Have any of you noticed your whites (especially the synthetic fabrics) getting dingy with the homemade laundry detergent? I use a liquid laundry detergent made of borax, washing soda, and grated soap (different kinds, homemade, Ivory, Fels Naptha - it happens with all of them). I washed a black and white stretchy top I bought at Christopher and Banks and the white turned absolutely grey - and no getting it back to white it seems. I have also noticed my husbands T shirts getting more progressively grey as I wash them in the soap. Any of you have this problem?
Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22937 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22937 Posts
Posted - Jul 27 2009 : 2:18:53 PM
Sherri- I wouldn't suggest using Ivory soap since it will leave a residue, also you should only use homemade soap that is designed for laundry. Most home soap makers leave an oil reserve in their soap so it is less drying to your hands, but where is that extra oil going to go in the wash? It floats on top of the water and when the water drains- it can settle on your clothes. That is why I started making my laundry only soap, so there wouldn't be a residue left.
Also- do you have hard water? If you have hard water- start adding baking soda to your laundry about a half cup per load.
Wash all of your clothes in hot water with vinegar and baking soda- don't add any more soap. You can add borax and washing soda. Both of those will help get rid of any residue from soap or hard water. If you have a regular washer and not a high efficiency washer, add about a half teaspoon (half that if is an Ultra variety) of hand dish washing liquid to the washer when it is completely full of clothes.
Then put vinegar in a downy ball for the rinse cycle as well.
If the whites still aren't looking very white- put them in a wash by themselves with a half a cup of washing soda and a half a cup of borax on hot hot hot water.
I ran into this problem when I was using my homemade hand soaps instead of using a homemade or store bought laundry soap.
I think it is for sure the soap part of the laundry powder. I think less soap is better for sure. The borax and washing soda (or baking soda) really do help with the residue. White vinegar in the cool rinse cycle helps too.
Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22937 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22937 Posts
Posted - Jul 28 2009 : 06:48:17 AM
Erin- I make homemade soap for laundry. I like it better than Fels because it has no petrochemicals in it like Fels does (Fels only has a little and I used it for a long time with great success). So I guess where to find it? My website!
homemade laundry detergent problem
Posted - Jul 27 2009 : 12:18:02 PM
