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Thread Number: 33950
Fels Naptha |
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| Post# 510102 4/7/2011 at 21:55 (4,783 days old) by stan (Napa CA) | ||
Has anyone noticed the thousands of homemade laundry soap concoctions on the internet? Fels Naptha, borax, and washing soda are the main ingredients, in various proportions. Some mixed in water, some just the dry ingredients alone, stored in a container and used as needed. Anyone want to take this one! come on you know you do! LOL
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| Post# 510112 , Reply# 1 4/7/2011 at 23:33 (4,783 days old) by danmantn (Tennessee) | ||
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Post# 510119 , Reply# 2 4/8/2011 at 00:11 (4,783 days old) by Launderess  (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage) |
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Nothing Special
Just a variation on "soap powder" recipes housewives, housekeepers, laundresses and others used for ages.
Honestly don't see how the stuff is better than modern detergents, especially since the knowledge of how to do laundry with pure soap is pretty much gone. Using pure laundry requires plenty of clean, soft and hot water. Stains must be removed or dealt with *before* the wash, most items will require pre-soaking (in cool water), then washed in hot followed by at least one hot (or at least warm) rinse, several more warm rinses, then finally cold. These soap recipes use mainly washing soda and borax for softening water and adding cleaning power. Personally I'd reduce the former and lessen the later while using phosphates to soften the wash and perhaps first several rinse waters. Finally modern washing machines simply aren't designed to withstand repeated use of pure soaps. Sooner or later the things will get gunked up from all that soap not to mention how moulds love growing on soap residue. | ||
| Post# 510124 , Reply# 3 4/8/2011 at 01:00 (4,783 days old) by beekeyknee (Columbia, MO) | ||
Greasy Residue | ||
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Post# 510271 , Reply# 4 4/8/2011 at 15:45 (4,783 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage) |
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There Is A Reason Why Tide
Along with other "detergents" kicked soap to housewive's curbs upon being introduced. Even P&G finally saw the light and switched Ivory Snow soap powder to a detergent formula.
Soap really is *not* the best thing for automatic washing machines, more so for front loading/H-Axis. Despite this all over Europe, especially France pure soaps such as Savon de Marseille or products with it as it's base are quite popular. Le Chat (by Henkel), amoung others sells soap flakes for use in automatic washing machines. Problem with soap is getting all of it out of textiles, and keeping it from gunking up the washer. Suppose one could run a washing machine "cleaning cycle" using acids or cleaners designed for the purpose. When using pure soap you have to think "old school" and try to remove as much soil as possible before the main wash. Then there is less to bind with the soap and then one can use less. As noted above this involves going back to the old school method of soaking or flushing laundry before washing. All that pre-soaking or pre-washing seems a bit excessive when modern detergents will do the thing in one wash cycle, usually without having to pre-treat or soak. As for being "green" by using soap, I don't know about that. Considering all the hot or warm water required, and the resources required to heat said water not to mention the amounts of it, seems like any savings by not using petrol based detergent are eaten up by using petrol, coal, or electric to heat all that water. Of course if one has solar water heating that would bring one cost down but you still are using quite allot of water. | ||
| Post# 510429 , Reply# 5 4/9/2011 at 12:46 (4,782 days old) by dirtybuck (Springfield, MO) | ||
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I can see soap being used as an OCCASIONAL aid for cleaning and softening some items (curtains, lace, crocheted or knit items), but as an every day driver..um, NO! | ||
| Post# 510499 , Reply# 6 4/9/2011 at 20:44 (4,781 days old) by gmmcnair (Portland, OR) | ||
You CAN use it as a daily driver if your water is super SUPER soft. I make homemade bar soaps, and I recycle the ugly ones and the overruns into laundry gel (with some added ingredients), but it takes more soap than most of these recipes call for to do a decent job even in soft water. Plus you do need at least a mild souring agent to keep residue at bay.
