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8:58 pm
March 14, 2010
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wvhomecanner
| | North Central WV | |
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No, cannot smell it even sniffing the detergent bottle. Not that I go around sniffing detergent bottles  on a regular basis, but wanted to know that for myself after I mixed it in.
dede
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"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not." ~ The Lorax by Dr. Seuss ~
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5:01 am
March 15, 2010
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CindyP
| | Hart, MI | |
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I always add about 1/4 cup to all my loads of laundry, that's why I was thinking of putting it right in the soap itself, you know to save another step. And I never smell vinegar when I take them out of the washer.
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“Learn all you can from the mistakes of others. You won’t have time to make them all yourself.” ― Alfred Sheinwold
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7:30 am
March 15, 2010
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Suzanne McMinn
| | Sassafras Farm in Roane County, WV | |
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Well that's good to know! Thanks! I'm gonna try that.
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1:18 am
March 19, 2010
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kathy
| | Buna, Texas | |
| Big Chicken | posts 58 | |
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I've been wanting to try this for awhile now, but I can't find washing soda, only regular soda. I've tried our Ace, the big chain stores, and all the grocery stores near me. I can't think of anything short of ordering via internet, which shipping is prohibitive in cost. Can any of you tell me the difference between baking and washing soda? Do any of you know a suitable substitute? Thanks.
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7:15 am
March 19, 2010
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wvhomecanner
| | North Central WV | |
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| posts 3017 | |
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According to their website, re: Arm & Hammer Washing Soda:
You can also find ARM & HAMMER® products at your nearest Walmart,
Costco, Home Depot
or Lowe’s
There is a store finder (by zipcode) on the site but it seems to be throwing an error this morning.
http://www.armandhammer.com/Pr…..ToBuy.aspx
Last night at my local Kroger's I saw it on the shelf in the laundry aisle right next to the 20 Mule Team borax.
I know of no substitute – you could ask your local store to stock it.
HTH
dede
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"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not." ~ The Lorax by Dr. Seuss ~
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7:57 am
March 19, 2010
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CindyP
| | Hart, MI | |
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There is a difference in the two chemically. Baking soda = sodium bicarbonate. Washing soda = sodium carbonate. Baking soda is also gritting, which makes for a great scrubber, but will wear on your clothes.
Washing soda is also sold in pool supply stores as “soda ash”, and is
used to raise the pH of the water. (Read the label to make sure it is
100% Sodium Carbonate). It is much more concentrated than washing soda. There is a comment over in the Homemade Cleaning Recipes with the difference of washing soda and soda ash.
http://suzannemcminn.com/forum…..ers/#p3846
This was in a comments sections of not being able to find washing soda. It was made 12/29/2009, so just a few months ago.
Church & Dwight, makers of Arm & Hammer washing soda, will ship
for FREE if you order two boxes of washing soda or more. I live in
Maui, HI and make my own laundry detergent with it. I could not find it
anywhere so I called the source and they are very nice and ship for
free – even to HI! I pay $9.00 for two boxes and they come in a week or
two. They will even set you up on a regular mailing schedule which is
great, because washing soda is great for so many uses. Their number if
you want to order is 1-800-524-1328, UPC code for washing soda:
33200-03020
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“Learn all you can from the mistakes of others. You won’t have time to make them all yourself.” ― Alfred Sheinwold
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9:10 am
March 19, 2010
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Pete
| | WV | |
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That is a competitive price, too. We have it locally, in the grocery store, and it sells for about that, or a little bit more. Well, it's been a year or so since I bought it, so who knows how much the price has changed. Guess it kinda depends on the size of the box, too!
(Pete's gonna go sit quietly in the corner, again…  )
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Anulos qui animum ostendunt omnes gestemus!
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11:00 am
March 19, 2010
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mommafox
| | S.W.Iowa | |
| Mighty Chicken | posts 184 | |
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I would say with the wealth of information you give us, you are entitled to at least one brain fart.
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"Age is of no importance, unless you are a cheese!"
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11:38 am
March 19, 2010
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Pete
| | WV | |
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Aw, momma. We just try to share what we know – even when it's not much! 
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Anulos qui animum ostendunt omnes gestemus!
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6:08 pm
March 19, 2010
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Farmgirl
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| Banty | posts 7 | |
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Maybe someone that has used homemade laundry detergent could give me some ideas to 'fix' mine? I made a batch of laundry detergent using a different recipe. ( I had not seen Suzanne's post on it, at the time that I made mine.) My recipe came from our local TV news show. I don't like the way my clothes smell. I used the homemade laundry detergent for about three weeks, then we started noticing that after we put them on, with the body heat I guess, they would have a kind of dirty, sweaty oder. They appear clean, and smell wonderful, until you put them on, then, yuk! I have several gallons left, which I have quit using. It just sits there, taking up space. Help!
If it helps, here is the recipe:
4 cups hot tap water
1 Fels- Naptha Soap bar
1 cup Washing Soda
1/2 cup Borax
Shave soap bar, Place in large pot on stove along with 4 cups of hot tap water. Stir over medium heat, constanly stirring. When completely melted, turn off stove and add 1 cup of Washing Soda along with 1/2 cup of Borax. Stir until well blended. When completely dissolved, pour into a 5 gallong bucket and fill with hot tap water to within about 4 inches from the top. This allows you to stir it without splashing it all over. It is very slick if it gets on the floor. Stir until everything is dissolved. Cover tightly with lid and let it sit overnight.
Take lid off of the detergent and stir until until it is evenly mixed.
