1 part soap to 3 parts borax by weight. Another way to decide is to read the borax box for the recommended amount to use per load, and combine that with the amount of laundry mix you normally use for a load. That will give you the total volume per load.

So you put the borax straight into the liquid soap or do you add more water

 

[DeeAnna]

I don't make liquid laundry soap mix so I can't help you with the method. There are tons of tutorials on the internet for liquid soap mixes that include borax -- you might check a few and see how they handle this.

Correction -- The "1 part soap to 3 parts borax by weight" advice I gave earlier is soap on the basis of pure soap (fat + alkali only), not soap paste or diluted soap (fat + alkali + water)

 

[Kiti Williams]

I just grate up and liquify a Fels-Naptha bar, add it to a 5 gal bucket of hot water and the borax and washing soda. mix and put on the lid. It is cut 50/50 with water before placing it in 1gal jugs. This makes 20 gal of laundry soap that does not go bad. I make it up about once per year.

 

[Susie]

Thank you for writing a detailed response. I appreciate your knowledge and patience with me. I have been looking into ph tests for soap. I think I am going to do the titration method for my soaps. The instructions are in Scientific Soap making.

I am sorry it took so long to respond. I needed to be off the internet for a while due to anxiety.

I don't have anxiety, and I have to take breaks from the news and sometimes the internet to maintain my sanity. You know you better than anyone else does, and if you need to step away from the madness of the internet, you do it. And don't apologize to anyone. If there is one thing we should have learned during this last year is that we need to take care of ourselves, physically as well as mentally.

 

[Susie]

What ratio of washing soda would you recommend adding to laundry LS for small batches? I soap a lot and I would rather have it already in my laundry soap in small batches for the sake of my kids washing their own clothes (13-16 yrs old) and I don’t want them to waste the washing soda.

I wouldn't pre-mix it. I would put a properly sized measuring spoon in the jar with the washing soda and teach them to use it.