# Homemade laundry soap



## Silverstar7337

I have been making our laundry soap for six months now. Although I love the savings, our clothes are clean, and it smells ok, I still can't get that nice clean clothes smell. I use lavender scented soap, add lavender essential oil, and a lavender dryer sheet and it still looses its smell in the dryer. I have even tried adding more oil drops directly to the load!! Also after our clothes sit in the drawer for a few weeks they have this weird unscent... Kinda mustyness... I can deal with it I guess but I do so miss that yummy clean laundry smell... Any suggestions?


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## lovecat131

I am looking into the idea of making my own laundry detergent so i am very excited to watch this thread and see what i can learn. Is it a pretty good savings?


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## KyMama

I had the same problem when I started using homemade. Here is the thread where I asked basically the same question and got some good answers. I'm still doing the softener in the vinegar and it gives it a lighter scent than straight softener. 

HTH


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## Fourthistles

I think we have become so "trained" to think that everything must have a scent that we believe there is something wrong if clothes don't smell like anything. My best solution is to line dry; then everything has that outdoor "sunshine" smell.


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## linn

Perhaps the homemade soap is not rinsing out of the clothes like the store brand. Try an extra rinse cycle to see if that helps. Our water is so hard that I am unable to use homemade laundry mix. Instead I use a brand called ECOS.


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## TJN66

I use homemade laundry soap but I use downy in the rinse cycle. I know its expensive but I love the way the clothes feel so soft. I have tried vinegar but didnt care for the texture of the clothes afterwards. I also use a dryer sheet in the dryer. With coupons I usually get them for free or really cheap.


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## Suzyq2u

I add about 3-4 mixing cups of softener to my 5 gallons. Some things (like comforters) I'll add a little more to in the actual load. But the best way I've found to keep the scent is to line dry.


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## backwoods

I put soap, borax, super washing soda, & I also add 1/2 cup baking soda. The clothes always smell clean. A few times I've also added a "store bought" bottle of detergent that I like, to the home made detergent & that adds a nice scent. It also seemed to help emulsify the detergent so that it didn't separate as much.


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## MullersLaneFarm

I prefer to use detergent for washing my clothes.

I do use homemade laundry soap (100% coconut, 0% SF) with added borax and washing soda as a pre-soak for DH's dirty work clothes but use detergent in the washing machine.

For those of you with front loading machines, be careful with using the soap.


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## Tirzah

I've tried both liquid and powder handmade laundry detergent and have been disappointed with both. Even using vinegar in the rinse cycle, the looks didn't look as clean and felt like there was residue.

I use Charlie's soap which is great AND cost efficient, 1 Tbsp. per load.


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## Silverstar7337

Thanks for all the tips. I'll use up the huge batch I have made and then try something else till I get it right. Mrs.meyers is advertising a one tbls a load laundry soap and I love the way their stuff smells! We have been using ethos before I started making mine and the scent is pleasant in the container but again I can't smell it on my clothes. I'll keep trying and update


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## Country Lady

I've found a fabric softener at Dollar Tree that has a good smell for $1.00. I've been adding a little of that to give it a little smell.


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## giraffe_baby

I just use the Unstoppables or the Purex brand crystals... keep fresh for few weeks...


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## secretcreek

If clothes look dingy, and /or have that "old pillowcase" smell, I've found that a wash where I add liquid ammonia to the wash makes all the difference. I soak really soiled clothes and you can see the oils dissolve out of the cloth. The ammonia takes care of that old musty "pillowcase" or "oily guy" scent left in clothes no matter how much you launder them. Just use ammonia as needed or it weakens rubber/elastic in clothing. 

In a SHTF scenario ammonia can be made with ...aged urine. Saw this on 1600's farm/Tales From The Green Valley...

-scrt crk


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## Pam in KY

I thought I may as well jump in here... I started making my own powdered laundry detergent about 8-9 months ago and have made a few discoveries.

1. That clean laundry smell doesn't last very long - esp. after it's been through the dryer. I use the cheapest dryer sheets I can find at Wal-Mart/Dollar store and that's the scent that remains on my clothes.

2. We have hard water and I'm a little disappointed with the effectiveness of the home made powered detergent...even though I even added Oxy Clean to the original recipe. I did start allowing each load of wash soak for 30-60 mins (longer if I forgot!) and that did seem to help, but one doesn't always have the time nor inclination to do that.

