Reader’s Question: Homemade Laundry Detergent Residue
October 30, 2009 by Jenn @ Frugal Upstate
Filed under General Frugality
photo by Atelier Teee
Dear Frugal Upstate,
My husband and I recently bought a house. The house came with a washing machine that does not like my homemade laundry detergent (I’ve been using your recipe for a year at the old house with no problem).
The only way I can get my detergent to dissolve in this washer is to dissolve it first in hot water and then do an extra rinse cycle – which pretty much negates the money I’m saving by making my detergent in the first place. Otherwise, my clothes come out of the wash with goopey pieces of soap still stuck to them.
I’m already drying out the soap and re-grating it with my food processor before I mix up my detergent, so it’s a pretty fine powder. I don’t want to have to make the liquid version. Am I overlooking something obvious that I can do to solve this problem?
Heather
Photo by Garden Hoe
Dear Heather,
Wow, that’s a new one on me. My first impulse would be to wonder if your water heater is set high enough-but then again I use my laundry detergent in cold water, and it always dissolves fine.
My second thought would be to wonder if there is something different in the actual water itself-perhaps harder water? Then again, the water is very hard where I am and again, it dissolves fine.
Obviously the recipe itself isn’t at fault, as you have used it previously without an issue.
It almost seems like your machine isn’t really draining well. . .
Long story short, if we can’t figure out how to fix your problem, then your best bet is probably to go back to using store bought detergent. If you have to do that then of course you should look into combining coupons and sales to get the best price. Don’t forget to comparison shop across several stores to see where you can get the best price-by load, not by net weight! Most boxes and jugs do say h0w many loads they will clean.
What about all you readers out there? Anyone have a suggestion that Heather can try to make her homemade laundry detergent work?
Jenn
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I tried the powdered homemade laundry detergent and it left powdery residue on the clothes, especially the dark ones. I also have this problem if I use powered commercial brands. I made the liquid version and it didn’t seem to get the clothes clean enough. I do have very hard well water and I am sure that is the problem. When my children were babies, I used cloth diapers and always soaked them in a diaper pail with borax. When I hung them on the line, they were very white. I could solve my hard water laundry problem by using borax in the wash load but that would be more expensive. Now, I just use liquid detergent that I buy on sale and use coupons.
For three years I’ve been trying to convince my old washer to hobble along till next spring. Along the way I’ve learned a lot about washer repair. I also work in the repair industry (not appliances).
If the powder isn’t dissolving then that means it isn’t agitating enough during the wash cycle or being rinsed adequately.
Either the washer is being over loaded, the water pump (that drains the tub) isn’t functioning properly(you wouldn’t believe what I’ve found in mine when I’ve taken it apart) or it’s not spinning out enough before the rinse cycle.
If you switch to liquid then there will just be liquid soap residue left in your clothing that you can’t see – which makes clothes smell good but could cause skin problems & shorten the life span of the clothing.
I get my repair info from a local parts store & from fixitnow.com. Appliance repair is amazingly easy – I fix all my own now and most of the time the part doesn’t have to be replaced – just habits(i.e. kids)changed.
You could check your make & model on that website (or google it and see what other people say) & see if there’s a known defect.
From the info provided, it sounds like there’s definitely a problem with the washer – not the detergent recipe.
Hope this helps out in some way
Wow Sal-thank you so much for your detailed reply! This is exactly the kind of information I was hoping someone could provide!
I also think the washing machine might be overloaded… either try putting less clothing in a load (your machine might be smaller than it looks) or less detergent and see what happens. This used to be a common problem for me when I was in college and I was always trying to get the most of my quarters!
Try adding white vinegar to the rinse. [Also works great in the rinse cycle of your dishwasher]
Before considering switching to store bought, try making a liquid homemade soap. I dissolve half a bar of grated soap, a quarter cup of borax, and a quarter cup of washing soda (not baking soda) in a sauce pan of boiling water and then dilute it with a gallon-1.5 gallons of hot water. It will gel as it cools. In really cold weather, it doesn’t gel as well and may leave a residue in my wash. Adding vinegar to the rinse helps as does using a soak cycle before the wash cycle.
I think it is what several people stated here. It might be from overloading your washing machine. One thing you can do that a good friend does, she just zaps in the microwave some water in a measuring cup and the detergent to dissolve it first because she washes in cold water only (and trust me, where we live cold is very cold water especially in the winter). This way you won’t need to have buckets of “slime” sitting around from homemade washing soap.
I also would follow Lisa’s advice with the vinegar in the rinse cycle. It does wonders in removing residue.
However, none of those will work if your machine is overloaded with laundry because it will not be able to agitate enough.
Another thing, if you have a top loading machine, try putting the soap in FIRST while the washer fills. This gives the soap more of a chance to distribute and break down into the water before adding your clothes. I do this with laundry detergent and it makes a huge difference.
Also… Google the web address for “Gardenweb Laundry Room Forum” as those people there are all experts on this kind of thing. Yes, it is a forum dedicated to people that love laundry. You can get the most amazing tips there when something goes wrong with the laundry.