It also takes a good deal more of the gel than most of these recipes call for in usage. Most of these recipes call for a meager 1/4 to 1/2 a cup; I use about 1 1/2 cups of a much stronger concentration to get a good layer of suds going in my machine and keep it there. So, while I use them regularly, and I don't have dingy clothes, rancid smelling clothes, nor a buildup in my washer, I don't recommend them to about 90% of the population. Sears Ultra Plus is cheap and good. :) | ||
| Post# 510967 , Reply# 7 4/11/2011 at 23:57 (4,779 days old) by stan (Napa CA) | ||
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Daily Driver
O.K since I posted this thread I decided to try it out for myself! I graded up some Fels, mixed with a little borax and a little washing soda (had all this already) ( really wanted to spike with TSPP, but didnt) decided to wash a couple of white towels, and a heavy white terry bathrobe that looked a little dingy. The bathrobe also had a few spots on it, but I did not pre treat (wanted to see how this formula would do on its own) I started to fill the washer with warm water, ( warm rinse) and while filling I poured out about 3/4 cup of the dry ingredients into a glass jar, added a little hot tap water, closed lid and shook, when washer started its agitation, poured it in and walked away. The results seemed perfectly fine to me? no residue no gummy feel? the robe and was spotless. Have been using this for a daily driver this week, and so far so good. wont recommend this to anyone just yet, other than it will do in a pinch. We shall see. If I start seeing any build up anywhere, it will get axed. Hi Mike I`m a soap maker too. Got interested years ago from a man that used to work for White King Soap in the 40s, and was able to learn some of the technical and chemical aspects from him.
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| Post# 510997 , Reply# 8 4/12/2011 at 07:54 (4,779 days old) by jim (Hudson, WI) | ||
Fels Naptha Soap
There is a wing of the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia called the Fels Planetarium. It was Mr. Fels soaps that paid for that fine addition to this museum. As a first grader, we went there by bus one morning and attended the show. I still to this day cannot get over the wonder that created in my imagination about the night skies. Thanks (albeit belatedly) Mr. Fels for your civic generosity and others directed thinking. Maybe other exceptionally wealthy persons in this country could use this an example of what a thoughtful person would do with pots and pots of money, rather than say build a casino and bilk the old folks of their Social Security Checks every month.
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| Post# 511253 , Reply# 10 4/13/2011 at 10:26 (4,778 days old) by wringersteve () | ||
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I made a batch of it and used it for awhile. It worked OK, but I migated back to Tide. I still use a bar of Fels-Naptha as a pre-treater and it works wonders for that. The Fels-Naptha recipe in gel form smells great, though! | ||
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Post# 511261 , Reply# 11 4/13/2011 at 11:32 (4,778 days old) by CircleW (NE Cincinnati OH area) |
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Soap or detergent? When I was very little, my mom used Instant Fels. I remember it coming in a shiny red box. Was this a soap or detergent? She also sometimes used Gentle Fels dish detergent. These products were advertised by the famous Ruth Lyons on her 50-50 Club TV & radio show. | ||
| Post# 511321 , Reply# 13 4/13/2011 at 16:29 (4,777 days old) by stan (Napa CA) | ||
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soap or detergent
Circle W. I believe Gentle Fels was a detergent and Instant Fels was soap granules. Remember that you can not duplicate those kinds of soap products used at that time by grading up bar soap ( like Fels Naptha ) The soap flakes and powdered soaps of the day were processed entirely different than the way bar soaps are made. I`ve done it and made it work but its not the same as having the real purified flakes or granules made back then.
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Post# 511325 , Reply# 14 4/13/2011 at 16:52 (4,777 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage) |
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Fels Naptha Soap
Has most always been a "built" soap product, more like a detergent than a pure soap. At least according to the vintage bars I have some of which are marked "Purex" others older than that.
