| Archive for Downsizer For an ethical approach to consumption |
| colour it green |
homemade laundry soap?has anyone made their own laundry soap? we have access to a lot of animal fat.. what with the mutton and pigs.. so was thinking about itdoes it ruin the washing machine clogging it up etc? |
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| Chez |
I use grated soap. It's fine - so far, anyway. | ||
| sally_in_wales |
grated soap works fine for me, though I do often alternate one load of homemade soap plus a glug of vinegar in the rinse drawer and one load of ecover liquid these days, just laziness on my part, I have used home made soap exclusively for months on end with no problems.
I find if you have a really grubby load to do, a spoonful of washing soda directly into the drum makes a good addition to the soap, and the vinegar in teh rinse aid bit helps ensure it all rinses clean afterwards |
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| colour it green |
vinegar instead of fabric conditioner? dont the clothes smell .. vinegary? | ||
| nettie |
No they just smell lovely and fresh. We use vinegar to deodorise the cat litter tray effectively too.
Have used soap flakes mixed with soda and borax for years in the same machine with no clogging probs. Once in a while I run a really hot wash with no cleaning agents just to flush the machine through. |
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| BethinPA |
I use vinegar instead of fabric softener (kids and I have contact allergies), and the clothes don't smell like pickles. I use a healthy glug of lemon juice in the white loads, seems to brighten them more than vinegar.
Never had a problem adding borax or bicarbonate of soda to boost the detergent, either. I imagine the vinegar keeps everything cleaned out. |
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| mochyn |
I've heard that mutton fat can make a mutton-smelling soap. I only use pig fat for soap because I have a lot of it! | ||
| colour it green |
hm yeh i heard that too.. i spose i was hoping it would nto matter so much for laundry... but i guess we shall still walk about smelling of mutton. or possibly pickled mutton.. 
do you do a recipe using only pig fat? I'm reluctant to get into using palm oil etc with it .. as that sort of defeats the object.. I'm a newbie to soap making.. with my son's sensory issues, we have gone over to liquid soap (ecover) at every sink. And liquid soap looks even more complicated to make than bar soap but laundry soap could be a winner |
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| sally_in_wales |
whatever fat you use, make sure you check the lye quantities needed for that particular fat before you start, you can't interchage say lard for olive oil and use the same amount of caustic soda.
Liquid soap isnt hard, but you need a different type of lye and a hot process method. Happy to talk you through it when you get round to having a go. |
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| colour it green |
oh I'd definitely like to have a go at liquid soap - can it be made with locally obtained fats... or does it have to be a liquid one like olive oil or something? thanks for the hint re different fats.. I have a soap making book somewhere, with a chart ... |
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| sally_in_wales |
You can use solid fats, but you are likely to get some 'figging' where the stearin in the fats makes a sort of snowflake effect in the finished soap. Its not a problem, just something to be aware of. Mostly though, you use potassium hydroxide rather than sodium hydroxide and a larger amountof water once the soap paste has cooked out.
Easiest way to do the maths is to use this http://www.thesage.com/calcs/lyecalc2.php just tell it which sort of lye, the weight of fat and it tells you how much lye and water to use |
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| Chez |
I make a very successful soap using mochristy's recipe here but sometimes substituting Pura vegetable fat rather than lard. It's whatsit-values are close enough that you don't need to fiddle around with the amount of caustic. Obviously you can leave out the rosemary. |
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| Ian33568 |
We use half and half i.e. half commercial plain powder and half grated soap made from pig fat - works well for us. | ||
| ksia |
Has anyone made soap from horse chestnut leaves?
There's an article in the recent Living Woods and it seems easy, but it doesn't say anything about usage. |