Take a clean empty gallon jug and fill it 'half way full' with the laundry soap, using a large funnel. Then, fill it the rest of the way with hot, tap water but leave room at the top to shake the soap before you use it. Shake it well before each use.
Use 5/8 cup per load, or 1/4 cup for front load machines.
I have used as much as 2 cups of this in a load of laundry, but the sweaty smell was still present. I have gone back to using commercial laundry detergent, and my clothes smell clean again, I would like to be able to use what I have made up, but don't like it the way it is. Can anyone help? Thanks so much, Sharon
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6:19 pm
March 19, 2010
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CindyP
| | Hart, MI | |
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Oh, that is an absolute bummer! That's about the same recipe, except you're doubling the water when you're adding it to the jug, so maybe diluting it too much for any effectiveness? But, then you're quadrupling the amount you use……………..
Maybe add a cup of white vinegar to the wash? I add it right at the beginning now instead of just in the rinse. It works as a degreaser, odor fighter.
I would try just one load first.
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“Learn all you can from the mistakes of others. You won’t have time to make them all yourself.” ― Alfred Sheinwold
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7:18 pm
March 19, 2010
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Pete
| | WV | |
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It sounds like something somewhere long the line either spoiled, changed chemically, or some such.
I'm trying to remember what it was that we mixed up in HS chemistry class that started out smelling faintly of apples, then when a minute amount of heat and air was applied, it because a very strong odor of human perspiration, rapidly deteriorating to the smell of very dirty gym socks. What we mixed were very ordinary household compounds to get that effect.
Something along those lines is my best guess what happened to you, Sharon. Perhaps in combination with something in your water.
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Anulos qui animum ostendunt omnes gestemus!
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9:25 am
March 20, 2010
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Farmgirl
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| Banty | posts 7 | |
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Thank you, I will try the vinegar and if that doesn't work, I will get rid of it and start over.
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11:15 am
March 20, 2010
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wvhomecanner
| | North Central WV | |
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| posts 3017 | |
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Try grating a bar or two of Ivory soap and adding some to each container. I am not fond of the scent of Fels so I use Zote soap and Ivory in my detergent. And/or you might try making a batch of detergent by the recipe here and mixing it with what you have left of yours. And add Ivory.
HTH
dede
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"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not." ~ The Lorax by Dr. Seuss ~
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10:58 pm
March 20, 2010
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wvhomecanner
| | North Central WV | |
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| posts 3017 | |
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A friend and fellow 'chicken' read this topic and emailed me and said she buys her laundry supplies from
http://www.soapsgonebuy.com
You can buy the individual elements to make your own or you can buy the mix already grated and put together by them.
Dede
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"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not." ~ The Lorax by Dr. Seuss ~
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3:57 pm
March 24, 2010
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juststartn
| | South Central Oklahoma | |
| Big Chicken | posts 41 | |
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The recipe I use comes from here:
http://tipnut.com/10-homemade-…..t-recipes/
I use recipe #1. I always double it (five children, a DH, living on a farm? With geese, cows, dogs, chickens…ugh…and black clay? LOL).
I use Zote soap (a full bar for each 4 gallon batch (I keep it in a 5 gallon bucket, but it's 4 gallon's worth of soap), washing soda (double the amount listed in the recipe), borax (ditto), and add in 2c of baking soda. This last time (I made some yesterday), I boiled some used grapefruit rind in the water before I added the grated soap, fished it out, then continued with the recipe as usual. My soap is now peach-corally colored. Smells okay. I tried the grapefruit cause DH was having the same issue someone else was with the smell (I think that the citronella scent of the Zote is playing into that, somewhat.
I have twins (not-quite 3yr olds) who like to pretend to be firemen (yes, they are boys, how did you guess?! ;-) ), and so I wash every single load with their things in it, with vinegar added to all three cups (front loader washer). The soap part, the bleach part, *and* the rinse aid part. They smell much better that way.
Make sure you are using warm or hot water for your wash, btw, especially if you have a septic system. That way, the soap is completely dissolved, broken up, etc, and not sent to 'float' in your septic tank. It ain't pretty (or so I have heard–I always wash with warm water, as a minimum, now).
The vinegar rinse seems to help with the smell issue, as it definitely removes any "ammonia-ey" odor from the boys "target practice", that just soap doesn't seem to do. As cheap as it is, and as little as I have to use? It is not a big deal for me to keep a bottle of vinegar in the wash room, to pour a little in every load.
Also, I use this in my dishwasher as well, and white vinegar in the rinse aid compartment. BEAUTIFULLY shiny dishes.
HTH
Rachel
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5:06 pm
March 24, 2010
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Pete
| | WV | |
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| posts 7875 | |
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Ahhh, that needing to use warm or hot water for everything is the OTHER reason I haven't tried this! (Knew there was one, just couldn't remember what it was!) We use cold for everything excpt those things we add oxyclean to and wash in warm water for that.
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Anulos qui animum ostendunt omnes gestemus!
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5:10 pm
March 24, 2010
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wvhomecanner
| | North Central WV | |
| Moderator
| posts 3017 | |
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I use cold with mine with few exceptions. Not a problem.
dede
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"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not." ~ The Lorax by Dr. Seuss ~
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5:26 pm
March 24, 2010
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Pete
| | WV | |
| Moderator
| posts 7875 | |
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Our septic system is quite picky… 
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Anulos qui animum ostendunt omnes gestemus!
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7:04 am
March 25, 2010
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Leahld22
| | Newburgh, IN | |
| Superstar | posts 2673 |
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Do you grate the bar with a cheese grater?
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Life is too important to be taken too seriously.
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