In addition to naptha (old man Fels invented and patented the process for binding the stuff to the product in such a way it didn't evaporate during long shelf storage), Fels soap contained fabric whitening agents, washing soda, glycerin, talc and some other ingredients (don't have a bar with me at the moment). Contrasted with P&G's "white" naptha soap which was just that, a more gentle "pure" soap with the addition of naptha (later without due to the war), soaps like vintage Kirkman's Borax soap(which I have in my stash), Fels Naptha, and Octagon were considered "brown" soaps and whilst good for "heavy duty" cleaning of laundry could also be harsh on textiles and one's hands if doing laundry that way. The additon of various alkaline substances such as borax or washing soda served two purposes. One they helped with softening water. Two, it boosted cleaning power. Granulated and later powdered Fels "Instant" was nothing more than the bar version flaked or ground down. Don't think besides that there was any major difference between them and the bar products. Fels "Instant" was invented to take on powdered detergents such as Tide that had pushed pure soap out of top dog place in the laundry. Fels advertised the residue left behind in all textiles laundered with soap was a form of "built in fabric softener". Personally considering how dangerous naptha is (now stoddard solvent in modern Fels soaps), I should go about grinding or flaking the stuff on a regular basis. Well at least not anywhere without good ventilation and perhaps wearing a face mask. | ||
| Post# 511341 , Reply# 15 4/13/2011 at 18:03 (4,777 days old) by stan (Napa CA) | ||
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Stoddard solvent
IIRC Fels no longer contains the stoddard solvent used years ago, new versions contain pentasodium triphosphate instead. If you have old bars, I believe Laundress is right, and one should be careful upon grading. " Pure" soap and "purified" soap are two different things. Soap flakes, granules, and powdered soaps were manufactured differently than bars. Bars did not require purification like flakes or powders did. During manufacturing, flakes or granules had to be purified by re-precipitating the soap with a salt solution in order to remove impurities, such as any unsaponified fats, sodium hydroxide, glycerol, ect, Then the soap was placed on a chill roll (superseded) by vacuum dryers which removed most of the water (down to about 6-12% remaining) All this very different than producing a bar form.
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| Post# 511423 , Reply# 16 4/14/2011 at 08:13 (4,777 days old) by gmmcnair (Portland, OR) | ||
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Stoddard Solvent
You remembered correctly; Fels Naptha no longer contains the Stoddard Solvent and it's less effective as a pretreater now.
I found a recipe for paraffin (kerosene) soap, and I made a batch of that and cut it into stain sticks. It cuts grease like the vintage Fels Naptha does, and is my typical "go to" pretreater now that Fels has changed. | ||
| Post# 511525 , Reply# 17 4/14/2011 at 20:06 (4,776 days old) by stan (Napa CA) | ||
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soap and solvent
Hi Mike. I just found a old recipe for laundry bars that calls for ammonia to be added immediately after the introduction of the lye solution, ( of course the formula has a 0 % lye discount ) Made a small batch last night, just an experiment. I`ll know more after curing. I`am interested in your kerosene soap? do you share recipes? Stan
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| Post# 511621 , Reply# 18 4/15/2011 at 08:23 (4,776 days old) by gmmcnair (Portland, OR) | ||
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Stan... | ||
| Post# 511845 , Reply# 19 4/16/2011 at 19:31 (4,774 days old) by stan (Napa CA) | ||
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Post# 513050 , Reply# 20 4/22/2011 at 11:50 (4,769 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage) |
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Fels Naptha Soap
Even without Napathalene, Naptha, or now Stoddard Solvent is one of the top ten laundry pre-treating/stain removal products on the United States market. Go figure.
