# question about homemade laundry soap & musty smelling cloths



## dixiegal62 (Aug 18, 2007)

I made a batch of this laundry soap I didnt use Irish spring though I used octagon soap. At the same time I stated using vinegar as a fabric softener

http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/03/15/how-to-make-your-own-laundry-detergent-and-save-big-money/ 

I loved it it cleaned so much better than tide and the cloths smelled wonderful so nice and fresh but after about a month I noticed something, first my dish cloths started to get a musty smell, then our t shirts and so on. Anyone know why this would happen. I sadly went back to tide. Anyone have any idea why this would happen? I know cloths can get musty if allowed to sit for days all damp without washing but this wasnt the case. I finally got the smell out after going back to tide and adding baking soda to each load but I dont want the added expense of using it in every load..


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## Ninn (Oct 28, 2006)

It might be the bar soap that you are using. Deodorant or fragranced soaps can leave a residue on the fabric. Over time, that will give off an odor. Switch to Fels Naptha, which you can find in the dish soap aisle for about $1 a bar. Or even Castile soap. The Walter Drake catalog has that for 99 cents a bar. And you didn't say. Are you line drying or using the dryer. If you're using the dryer, scrub your lint trap and clean out your hoses. The smell of damp lint can leave a nasty aroma on your laundry.


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## Guest (May 9, 2008)

We make the laundry soap using Fels Naptha, and add a Tbs or two of Dr. Bronner's Sals Suds to each load of clothes. Haven't had any problems at all.


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## dixiegal62 (Aug 18, 2007)

I guess it could be the soap I used octagon, cant find fels naptha anywhere around here.


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## Beaners (Feb 23, 2005)

I find that anything like a dishrag or a towel that gets real wet and doesn't dry quickly will have the same sour musty smell. I always assumed it was because they weren't getting dry fast enough, I never considered that it might be the detergent.

Kayleigh


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## Woodpecker (Mar 8, 2007)

dixiegal62 said:


> I guess it could be the soap I used octagon, cant find fels naptha anywhere around here.


we only have fels naptha around here and i can't stand the smell. i never heard of octagon before ht but im going to look around for it.


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## amyquilt (Apr 26, 2008)

I have this same problem every time I go back to using homemade laundry soap :-( I use CP soap in mine. I even had a gal I know make me custom unscented, "basic" CP soap to use. 

At the suggestion of a friend, I tried bleaching the washing machine to try to make sure it was clean. She had me run a hot wash with bleach only to "clean out" the hoses, etc. I just KNEW that would remedy my problem.

Nope....stale smelling clothes after about a month-1.5 months of using the homemade washing powder.

I use vinegar for the rinse, so there's no problem with build up.

I just love making it and using it, but can't stand the stale smelling clothes. :-(


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## Guest (May 13, 2008)

amyquilt said:


> I have this same problem every time I go back to using homemade laundry soap :-( I use CP soap in mine. I even had a gal I know make me custom unscented, "basic" CP soap to use.
> 
> At the suggestion of a friend, I tried bleaching the washing machine to try to make sure it was clean. She had me run a hot wash with bleach only to "clean out" the hoses, etc. I just KNEW that would remedy my problem.
> 
> ...


I wonder if it has something to do with water chemistry? Maybe what works in one water type doesn't work in another.

Our water here is real hard, but I'm not sure what minerals are in it.


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## amyquilt (Apr 26, 2008)

ladycat said:


> I wonder if it has something to do with water chemistry? Maybe what works in one water type doesn't work in another.
> 
> Our water here is real hard, but I'm not sure what minerals are in it.


I've wondered that, too. Our water is SUPER hard with alot of lime....it's awful.


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## amyquilt (Apr 26, 2008)

Maybe I'll try using some Fels. Our "local" grocery store carries it. I was just trying to stay as natural with it as I could using CP soap. Though Fels is cheaper ;-)


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## dixiegal62 (Aug 18, 2007)

well using tide again is not stopping the moldy smell. I got out a clean wash rag this morning and it reeked, Im at a lose here we have lived here 4 years and this hasnt happened before. I thought it was the homemade soap but I guess not. When I take them out of the washer they dont smell, they smell fresh and clean. The washer doesnt have a bad smell to it. Our house isnt humid the cloths are put up dry. The only other thing Im doing differnt is I started using vinegar instead of fabric softener.


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## ChasingDreams (Apr 8, 2006)

I have found oxi-clean to help w/this issue!


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## donsgal (May 2, 2005)

dixiegal62 said:


> I guess it could be the soap I used octagon, cant find fels naptha anywhere around here.


You can buy it, and anything else you need at www.soapsgonebuy.com

donsgal


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## homemaker9 (Oct 24, 2005)

I have the same problem no matter what I use, Tide, or homemade, or Gain, etc. A little Oxyclean, not a whole cup, and the smell is gone. Haven't tried the oxy with the homemade. I had trouble with clothes turning gray or dingy with homemade. I need to try the homemade again and use the oxy with it.
Fran


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## dixiegal62 (Aug 18, 2007)

thanks I picked up some oxyclean today to try.


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## nodak3 (Feb 5, 2003)

Oxiclean isn't magic, just familiar ingredients.

Here is what the county extension gal told me in ND.

People have become accustomed to not getting the laundry clean, but depending on detergent and softners to scent it so it smells clean.

