What to do if you run out of laundry soap...

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If I run out of laundry soap, I still do laundry! Try a capful of shampoo, a squirt of dish soap, or my favorite, just melt down some bar soap in a pan of water and make it liquid. I used this once for a whole winter when I didn't have much money. Cale had worked out of town and brought home these tiny bars of soap. (The hotel gave them 2 little bars a day, but he only used one or two a week, so he had lots of them.) I melted them in an old pan, covered it with a lid and used a small scoop for each load. After a while it would get thick, so I would add some water and another little bar of soap and melt it again. The clothes smelled good, and were just as clean as with the laundry soap. It is worth a try at least. I like to do laundry each day as well, but I take Sunday off!

-- Melissa in SE Ohio (me@home.net), March 07, 2002

Answers

That's the greatest thing about making your own laundry detergent - you never have to run out and can mix it up anytime - even at 2:00 in the morning if you want to! (Well, you don't run out as long as you keep the ingrediants on hand). The recipe calls for it to set overnight, but you can use it right away.

Just another note: Since Fels Naptha is so expensive (about $1.15 a bar) - I have been substituting 1/4 bar of the Fels Naptha and 1/4 bar of Octagon (.69 a bar). I have been getting the same cleaning results and find it actually jels up better.

-- Karen (mountains_mama2@hotmail.com), March 07, 2002.


I've been using Ivory soap. It's inexpensive and I like the way it smells!

-- Jean (schiszik@tbcnet.com), March 07, 2002.

I meant in the laundry soap recipe, not by itself!

-- Jean (schiszik@tbcnet.com), March 07, 2002.

Heres a tip I picked up when I used to do laundry for a theatre company-use the cheap pink dish soap you can buy at dollar stores. Its terrible for dishes, but its great for washing clothes! You can use it for any laundry, but its really good for fine handwahables- never, never use Woolite! also, Murphy soap does a great job with grimy collars.

-- Kelly (Homarts2002@yahoo.com), March 07, 2002.

Kelly,

1) What's wrong with Woolite? Not that I care as I rarely ever use it, but just wondering.

2) Why does the dish soap work so well on clothes if not dishes?

3) Do you know if the dish soap works in hard water?

I'm like most of you, I've used whatever's handy if I ran out of laundry soap. Can't say I've ever noticed much difference between shampoo or dish soap and the high priced laundry soaps. Where we are now, though, the water is really quite hard, so I went from using powdered soaps to the liquid, as the powder would leave streaks on our clothes.

-- Lenette in OR (kigervixen@webtv.net), March 08, 2002.



pine soil ,,for my work clothes,, gets alot of stains out,, and smells better also

-- Stan (sopal@net-port.com), March 08, 2002.

Here is my favorite: I make my own laundry soap of course, and to get out really bad spots, Dawn dish soap. I try to put it on as soon as the stain is acquired, ( not always possible ), and let it set till laundry day. I have never Not gotten out a stain with it. Including pasta sauce, and motor grease ( spray motor grease with wd- 40 first.)

-- Kristean Thompson (pigalena_babe@yahoo.com), March 08, 2002.

How much dish liquid (hand dish liquid, not dishwasher gel) should you use per load in a frontloader?

-- GT (nospam@nospam.com), March 10, 2002.

Hi GT, I don't know for sure. I have been experimenting and about 1 Tablespoon is enough for my top loader. I am checking to see how many loads I can get and my price per load.

-- Melissa in SE Ohio (me@home.net), March 10, 2002.

Thanks, Melissa, I'd better start with a teaspoon or so and work up from there. When frontloaders oversoap, it is no fun!

-- GT (nospam@nospam.com), March 10, 2002.


Lenette- Woolite has a chemical in it-I don't remember now what it is that is "great on stains, rough on clothes"-it is particuarlly hard on antique fabrics. Its seems harsh on my hands as well. Plus, its expensive. Also I think(just me personally) that it has a funny chemical smell-the pink stuff smells better. I don't like the pink soap for dishes because it doesn't cut grease and I don't think it gets them clean. I have hard water here, and the pink soap does fine for clothes-I believe the liquid is eaier to wash out. Now, I've only used it for handwahing, I havn't put it in the machine, though I have hand washed jeans and such with it. If I were to run out of laundry soap, I have a pressure washer that I use, and I use the pink soap for that. Why it gets clothes clean but not dishes is beyond me! For dishes and tough clothes stains I use Dawn. I love that stuff-it gets dishes clean, it dosn't irratate my hands and its safe for septic fields. I buy the regular blue Dawn at Dollar General-it pretty cheap there, but thats one thing I would pay extra for.

-- Kelly (homearts2002@yahoo.com), March 10, 2002.

Stan,

Try putting some DL hand cleaner on the grease stains. Let it soak in and keep putting more on. I've done this to a white sweater when I leaned up against the track to the garage door. It took almost a week of constant DL hand cleaner rubbed in, but it did come out.

-- Charleen in WNY (charney@roochester.rr.com), March 10, 2002.


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