IIRC, the number maybe even as high as the top five... Vintage Fels has gotten out stains one thought weren't going to shift. Long as the spot responds to solvent based cleansers as opposed to tannin or blood, have something like a 99% sucess rate. Have so much soap in my stash, really do need to either sell it or otherwise move it on! *LOL* Would only consider using the "white" soap (P&G white laundry bars) for unstained bed linens, and perhaps the Fels or Kirkman's Borax for the same or again not badly stained normal laundry. Oh have two vintage bars of Sunlight yellow soap that I need to use up as well. Many persons advocating using that "soap" recipe do not realise the efforts that went into stain removal *before* things could go into the main wash when using soap. Pure soaps will set tannin and some other stains, so things had to be treated before. | ||
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Post# 513132 , Reply# 21 4/22/2011 at 21:06 (4,768 days old) by sudsmaster (SF Bay Area, California) |
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A Winning Combination STPP, grated Ivory bar soap, and hot soft to moderately soft water.
Works quite well, even in a front loader.
As I recall from my reading, Ivory bar soap is essentially all saponified fat: little to no residual glycerol or sodium hydroxide is left. In fact "natural" soap makers tout their products advantages as including residual glycerin, which Ivory soap lacks.
One drawback in a front loader is adjusting the soap amount to result in adequate cleaning while minimizing sudsing.
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Post# 513135 , Reply# 22 4/22/2011 at 21:18 (4,768 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage) |
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Savon de Marseille
Based laundry products are very popular in France. Le Chat soap chips and others can be found on store shelves, or persons simply mix up recipes from ages ago from grated savon. Still have always wondered how these soap mixtures worked with the main type of washer, H-Axis.
Since my Miele has a solid door cannot see inside during the wash, thus not able to judge suds level. Well not by sight, but the pump makes a god awful noise if air/froth gets down there. This is normally my cue to intervene as the machine lacks and automatic froth control system. Ivory Soap & Glycerin: Yes the stuff is missing and it explains why some consider Ivory soap drying when used for bathing or skin care. | ||
| Post# 513136 , Reply# 23 4/22/2011 at 21:22 (4,768 days old) by PeterH770 (Marietta, GA) | ||
My understanding is that after a tangle with poison ivy, a good scrub down with Fels Naptha is the undoing of the noxious oil from the vine.
I use grated FN + TSPP in the Miele, but only in temps of 120 or greater and only after a very high level fill of the Delicate cycle. Dosing is a very dicey and very touchy proposition. Rarely do I get the correct dosing for a nice layer of suds -- usually it is either no suds or a complete whiteout. | ||
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Post# 513151 , Reply# 24 4/22/2011 at 23:16 (4,768 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage) |
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Cannot understand how soap if used properly for laundry purposes can give good results in an H-axis washer. Surely the amount of froth created by using enough product would act as a cushion in the washing process.
Have a great old commercial dry cleaning/laundry manual from the 1930's that tells about "titre" soaps, making up various soap jellies, soap powders, and their use in pony washers (those large commercial H-axis washers that look like barrels laid sideways. | ||
| Post# 513153 , Reply# 25 4/22/2011 at 23:27 (4,768 days old) by PeterH770 (Marietta, GA) | ||
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If the drum rotation speed is correct, as it seems to be, there is enough lift-and-slap action despite the suds, providing that the suds are not extreme. I have had satisfactory results from my machine -- providing I get the correct combination. I would not attempt this with your windowless machine, Miss L.
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Post# 513155 , Reply# 26 4/23/2011 at 00:15 (4,768 days old) by sudsmaster (SF Bay Area, California) |
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Cannot understand how soap The key is to use an alkaline water softener in conjunction with soap.
In the pre-war days, that softener more likely than not was washing soda, or sodium carbonate. It acted as both a water softener and a break, which breaks soils loose from fabrics. Unfortunately it's a precipitating softener so it can leave deposits on the washer and on the laundry.
Along came STPP (not TSPP), or Sodium Tri Poly Phosphate. It is a non-precipitating water softener and is an excellent companion for grated or flaked soap. Soap scum formation will be limited if not eliminated, and there will be little to no deposits on the washer or laundry. However it doesn't seem to prevent an eventual buildup on the soap on the fabric.
