11 May 2009

Update: Laundry Soap

If you've been reading this blog for awhile (thanks), you may remember that I made Laundry Soap in September. I am happy to report that ONE BATCH lasted me all the way until this week. That's almost eight months of doing 4-5 loads of laundry per week for the Wise and Bearded One and myself (we're not very good about rewearing clothes between washes). Plus there was a lot of pre-washing of hand-me-down baby clothes. And then these last 9 weeks we've been washing at least one load a day, and usually two, just to stay on top of the cloth diapering situation. All that to say that one batch of laundry soap lasts a heckuva long time--at least 180 loads!

Tonight I made a quick 1/4th batch with stuff I had on hand but I'll need to make another big batch this summer. I can recommend this laundry soap by saying that for the normal kinds of laundry (not too soiled) I can't tell the difference between this and the store bought brands. It's even been doing pretty well with the cloth diapers. I do a quick cold wash to just rinse the doggone diapies and then I add other baby clothes, towels, etc. and do a hot cycle with the laundry soap. There are a few light stains left on some of the poopy diapers but I'm planning to occasionally run the whole batch through with Oxyclean to make them whiter.

My worst laundry problem is grease spots on t-shirts. Any ideas out there on how to deal with this? So far, dish soap seems to be the best grease fighter that I've found but it seems like there should be an even better solution.

8 comments:

Nicki said...

Now that summer is near, just hang those stained diapers in the sun - you will be so amazed watching the sun bleach away the stains. No oxyclean needed.

Joy said...

That is impressive how long it lasted.
I'm toying with the idea of doing the laundry soap. Working up the nerve.


Joy

Anonymous said...

I read somewhere that you can treat grease stains by sprinkling some coarse salt and liquid soap on the stain, work it together well and let it set there for a little while before washing. I have tried it a few times and it has worked on the not too set in grease stains. way to go on the laundry soap!

chrissy

Mary said...

I'm impressed! Hmm...at 2-3 loads a week, one batch would last me... a LONG time!

Stephanie Breuner said...

I am not sure about an all natural grease remover that works great- still trying to figure that one out myself, but I can tell you that when the sun starts shining around here more and more, you can hang the diapers outside and let the sun bleach the stains away. They will smell fresher and it is amazing what the sun's rays will do to zap those stains away! I bought a couple of folding accordian style drying racks that I load up with diapers straight out of the wash and then walk it all outside to sit in the sun.

Cottonista said...

Yeah, it's called Shout. Heh heh. Just had to heckle ya!

I'm impressed with how long your soap lasted. Maybe I'll have to try a small batch.

Deb said...

Thanks, guys, for reminding me about putting them in the sunshine to dry. Duh! I'll have to keep an eye out for the next sunny day.

Unknown said...

Hmmmm....sounds interesting. I'll have to check it out. Is it pretty cost effective???

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