| Archive for Downsizer For an ethical approach to consumption |
| judith |
Cheap and easy laundry soap recipeI wanted to try out my home-made soap for laundry before I went ahead and posted the recipe. I've been experimenting for about a month now, and I am pleased to report that it definitely washes better than the “green” washing liquid that I was using before. The acid test was the muddy nose marks that the pigs leave at about knee height whenever I go to feed them – the liquid barely shifted those at all, while the soap seems to get them out without a trace. At the risk of sounding like a soap powder commercial, that was enough to convince me.The other potential sticking point was whether OH could be bothered to use it and, provided that I grate it up and store it in a big jar ready for use, he is happy to carry on with it. So a result all round, I think. Following Sally-in-Wales’ very helpful guide from a while back, I put two heaped tablespoons of the grated soap into the washing ball thingy, top up with hot water and stir a bit to dissolve. I also put a small amount of vinegar in the fabric conditioner drawer. We have nice soft water here, so I don’t bother with borax. I sometimes add a bit of the Ecover bleach alternative if I’m doing a whites load (don’t put in the washing ball as it reacts with the soap and froths all over the place). This is the soap recipe I am using and I can’t recommend it highly enough for simplicity. I’m a complete beginner at this soap-making lark, and I've used it twice now with no problems whatsoever. I don't think I would use the soap for washing me as it doesn’t lather very well, but for the washing machine it is great. And very cheap! 1 lb lard ¾ cup cold full-fat milk 2 oz caustic soda crystals 2 t essential oil (optional) 1. Put the lard in a stainless steel saucepan and melt very slowly. 2. Put the milk in a bowl, and very gradually add the caustic soda crystals. Stir each addition with a wooden spoon until the crystals have dissolved. This will take 5 – 10 minutes to do thoroughly. The milk will heat up quite a lot and will turn a bright yellow colour (don't worry about this!). 3. Take the lard off the heat and stir in the milk. Then take a stick blender and mix to trace (this takes less than a minute). It will look like and have the texture of butterscotch blancmange. If you want to add essential oils, do so at this stage. 4. Pour into moulds (I use a square baking tray lined with clingfilm) and leave to set for 24 hours. It seems to set perfectly well without swathing in towels to keep warm. Cut the bars and then cure for 3 weeks before using. The butterscotch colour gradually fades to creamy white as the soap sets and cures. |
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| Anna-marie |
Hi Judith,
I would like to try this recipe, but is it ok to use a vegetarian alternative to the lard? Thanks, Anna-marie |
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| judith |
I don't think you can do a straight swap of lard for another fat. They all have different saponification values, and I think you can get into all sorts of trouble if you don't get the quantities right.
I have certainly seen other recipes with milk / oil on the web, but I haven't tried them and so wouldn't want to recommend any. The only reason I used lard was because I had lots of it in the freezer from our first two porkers, which made the recipe very cheap indeed! Cab and Sally-in-Wales are planning a soap-making masterclass soon - I think that will be entirely vegetable-based. |
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| Anna-marie |
Thanks for your reply, Judith.
Perhaps I should wait until the masterclass? I'm more likely to get it right, then. 
Thanks once again, Anna-marie |
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| Sarah D |
I use the vegetable fat in a straight wieght-for-weight swap in soap recipes with no problems, then my vegetarian daughter can use the soap. I tend to use what's in the fridge as well.
Meant to add it just makes a slightly softer soap than the lard/tallow version. |
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| Anna-marie |
Thank you Sarah, I'll try the vegetable fat then - when I finally manage to get some time!!
Do you use anything in the fridge?  (sorry - couldn't resist!!) 
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| Sarah D |
Only the stuff that doesn't go into wine or jam.............. 
I actually meant fat-wise, but having read it back it wasn't very clear, was it? The last lot I used was Crisp and Dry, but won;t be using that again as it's one of Unilever's.  Trex was fine too.
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| Anna-marie |
Sorry, Sarah, I don't know why, but I had a weird vision of you chucking everything out of the fridge, into your soap!!
Especially yoghurt - why on earth did I think of yoghurt??? 
It was just a bit of lateral thinking on my part
Trex is good - I have Trex in my fridge already, but don't do much baking at the moment  Hubby won't eat it!! 
Anyway, thanks for the tip. I'll try and get around to making some soap one day. 
Is it OK to use any essential oil in it? Thanks, Anna-marie |
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| Sarah D |
Yes, any you liked, added at trace. Be aware that it requires quite a lot to scent the soap enough - I use over a teaspoon usually. | ||
| Anna-marie |
OK, Sarah, thanks.
