You Should Reconsider Your Homemade Laundry Soap - Part 2

I spent more time researching this topic than I care to admit...

So a week ago, I wrote a post about reconsidering your homemade laundry soap. After looking into this subject a lot more, I don’t think all hope is lost. It all seems to come down to your water type and temperature and the type of soils.

What’s wrong with homemade laundry soap?

After searching around the web looking for answers, I had finally found a site that seemed to have the answers I was looking for all in one place. Here’s a summary of what I found.

The big issue with using soap in laundry is that the soap reacts with the minerals in hard water to create a scum. This scum gets left behind in your clothes and in your machine. Detergent is less sensitive to hard water, so it doesn’t leave behind a scum. Also, soaps only have one type of surfactant(whereas a detergent has multiple types), which doesn’t make it versatile and easily adaptable to different fibers, washing temperatures, and water conditions.

So what’s the verdict?

So first, I just want to say I think it’s possible that homemade laundry soaps do work for some people. It seems if you have soft water and are washing in warm-to-hot water temperatures, you are probably ok. The site did mention that soiled clothes can introduce hardness minerals to your water. I would think that the water softeners in the homemade laundry soap would counteract that. (If you have hard water, that little bit of washing soda isn’t going to be enough.)

What if I have hard water?

First off, signs of hard water include: a "ring around your bathtub”, soaps and shampoos do not lather easily, white residue forms around faucets and drains, and fabrics feel stiff, not fluffy.

If you have hardwater, detergents work best. So if you want to keep making the homemade stuff, you could look into using a synthetic detergent bar. Otherwise on the natural side of things, look for a soap that has a chelating agent such as sodium gluconate. @sending-arrows recommended Kirk's Original Coco Castile Soap Fragrance Free. Again, depending on your water type and temp, and the type of soils you have will determine if this works for you or not.

What I’m going to try.

I’m too pooped out after all this researching to make my own, so I’m going to try a “pre-made” laundry detergent instead.

@squishysquid mentioned using this one in the liquid form. After looking into the ingredients and all that jazz (EWG score - A), I think this brand in a powder sounds like a good option.

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Oofta, I am glad to wrap this up! I hope you found this useful (or at the very least, interesting!)

Steem on! Upvote, comment, and follow :)