Not being one to give up on a project, I'm about to embark on making the liquid version of the home made soap in hopes that it does a better job. I've seen different recipes for the liquid soap and boy do some of them vary, (some doubled their volume by adding 50% more water but IMO decreased the strength by half), so am using what I feel is the strongest recipe since it's the same ingredients as the powder, just 'cooked'. 

Has anyone else used both home made powder & liquid and what were your results?


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## MullersLaneFarm

We also have hard water, full of iron.

I use my homemade laundry soap only as a prewash, when needed. For actual laundering of the clothes, I use a commercial detergent.


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## lathermaker

Don't use regular soap bars to make your laundry soap. They contain extra oils and conditioners that will build up on the clothes and leave them musty smelling after a while. Use something like Zote or Fels Naptha or a homemade soap made with ZERO lye discount. If your water is really hard with a high mineral content, you're better off using regular detergent, the homemade laundry soap will not work correctly.


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## TJN66

Has anyone figured out how much per load it is to use the homemade? I bought some xtra laundry detergent at family dollar. It was 8.50 for 166 loads. I bought 3 bottles for 25.50 but had a $5 off $25 so it came out to 22.54 (including tax) for 498 loads or just under 5cents per load. I didnt think that was too bad. I will be trying to figure out how much the homemade is next time I need to make it.


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## TNnative

I've tried both the homemade liquid and the homemade powder. I'm not really pleased with it. Regular clothes come out clean but anything very dirty, like jeans, I have to wash twice. Not sure what I am doing wrong......


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## Daydreamer7102

How about putting something that you like the smell of in the drawers? A dryer sheet, lavender sachet, bar of scented soap, or line them with some cedar maybe.


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## secretcreek

After one month of using my homemade liquid laundry soap, I am really happy with it. I used Fels Naptha and I used a tiny amount of patchouli oil, so my soap smells so good. Also I didn't expect it, but my clothes come out softer than when I used store bought liquid detergent. For dirty clothes I pretreat of add straight ammonia. I use good quality drier sheets as I found for me- when I used the cheapo ones I got a waxy coating on our clothes and the dryer lint trap got gummed up.


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## Wendy

I make homemade goat milk soap using lard, coconut oil, goat milk, & lye. I use the scraps to make my laundry soap & have not had any problems with it. I do not use fabric softener in the washer. I do use dryer sheets in the dryer, but try to hang them out most times.


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## Groene Pionier

MullersLaneFarm said:


> I prefer to use detergent for washing my clothes.
> 
> I do use homemade laundry soap (100% coconut, 0% SF) with added borax and washing soda as a pre-soak for DH's dirty work clothes but use detergent in the washing machine.
> 
> For those of you with front loading machines, be careful with using the soap.


I have a front loading machine, why should I be careful?


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## MullersLaneFarm

Groene,
I'm only going by what I've been told, not by personal experience, so keep that in mind.

I've been told that using soap instead of detergents with front loaders will gum up the drums and start causing problems with the machine.

My top loader is over 15 years old, still going strong. It isn't the purtiest, but it works well and I see no reason to upgrade.


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## grammajudy

I found if I use the extra rinse cycle, my clothes don't smell bad in a couple days.


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## Forlane

We have been using our own Home made Laundry soap for over a year now. I have never smelled anything but clothing. Fels Naptha completely rinses out of the clothing leaving no residual smell. If you want to make your clothes have a smell to them, buy some essential oils and try spritzing them on a cloth before throwing into the dryer.


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## secretcreek

I use my homemade liquid laundry soap ( Fels/B-powder/Borax)...and it's fine but for items that need nuked I am able to afford those tide lumps that whiten and freshen the stinky stuff better. I never bought them before but by making my main laundry soap I can splurge a bit and keep whites brilliant and sweaty stuff comes out so fresh.


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## libertygirl

I've been using Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap (hemp/Almond) for a couple months now. Clothes come out clean, I do use softener in the rinse. Our clothes don't retain as much of a smell as when I was using Tide, but they are clean and don't have any foul smell or residue. I can't tell what the cost per load would be as I also having been using it for my shampoo. Maybe on the next full bottle I will figure it out. I use 3 capfulls in a load with dirty pants and 2 capfulls in all other loads. Also I do have a front load washer.


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## ralph perrello

Why must everything have a scent or rather, STINK! I go into the laundrymat sometimes and the place reeks of all different scents so it makes my stomach do hand stands.

My home is scent free and I use scent free laundry detergent then get stink from the dryer which is residue from all the dryer sheets. It is so bad at times that I rewash the clothes.

There are all kinds of pollution and scent pollution ranks right up toward the top of the list IMHO.


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