Anna-marie |
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| 2steps |
how much of this soap should I use per wash? and can I grat it all and store it or should I leave it whole and grate as needed? | ||
| judith |
I use about 8 teaspoons per load. It goes in the ball thingy with a bit of hot water to start it dissolving.
I have been just grating up a jarful every time, using the fine side of my cheesegrater. It looks like little worms! What I have found, though, is that the soap is becoming harder, and thus harder to grate, as it ages, so if you have the time and the energy, it might be a good idea to do the whole lot at once and store it in a big box or jar. |
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| 2steps |
thank you
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| Stacey |
Would you be able to add water to the grated soap to make laundry liquid? I don't have one of those balls and prefer a gloop of liquid in the washer. | ||
| judith |
I don't see why you shouldn't do that - it is effectively what I do in tiny batches in the wash ball. You would have to experiment a bit in terms of quantities, but it makes sense to make up a big bottle of the stuff all in one go. |
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| wellington womble |
I did this with my first batches of soap, only I cheated and minced it (easier on the knuckles but still good exercise!) I didn't use a wash ball either (cos I don't have one) just chucked a couple of tablespoonfuls in with the washing. It wasn't great for whites, but it worked OK. I mixed it with washing soda crystals and borax, I can dig out the exact recipe if anyone isn't lucky enough to have water as soft as Judiths! | ||
| judith |
Luck? Luck didn't come into it. When we were househunting, we had our list of priorities, and a good pub within walking distance and nice-tasting water were pretty high on that list, I can tell you!
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| wellington womble |
Unusal criteria for housing! (mind you, so is proximity of footpaths, which is top on mine!) | ||
| judith |
Yes, we forgot about the footpaths - they are an important consideration. They will go on the list if we ever move from here! | ||
| sally_in_wales |
If you are swapping fats around in a soap recipe, just crunch the numbers using this online calculator and you'll get the lye right. For laundry, you want to avoid too much excess fat (superfatting), so you work with a tiny bit more lye than you would in a bath soap recipe.
http://www.thesage.com/calcs/lyecalc2.php As an example, a soap made with 1kg lard needs 137g lye (I picked a full nember within the 'red' band on their recipe- if it was soap for bathing I'd personally have used only 131g), but if you look at their notes on 'shortening' (veg fat) you'll see that it varies a lot but they use a soyoil based one, so crunching those numbers gives you only 134g lye for the same laundry soap. Its worth finding out what oils are in your preferred veg fat cos a few grams of lye too much can make a really nasty soap. A lot of soapers use Pura solid veg fat, the sap values for that seem to be quite widely known- I'll try to put my hands on it later. I also grate all mine for laundry and fill an large jam jar, then I fill a smaller jamajar and add boiling water to make a soft soap paste, i add a couple of drops of essential oil if I feel like having scented laundry, then use a tablespoon of this gloop in the machine. Often i add a sprinkle of washing soda on heavy loads, and if I have any to hand I put a bit of vinegar in teh rinse sid section |
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| judith |
It looks like I'm going to have to buy some new scales - mine only measure in increments of 1/4 oz or 5g (I think). | ||
| Blue Peter |
A couple of questions, which are probably general, but it was this thread which made me think, so I'll put them here:
1. Is (homemade) soap environmentally friendly? 2. Would this laundry soap be safe to use on the clothes and nappies of babies and young children? 3. And, I suppose generally, how would homemade soaps "react with" young children? Peter. |
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| judith |
There are the starting materials to be taken into account - you can't get away from the fact that you need lye. I confess I don't know what is the environmental impact of industrial lye production. You could make your own starting from wood ashes and water, but I don't think I would want to use the end result for babies' clothes. The choice of oils/fats also comes into it - but you can choose those to suit your conscience / pocket. 2. IMO yes - see next answer. 3. From my own experience, I had to stop using fabric conditioner as it made me itch. I now find I am also quite sensitive to the perfumes and other ingredients in most detergents. if I walk down the detergent aisle in a supermarket, I find my eyes start to stream and I can't stop sneezing. This doesn't happen with the "green" detergents and I have no sensitivity to the home-made soap, but I find that the soap washes better than Ecover or whatever. The homemade soap does involve a bit of faff, but I would say the environmental impact is way, way lower than any commercially produced detergent. |
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| Blue Peter |
Cheers for that. As a general question, what's the difference between detergents and soaps? and why do industrail companies make the latter and not the former? Peter. |
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| 2steps |
when I grate my soap is it safe to use our normal food grater or should I buy another one to use? | ||
| sally_in_wales |
Should be fine, just give it an extra good wash or next time you grate cheese it might taste funny! | ||
| 2steps |
thankyou. | ||
| giraffe |
I really want to have a go at making this. Does anyone know if the recipe will work for hot processing as well? |