In my Neptune I have managed to dose the SSTPP (Soap Sodium Tri Poly Phosphate) formula so that a thin layer of suds results in most cases. I haven't yet tried it in the Mieles. Even with glass windows, it's more difficult to add more cleaning agent to a Miele than a Neptune, due to the Teutonic door lock philosophy. Also, the fill on my Mieles is cold only, so adding the detergent to the dispenser drawer would not be a great idea. I could add it on top of the load, before start. There still might be an issue in that the water is heated slowly throughout the wash cycle, so establishing proper dosing would have to wait until the water has heated enough to dissolve all the added soap. Since the Mieles reside in a workshop outside the main house, it's sort of a hassle.
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| Post# 513162 , Reply# 27 4/23/2011 at 01:31 (4,768 days old) by stan (Napa CA) | ||
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soap
If someone, or some company is making soap to bathe with, or its a complexion soap, then YES you`d want to retain the glycerin, and even possibly "superfat" the soap by adding a little more oil at the end of processing, or by doing a lye discount at the start! this would make the soap more conditioning to ones skin. This is WHY some "natural" soap makers would claim their soaps were better, not because they clean BVDs better. Laundry and dish "soaps" simply dont exsist anymore, not in their intended form! If you were to speak to a chemist at P&G and ask them if you could grade up a bar of Ivory, and get the same thing as the old version of Ivory Snow, the answer would be NO! You might be able to make it look the same!
Two of the "laundry" bars that are still produced today" Octagon All Purpose" and "Fels Naptha" are not made by their original makers, or have their birth ingredients, and carry more unsaponified fats than they originally had. Both now have detergent ingredients in them, that they did not before. Is it true that modern Ivory bars have all the fats reacted, and all glycerin removed?? where did that information come from? I`d like to look that up. | ||
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Post# 513166 , Reply# 28 4/23/2011 at 02:33 (4,768 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage) |
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@Sudsmaster - Actually both the 1930's professional laundry manual, and my 1940's domestic laundry work book prefer sodium hexametaphosphate (polyphosphates) for dealing with hard water to other alkalis.
Failing phosphates the next choice would be borax then washing soda. Other agents include ammonia (not often used), slack lime, and soda ash. Washing soda directions even going back to my laundry manuals from the 1800's is supposed to be diluted into solution with water, then added to the wash bath. Never added directly to the wash tub. Everyone agrees that washing soda used in excess is hard on textiles (not to mention hands if washing by that method), and excess use can lead to yellow spots or all over yellowing of laundry. My 1930's commercial laundry manual was written by Norbert J. Berg, and is still in some ways considered a standard. Advice for using phosphates or other alkalis for dealing with hard water is the same we have seen here in the group. Only use enough to make water "slippery". Too much water softening agent/alkali is just as bad as too hard water. Soaps for laundry: Most all commercial and domestic vintage laundry manuals in my collection written before 1940's all recommend soap over new fangled "detergents". The 1930 book by Mr. Berg gives an in depth chapter on various types of soaps: potassium,ammonium and or sodium hydroxide alkali based. Various soaps had different purposes in the laundry, much having to do with what water temperature the wash bath would be, and how easily they rinsed in warm or cool water. It even speaks of my favourite "Savon de Marseille", which is vegetable oil based soap (makes a softer and more soluble soap that rinses easily at lower temps). Before I mentioned "titer" when it comes to soaps. Again according to the book the solidifying point of the fatty acid used in making the soap determines it's titer. Low-titer soaps are good for low temperatures, high titer soaps for high temperatures. The former are usually made from plam kernel, olive, cotonsee, coconut, maize, and soybean oils. Each of these oils will contain several different fatty acids, most all having low solidifying points. High titer soaps are made from animal fats and or mixture of the same and vegetable oils. These soaps are for use in temperatures ranging from 160F to 212F. While it is possible to use a high-titer soap in low temperature washes, it does not produce much froth, clean very well and is hard to rinse out of fabrics unless the water is at proper temperature. These soaps are the normal ones found on supermarket shelves back in the day for housewives in beads, flakes, bars, and powder forms. Use of these high-titer soaps (be they made at home or store bought) explains all that use of hot or boiling water for washing and perhaps the first rinse housewives and others went through back in the day. If this wasn't done the result was soap residue in textiles. For use in the wash, I follow the old French custom (and using a vintage recipe still used today), to make "savon liquide" from bars of Savon de Marseille. I use a carpenter's plane to scrape off thin sheets of any soap one wants to make into solution. On this side of the pond and in the UK housewives and laundries would have made the same or soap jelly. Liquidied or gel soap is much eaiser to dose (even in with the Miele or other automatic washing machines), just open the dispenser drawer and pour whatever amount you wish, followed by a kettle of hot water to flush it down into the tub. However once you have determined the correct dose it is a simple matter of sending it down just as with any liquid detergent as the machine fills. | ||
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Post# 513169 , Reply# 29 4/23/2011 at 03:10 (4,768 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage) |
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Soap Buildup In Textiles
What is missing from modern efforts with soap for laundry is the second step of boiling.
