Homemade Laundry Soap Update

Yesterday I posted about the laundry soap I made. Since then I've done 5-6 loads of laundry - enough to start to get a feel for how the new detergent is going to work out. I have to admit...I am a convert!

In my personal opinion, Tide is the gold standard for store bought laundry detergent. Through the years when things would be tighter than normal, financially speaking, (We're not talking about my wardrobe today!) I would switch to a less expensive brand. I've about tried them all. We would always end up going back to Tide. Even when we were trying to compromise I would use Tide on my whites only and the cheaper stuff on colors. After trying out this homemade laundry soap, I must say that I and MW are amazed, though not surprised. It seems as though the healthier, cheaper, homemade versions of cleaners and detergents and what-nots that I have tried are also usually more effective at their jobs.

So, since you're probably sitting on the edge of your office chair and biting at your nails right now because of all the suspense...here's what I've found so far. Even without adding an essential oil to scent the soap, it has a really fresh, clean scent that I prefer over the commercial stuff I was buying. The family noticed, too. Next, my colored clothes looked just as clean as ever. The real test was the whites. I think they actually look like they came out better than normal! No joke! On a side note about the whites - the website where I found this recipe mentions that if you have a really grimy load of laundry you may want to add an oxygen booster like Oxyclean. Since I use all white towels and dishcloths in the kitchen, they can get pretty yucky. BUT, I wanted to see what the laundry soap would do without adding an oxygen booster first. So, I stuck to my regular routine of just adding in bleach. And they still look better. The last thing that I have noticed and am absolutely astounded by (and so are my guys, BTW) is the fact that every single load of laundry has come out of the dryer MUCH, MUCH, MUCH SOFTER than normal. Well, I recently bought a new fabric softener and wanted to make sure that it wasn't the thing making the difference. I was pretty sure I had already used it in a couple loads of laundry with my commercial soap. But, I wanted to be positive. So, I did my own little experiment. On one of the loads of laundry I did yesterday, I used plain old white vinegar in place of the fabric softener. I had the same results! For some reason our clothes are WAY softer than before. I don't know if this is due to the fact that one of the ingredients also acts as a water softener and we have really hard water, or if it's because it doesn't have all the junk in it that goes into the store bought stuff. Frankly, I don't care. I LIKE IT! So much so, that I can't imagine going back to the other stuff.

So, there ya have it. My run down on homemade laundry soap. If you decide to make some for yourself, drop me comment and let me know how it's working for you.

I hope your day is as great as my new laundry soap!
Pam