Tips for liquid laundry soap?

[FlybyStardancer]

For my first liquid soap, I'm looking to make laundry soap, more-or-less based on the Soaping 101 video (link to the video at the end of the post[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TpYqYDU5vU"][/ame]). I do want to make some changes... Such as replacing the lard with one of the veggie oils I have on hand (canola and liquid soy) and neutralizing with borax instead of citric acid.

Which of those oils would be better for toning down the harshness of the coconut oil?

And for some context idea of how it would get used at my house... I have an old top-loader where all of my clothes get washed on cold. It was leaking a few years ago, and when Dad replaced the leaky seal, he did something that has caused the water pressure for filling the washer to drop dramatically, especially with the cold water. When I do run it on hot, it's for a load of towels/washcloths/dishcloths. I use the same soap/detergent for delicate items as I do normal clothes, and I have wool socks that I throw in with the normal clothes so that they get machine dried (all of the other delicates get hang-dried so they're their own load). The tap water here is pretty much liquid rock, a combination of hard city water and old pipes making it worse. I don't really care of laundry soap creates a lot of bubbles (I don't end up seeing it anyways!), but I do care that it dissolves and cleans the clothes. I'm planning on buying a downy ball to add vinegar to the rinse cycle next time I get to a store that has it.

I'd appreciate suggestions! I'm trying to reduce the number of synthetics and extremely processed products I use in my life.

And the Soaping 101 video:
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TpYqYDU5vU[/ame]

 

[Seawolfe]

Hi - Im another newbie and I've made laundry bar soap - which I grate and mix with borax and washing soda. Im super pleased with how it works dry, but as a liquid (melt the grated soap in hot water, later add washing soda and and borax), it definately needs shaking and is snotty. So your liquid soap intrigues me! My HE washer wouldn't like all those bubbles I dont think, but it looks like it would make a nice dish soap. I wonder if borax and citric acid have the same neutralizing power and why she used citric acid?

If you're going to be replacing oils, you probably want to check on soapcalc to be sure the lye is right and that it will do what you want. My laundry bars used vegetable crisco and coconut oil.

 

[Susie]

I used the S101 recipe to the letter. It works great. I have made 2 batches thus far, one regular size, and one 3lb batch. I use it in a top loader HE washer for all types of fabrics as well as hand washables. I am allergic to darn near everything, so having soap I can use safely is a big deal. I don't really care about bubbles, but having clean clothes is different. I even use this to pre-treat stains.

 

[Dahila]

I made a few weeks ago laundry soap using only coconut oil. I grated and mixed with water and borax and washing soda, I added some baking soda. After 4 days it is pretty thick and after shaking it stays thick for some time. I mixed well and poured to small bucket, it will be used first. I did two loads in my front loader, and everything came smelling like citrus and lemon grass which I added to it.

 

[FlybyStardancer]

Oh, I'd definitely be running any new recipe through a calculator before using it! Though not SoapCalc... I saw a very recent post on a liquid soaps group that their KOH calculator wasn't taking into consideration the impurities in KOH (thought that was supposedly recently fixed), and it doesn't automatically do the lye excess needed in liquid recipes that call for an excess/neutralization. I'm still planning on using SoapCalc for solid soaps, though!

Both borax and citric acid will neutralize lye. I don't know why she chose citric acid. It may have been just what she had on hand at the time she made that video. It also could be in part because borax is supposed to be slightly harder to dissolve than citric acid. Meanwhile I have a nearly a whole box of borax on hand, and only feel comfortable using in with laundry. (So far I've only used the borax in homemade ant bait!) Plus, I hope to have the laundry soap done by the time my shipment with citric acid comes in!

 

[FlybyStardancer]

I used the S101 recipe to the letter. It works great. I have made 2 batches thus far, one regular size, and one 3lb batch. I use it in a top loader HE washer for all types of fabrics as well as hand washables. I am allergic to darn near everything, so having soap I can use safely is a big deal. I don't really care about bubbles, but having clean clothes is different. I even use this to pre-treat stains.

My only problem with the S101 recipe is that it calls for lard! It's not really an ingredient I want to use in my basic soaps. I do want to replace the lard with a veggie oil that will work just as well, that I also already have on hand (hence my trying to decide between canola and liquid soy to replace the lard).

I made a few weeks ago laundry soap using only coconut oil. I grated and mixed with water and borax and washing soda, I added some baking soda. After 4 days it is pretty thick and after shaking it stays thick for some time. I mixed well and poured to small bucket, it will be used first. I did two loads in my front loader, and everything came smelling like citrus and lemon grass which I added to it.

I want to skip the step of having to grate solid bars, plus I'm a bit worried about NaOH soaps dissolving in my tricksy washer! Hence me using a KOH liquid soap as the base. I'm also a bit worried about 100% coconut oil soaps being too harsh for the more delicate items, especially the ones that go in normal loads where the amount of soap doesn't get reduced.

 

[Dahila]

I already used it for two weeks, and everything came very clean, I do not add a lot and then I dissolve it in hot water in small jar, shake and pour it to washer with water... Front loader. Will watch how the clothes survive it)

 

[new12soap]

If you want to use a non-animal oil to blend with the coconut, I would recommend palm. Making a laundry soap out of canola will make your clothes smell like they just came out of an old fryer. Not sure about the soy.

Since you wash everything in cold water, you may want to have the extra cleansing of all coconut.

Soapcalc has updated and now has an option for 90% pure KOH. I would say to use the lye calc of your choice and just set your superfat for 0, and don't worry about having to neutralize it, although you can thicken it with borax or add borax and/or washing soda to boost the cleaning power.

 

[FlybyStardancer]

I already used it for two weeks, and everything came very clean, I do not add a lot and then I dissolve it in hot water in small jar, shake and pour it to washer with water... Front loader. Will watch how the clothes survive it)

lol I'd never remember to pre-dissolve in hot water! Honestly, the fewer steps when it comes to getting laundry in, the better the chances I'll actually do it. Yay that it's working for you!

If you want to use a non-animal oil to blend with the coconut, I would recommend palm. Making a laundry soap out of canola will make your clothes smell like they just came out of an old fryer. Not sure about the soy.

Since you wash everything in cold water, you may want to have the extra cleansing of all coconut.

Soapcalc has updated and now has an option for 90% pure KOH. I would say to use the lye calc of your choice and just set your superfat for 0, and don't worry about having to neutralize it, although you can thicken it with borax or add borax and/or washing soda to boost the cleaning power.

Honestly, I'm even less likely to use palm oils than I am AO, not to mention I don't want to buy any more oils until I use up what I have. I made the soap a few days ago, and honestly it just smelled like butternut squash to me. It's sequestering now until I use up the storebought it's replacing.

I saw the SoapCalc update. Came a bit too late for this batch, though! Heh.

 

[Susie]

Suspicious me...

I double checked Soapcalc with SBM Advanced Calc. They were close enough. +/- 1 gm on the recipes I checked.