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Here is a semi-solid cleaning solution for delicate surfaces; microwave oven doors, glass-top ovens (MUCH less expensive than the commercial products), table tops, car interiors, windows, walls, and just about anything else that isn't harmed by water. Microfiber cleaning cloths are ideal for soft surfaces, such as coffee makers and microwave doors. The cleaner cuts grease, and washes away easily, and can be used to buff most spills out of carpets with a damp terrycloth towel. Also, with a couple of tweaks, it becomes a super-high-quality laundry detergent, at a small fraction of the cost of any store-bought product.
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Signing UpStep 1Soft Soap Surface Spiffer main ingredient
Any bath bar or bar-type laundry soap will work fine. Use a standard 4-ounce bar (a little larger or smaller is fine), or half of a larger bar, such as Lirio or Zote, which can both be purchased in stores that sell Mexican products, or online at stores such as Walgreen's.
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This recipe is pretty close to what I helped my grandmother and mother put together for laundry day but we used our own homemade soap. One of my jobs was to grate all that homemade soap into a bucket for use on laundry days. Back in those days the amount of lye used was estimated so there was so much leftover lye that my hands would be near raw LOL.
On Sat mornings mom boiled a kettle of water. I measured out 4 cups of the grated soap, 1/2 c.borax and 1/2 c. baking soda into a bucket. The boiling water was poured into the bucket and everything stirred for about 20 minutes while it cooled down to a thick gel. This muck was used to wash clothes. Whatever was left over went into the wash tub for bathing dirty kids later that evening. For the ladies it was reheated a little and a 1/4 c of goat's milk added to it. If you still have some left, use it to was dishes.
I am over 60 now and have used this formula from wash tubs to wringer washers to electric washers with great result and still make my own soap..
BTW a soapmaker's secret for extra suds - add 1 tbsp castor oil for each 4 cups of grated soap or 1 ou for every 2 lbs of weighed oils if you make your own.
HTH:)
I spent waaaay too long looking for a laundry soap recipe (where were you when I needed you?? :D ). There were so many different recipes, I just decided to wing it. The lack of suds was strange (how can you clean your undies without suds?), but I won't ever go back to commercial stuff. Does castor oil add any cleaning power to the mix?
You had your bare hands in LYE? Yikes!!
Homemade lye soap is lye and fat mostly. If you guess and add too much lye, then the extra can burn you. At least that's the take I get from what she said. I suppose they didn't have any pH paper down on the farm back then.
Yes lye can burn but I learned that vinegar will neutralize it so I keep a spray bottle of white vinegar beside my soap pot. I always get a few tingles where I have splashed some on me and just give it a spritz or two and never any burns.
1 bar of laundry soap (fels-naptha, etc)
1-1/2 cups of Borax
1-1/2 cups of washing soda
6 gallons of boiling water
Grate soap and put into the bucket. Add powders. Pour boiling water on top, two gallons or so at a time. Stir between additions of boiling water.
This is much easier than boiling soap on the stove. Because you use all hot water, everything dissolves, but after everything cools, you will still find the soap will gel up to an extent. Stir before use, use 1/2 per load (roughly 3 cents last time I added it up
How long does it take to get 6 gallons to come to a boil on your stove? Do you have a gas stove, and/or use multiple pots?
OTOH, if you have the powders and a bar of soap all grated up and that mix boils over while you were otherwise occupied, that will be quite a mess. You will only ever do this once, trust me.
I grate my soap about the same as your picture shows and it still takes me longer than 10 minutes. Plus I need to scrub and rinse the soap out of the pot at the end too.
Works great for laundry - and for cleaning silver....wonder if there is an 'ible for that :-)
It doesn't take much time at all (20 minutes if you slow down and take it easy), so the power cost is minimal as well.
The upside of the soap cleaner would be that it smells so niiiiiice and is only around 25 cents per gallon.
Also, you probably want to avoid bar soaps with lotions in it, might add grease spots.
Also, the liquid soap may start to separate if stored for awhile, just shake it up and it will be fine again!
Will always keep some Comet on hand, though (along with a teflon scrubber) for that resistant layer of scum on the tub!