Contrary to popular belief soiled laundry wasn't boiled (unless fouled with vermin or coming from the sick-room), but rather laundry going into the boiling pot had already been soaked, soaped, scrubbed and so forth thus being quite clean. Boiling served several purposes. It helped disinfect, removed soils and or some stains not shifted already, and by opening up the textile fibers via hot water soap and soil residue was released. Lifting the items out of the boiling pot and into what or where ever they would be rinsed left all that muck behind in the boiling pot. Our own dear Toggles and others who often boil "clean" laundry that has come from a washing machine, only to find the water has turned yellow and such. That is all the residue and such left from detergent washing in modern machines. | ||
| Post# 513172 , Reply# 30 4/23/2011 at 06:19 (4,768 days old) by PeterH770 (Marietta, GA) | ||
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Post# 513208 , Reply# 31 4/23/2011 at 10:20 (4,768 days old) by sudsmaster (SF Bay Area, California) |
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Too much water softening agent/alkali is just as bad as too
Well, that might be true for precipitating washing soda, but even then the method of action (or reaction) is entirely different than having too hard water.
The harshest, strongest alkali in common use in home laundry is water glass, or sodium silicate. It's added to boost alkalinity and also to help "protect washer parts", presumably by inhibiting deposition of lime scale inside the washer. Next up is washing soda or sodium carbonate. It's the most common ingredient of modern powders, especially since the relatively innocuous filler known as sodium sulfate has been reduced or removed from concentrated powders. Complex phosphate or Sodium Tri Poly Phosphate is the most gentle of this trio, at least in terms of alkalinity. I've gotten my hands in a solution thereof, even taken a bath in the stuff, without any skin irritation (and I felt super clean thereafter ;-)... It should also be noticed that STPP is also a quite common food additive, as it helps various foods retain moisture and texture (like dried fruits in cereal or packaged luncheon meats). One article I read posited that STPP in the waste stream is actually environmentally beneficial since it can act as a buffer and counter the toxic effects of acid rain on ponds and streams. Of course, there can always be too much of a good thing. However I'm not in total agreement that slippery water by itself means enough detergent has been added. The slipperyness simply indicates the level of alkalinity. It doesn't distinguish between precipitating and non-precipitating alkalinizers. It doesn't give any indication of the adequate level of other components, such as enzyme, free dye inhibitors, etc. In my experience, a 30% mixture of STPP to Sears Ultra HE Plus works great if enough is added to result in a very small amount of suds. For some loads, that could be as little as 1 oz. For others, it could as much as 6 oz. It is a learning process, guided by results, not so much by theory or rules. Detergent mfgs used to add 50% STPP to their laundry powders. Modern advice is that 30% is sufficient, and helps reduce the amount released into the environment. | ||
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Post# 513255 , Reply# 32 4/23/2011 at 14:56 (4,768 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage) |
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Bathing With Phosphates
Well you would get great results wouldn't you? I mean women have been doing that for ages, it's called "Calgon" bath salts! *LOL*
