Typically this Fels-Naptha is $0.97 or $1.07 per bar but it is sold out basically in my entite state (NY). People are reselling it online for nearly $7 per 5oz bar. What the fuck is going on, did they discontinue or something?
You're viewing a single comment thread. View all comments, or full comment thread.
Comments (52)
sorted by:
I use to buy it years ago when Fels-Naptha was cheap. Let me say, it's not the only game in town. I make my own laundry soap and make my own Chlorine dioxide solution, which is really Oxi-Clean. I add this to my laundry soap and its far better than Tide and other overpriced laundry soap. I can make 5 gallons of it for at least one-tenth of the cost.
Hey, would you mind telling me how you create your laundry soap? I'd love to try and see if it works for me.
Thanks.
It works fantastic, completely natural, and saves me from running to the store too. If you want to have industrial strength. You can add a small amount of Oxine to the mix.
1/3 bar of soap ground up. I've used an electric blender in the past. Lately, I have been scraping the soap using a serrated kitchen knife on a cutting board. This takes about the same amount of time as a mixer does, if considering the cleanup. Using a mixer, it is pretty much required to cutting the bar up into small enough pieces for the mixer to do its job. Also, last time I used Australian Botanical Goat's milk soap I got on amazon. Other brands of soap will work as well. I think the key is to use a 'dryer' bar of soap otherwise using the mixer, a more oily soap tends to gum it more. The idea is to be able to readily dissolve the soap in hot water. Experiment.
1/2 cup washing soda
1/4 cup 20 Mule Team all purpose borax.
Boil about a half to a quart of water on the stove. Turn the heat down once it reaches a rolling boiling. Slowly mix the ground up soap in the metal pan of water. Stir until it is completely dissolved. Then slowly add the Washing soda and Borax. Stir until it is completely dissolved in the solution. This is your concentrate.
I make a 5 gallon mixture with one bar of soap, 1-1/2 cup Washing soda, 1 cup borax. Add hot tap water to make the 5 gallons. Let it cool over night. Once cooled, the laundry soap becomes a gelatinous mixture. I use one cup per load.
If you add the CDS solution you'll have to order a gallon of Oxine. This goes a long way as I will explain. The Oxine is a pre-CDS solution and makes a chlorine dioxide, which is the component in the touted OxiClean that makes everything so clean.
To make 1 gallon CDS (Oxine) solution
3.25 oz. of Oxine liquid
10 g Citrix
Use a Mason or Kerr glass jar or a glass lab beaker to pour the measure Oxine into and add the measured Citrix powder. Combine, gently mix, and let set for 5 to 6 minutes. The color will turn yellowish. This is your concentrate. Pour the solution in a gallon milk container. Add water to make a gallon. The Oxine can be purchased on Amazon. So, 3.25 oz. of Oxine from an 8 lb. gallon of Oxine makes one gallon of CDS(Oxine) solution. That's over 39 gallons of CDS (Oxine) solution. My bottle of Oxine is half full from over 4 years ago when I purchased it.
If you make the 5 gallon amount of laundry soap that I use, Add 2 cups of the Oxine solution you made in the laundry soap you just made.
5 gallons of laundry soap lasts me about 3 months for a family of 5. My son who is in chemistry class makes the Oxine solution. Since our new home doesn't have a deep sink, I make the laundry soap solution in the kitchen. Next, project for me is to plumb a deep sink in the lower level of the house by the water softener. Also, we use the CDS (Oxine) solution in spray bottles to clean the toilets, walls, counters, after doggy poo accidents, light switches, door knobs, .... just about everything. Hospitals use this too.
Thank you! I hope to have success with it.
Experiment with it. What I provided is a basic recipe plus the Oxine solution.. The amount of Borax and Washing soda (not baking soda) can be adjusted. Sometimes I'll add more borax to the mix. A while ago, I experimented with adding glycerin to the mix. I didn't really see a marked advantage. Other times. I've added an organic aromatic oil to the mix. This tends to up the price a bit. So to me, it gravitates to work against my end goal of reducing costs and not feeding the beast (Big Box Top corporations).
I also make my own deodorant, hand soap, and toothpaste. I've done this for many years now. My wife loves the deodorant. It's non-toxic and all natural. Commercial deodorants may have toxic ingredients. The underarm area is a vital area and part of the excretory system for purging the body of waste. Commercial deodorants are suspect in damaging the axillary nodes located in the underside of the arm and circulates lymph in the breast, chest, and upper abdomen. Women are especially vulnerable to toxins like aluminium salts leading to breast cancers. The second leading cancer in men is breast cancer. It's something to think about even for men. The corporate media and its online paid choir gives us yet another example of covering up the cancer relationship of aluminium salts in commercial deodorants.
Great info, thanks! I hope to try this homemade laundry detergent in the future.
Ok this is far less scary than I was anticipating. I was worried your answer was gonna make me feel like Walter White lol
We used to make our own detergent with this recipe minus the ‘oxide clean’ I feel obligated to say it didn’t clean our clothes at all. The effort to pretreat every potential spot and make the solution wasn’t worth the effort. I can get oxi clean at the dollar store. We use a fraction of the directions for tide and add borax. I also use tide with water to pretreat stains, dawn also works well. Felt Naptha has been very unremarkable. Go out at try it. But I guarantee you won’t love it.
I've never heard of "oxide clean" before and you're not really "obligated" to say anything at all, especially when the response was not meant for you, but a reply to a request from u/CasuallyObservant for the recipe I use. IMHO, the basic recipe is better than Tide in getting clothes clean. I've used this for over 20 years. It's non-toxic and completely natural too. Depending on the soap I use, I'll add some tea tree oil or another aromatic organic oil to the mix. With the oxine solution, it's at least 10 times better than Tide. The whole idea is to experiment with the basic recipe and to develop your own fine tuned recipe. Per the cost comparison to Tide and OxiClean, it's amounts a few pennies compared to more than a dollars per load. I always say to those who sow a different path, "Go for it", but don't impede on someone else's reply to a request. It may have the appearance of poor behavior.
Waiting to hear this too.
My current mix is borax, laundry booster, and fels. What is the recipe for the one you use now? Does it have a strong scent?
I use 1 c borax, 1 c washing soda and 1/3 bar fels. Thats the basic recipe. You can add other things you want like scents, oxy-clean, baking soda.
Then too if fels too expensive I can substitute Zote or Kirks castile soap.
Been making this for years. I find every time the economy tanks people save by making their own.
Oh shit, I've been using 1 bar, 1cup and 1cup...am I overusing???
Its soap, so I doubt its a problem. You can check in Pinterest. Everyone has their recipe and additives. 1/3 bar works for me - a little hack - I dissolve the soap as washer fills before putting in the clothes.
Chlorine dioxide =/= Sodium percarbonate (Oxi-clean).