Whether you switch to homemade detergent, or unscented store products, this problem is common.

Be glad. It tells you you are not getting the clothes truly clean.

Musty smells = bacteria growing in the clothes.

To cure already musty clothes, wash in hottest water they will tolerate with extra detergent or added washing soda (oxiclean), use chlorine bleach on whites, hang dry in strong sun, or dry in dryer. It make take several washings to release the built up body oil and smell. Vinegar will help them rinse well, but does not mask odor.

To prevent this problem, use hotter wash water, more detergent, and sun dry more often.

Or as the neighborhood granny says, "Honey, clean clothes and a clean house don't stink. If yours do, they are not clean. Don't layer on more stink, just get'em clean."


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## Christine in OK (May 10, 2002)

I sometimes soak my kitchen rags in a half and half vinegar and water solution for a few hours before washing them to get rid of that "not quite clean" smell, especially if I can't get them on a line.

I have a short clothes line, but it's just barely enough for hanging up swimming pool towels. I am still working on getting Lance to put me up a regular line where I can hang more things - he thinks a) they're ugly and b) the clothes are not soft enough. I could so beat him over the head with a clothesline pole some days...


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## Woodpecker (Mar 8, 2007)

donsgal said:


> You can buy it, and anything else you need at www.soapsgonebuy.com
> 
> donsgal


thanks for the link.


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## Jan in CO (May 10, 2002)

The greying of clothes was why I stopped using the home made laundry soap, too. Even bleach added to the loads didn't cure the problem. I usually DO hang my laundry outside, except in the coldest winter. Jan in Co


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## Guest (May 18, 2008)

Jan in CO said:


> The greying of clothes was why I stopped using the home made laundry soap, too.


We don't have a problem with greying, but maybe because we add one or two Tbs. of Dr. Bronner's Sals Suds to each load? :shrug:


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## Woodpecker (Mar 8, 2007)

what does octagon smell like? is it strong id rather use that to make my laundry soap than fels naptha because i can't stand the smell!


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## scooter (Mar 31, 2008)

I don't know if this recipe has been posted before, but this is how I make my laundry detergent.

One grated bar of Fels Naptha or Zote
2 cups of Washing soda
2 cups of Borax
2 cups of Oxi-Clean

My clothes always come out fresh and clean. I use it dry, I know that some people make it into liquid, but that's just more work.


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## nodak3 (Feb 5, 2003)

Yep I do dry also. I have very sensitive skin and washing soda or oxiclean can irritate it if it is also pollen season. I use 1 1/2 cups each of the dry ingredients, plus 1 1/2 cup baking soda to gentle it down a bit per bar of fels. Zote is also good. I have even been known to powder all the little bars dh used to get travelling on the job (half used motel soaps) and it worked fine also. I did it with ivory and while I needed a bit hotter water, it was gentle on my skin and worked good also. Folks in ND used their homemade lye soap and warm wash and it worked fine in very hard water.

Really, I do think smell issues are blessings because they tell us whatever we are doing is not really getting the clothes clean. I don't know if she is right, but neighborhood granny said all these pesky yeast infections come from not getting the clothes really clean. Says when she was a young wife (about a million years ago) a woman who got that, or a family hit with thrush, or kids with impetigo (not sure I spelled that right) were a major embarrassment to the housewife. Meant she didn't get her wash clean, kept a dirty dishrag in the kitchen, or generally just was not clean.

I don't think operating room clean is necessary either, but I DO think since they came out with air fresheners, room fresheners, carpet fresheners, fabric fresheners, and stinky laundry products we have started settling for an unhealthy level of dirty.


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## scooter (Mar 31, 2008)

I got to thinking about the musty smelling clothes and was wondering if there could be some kind of build-up in the washing machine. I would try putting a couple of cups of bleach into a tub full of hot water and running the machine through a cycle and see if that would make a difference, that could well be the problem of the musty smell.

One summer I was having that problem, it had been very high humidity and the clothes just weren't smelling clean. I put several cups of bleach in the machine and ran it through a couple of cycles, it seemed to take care of the problem.


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## dixiegal62 (Aug 18, 2007)

scooter you may be on to something Ill give it a try. So far since adding the oxyclean the cloths are smelling better.


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## Marcia in MT (May 11, 2002)

I can't use the homemade soap recipe -- or *any* real soap, for that matter -- bacause our water is so hard. It causes the graying of the clothing that some of you have noticed: the fatty acids in soap combine with the minerals in the water to form an insoluble curd that consequently won't rinse out. Vinegar in the rinse water helps, as it changes the pH of the water and makes the curd less likely to cling. And it helps keep the washer clean, too.

What we normally think of as "dish soap" and "clothes soap" is actually detergent. It cleans but behaves differently in hard water, so there is less curd and it rinses better.


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## copperpennykids (Sep 6, 2004)

scooter said:


> I don't know if this recipe has been posted before, but this is how I make my laundry detergent.
> 
> One grated bar of Fels Naptha or Zote
> 2 cups of Washing soda
> ...


So then how much do you use? The same as you would regular detergent?
I am hoping to make some, but dry sounds so much better than mixing up a 5 gallon bucket and then transferring to plastic gallon jugs.

Thanks.
Camille


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## nodak3 (Feb 5, 2003)

Soft water 2 T. Hard water up to 1/4 cup.


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