Even before the various scented versions of Calgon designed just for milady's bath, vintage boxes of the stuff gave instructions for use in the bath, washing dishes (by hand), and so forth. Of course this was when Calgon powder was mainly a mixture of two phosphates, don't think I'd want to bathe in the new stuff sold in USA as it's mostly washing soda and no phosphates at all. Water Slipperyness: Perhaps wasn't clear, as it was meant one should only use enough water softening product to make the water slippery *before* adding soap or detergent. Another method given by some of my vintage laundry manuals calls for adding minimal amount of packaged water softening product to a jar of water, then adding a measure of soap. Jar is closed and shaken and then foam level measured. If there was not enough suds you played around with ratio of soap to water softener until things were where you needed them to be. Once this was done you wrote down the correct amounts and that was your "formula" for wash day. | ||
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Post# 513278 , Reply# 33 4/23/2011 at 16:53 (4,767 days old) by sudsmaster (SF Bay Area, California) |
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Well, I've taken the lazy way out...
Not out of bathing, but rather of dosing the Neptune.
I simply premix the Sears Ultra Plus HE with 30% by weight STPP. Then add enough to result in just a few suds. Like I said, this can vary a LOT depending on soil level and load size. A full load of work duds (which contain machine oils etc) can take 6 oz of the mix. A load of dress shirts, maybe 2 oz or less. Other than having to mix large batches of the detergent-STPP mix from time to time, it's easier this way. I didn't know that Calgon bath salts contained polyphosphates. I do know that the bath water, when dosed with just STPP, had a wonderful silky soft feel. Only did that once or twice, years ago, perhaps I'm due for a refresher ;-). When I was using natural soap for laundry, I'd add an ounce or two of STPP to the dispenser, wait a little, then add the soap. I'd have to fuss with the amounts of soap to get the desired level of low suds. I suspect just washing bath towels with STPP and no soap would probably give adequate results as well. | ||
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Post# 513292 , Reply# 34 4/23/2011 at 18:28 (4,767 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage) |
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Calgon Bath Beads And Phosphates
Ohhhh Yes!
Orginal Calgon (the product name is a play on it's function "calcium gone", and at first those sliver boxes were used for everything from laundry to bathing to general cleaning. Anything that involved water that one wished softened. Then some bright blub got the idea of adding scents and making a whole new product line of bath products. This made sense as then and perhaps now soap is the main thing persons use for bathing. Since baths were the main source of getting clean, anyone who has sat sitting in a tub of hard water and used soap knows how that goes.... | ||
| Post# 513522 , Reply# 35 4/25/2011 at 01:01 (4,766 days old) by stan (Napa CA) | ||
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laundress | ||
| Post# 513622 , Reply# 36 4/25/2011 at 14:15 (4,766 days old) by jim (Hudson, WI) | ||
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TSP
Hi all. I happen to still have a small amount of TSP (Tri-sodium Phosphate) from years ago. I have used it in the past as a way to etch old paint before I repainted as well as thrown a teaspoon in the washer once in a very great while when there was something really FUBARed - like axel grease and the like on rags or clothing. It works great, and yes, I know it's not good for the environment.
My question is this: is there anywhere in the US where this chemical can still be purchased? I wouldn't mind haveing a small stash for the future. Jim | ||
| Post# 513678 , Reply# 37 4/25/2011 at 16:43 (4,765 days old) by stan (Napa CA) | ||
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Stpp | ||
| Post# 513758 , Reply# 38 4/25/2011 at 21:27 (4,765 days old) by stan (Napa CA) | ||
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Corection | ||
| Post# 513874 , Reply# 39 4/26/2011 at 08:50 (4,765 days old) by jim (Hudson, WI) | ||
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TSP | ||
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