Homemade laundry soap problem...

Our clothes stink!

I have washed my work undershirts 3 times today and they still reek like BO. I even added fabric softener the second and third times.

I've noticed that all of our clothing is starting to smell not-so-nice. It looks clean, but clearly isn't. I've used both the version that includes a bar soap (like zote or fels naptha) and the version that's just Dawn, Borax, and Washing Soda.

Please help. I really don't want to have to spend bank on purchased detergent, but I can't have my family smelling like a high school locker room, either.

 

i used the version with fels naptha and over time i had the same problem. I was about to give up and buy detergent and then i ran into a friend who makes her own detergent and we got to talking and.....now i use her recipie and i dont have that problem anymore. it is also safe for cloth diapers.

equal parts of Borax, Washing Soda, and Oxi-clean. I add in a bottle of fragrence beads that I think are called Unstoppables. I buy them in the laundry isle at Walmart. I think they are $4-5.

At first I was worried and a bit skeptical because there is no soap, but all our clothes smell great and they don't feel like they have any residue on them. Even when I don't add the fragrence beads our clothes smell just fine.

 

Interesting. I'll try adding Oxiclean and see if that helps.

Though I'm not sure what that does for the cost. lol

 

I saw something on pinterest a while back about making your own oxiclean using peroxide. Maybe that would help with the cost...

 

I buy the generic sun brand at walmart. It's a huge bucket for around $3.50.

 

I didn't know there was a generic! Good to know.

I'm waiting for my work shirts to come out of the dryer, and we'll see how they smell.

 

Try adding vinegar into the bleach compartment. That handles all BO smells in my laundry.

 

I add vinegar for the smell, too. I use regular detergent and still have problems with lingering smells. Vinegar takes care of it.

 

Do you have an HE washer? If so, your washer is most likely the problem. (If not, it still may be the problem) Clean the washer well. Use a clean or sanitize cycle if you have one (if not, run 2 cycles-longest one on your washer-in the empty washer with hot water and bleach or vinegar-or one cycle of each, whatever you prefer) then get in there and scrub all the places you didn't know your washer had! Take apart every thing you can on it. For a front loader, that rubbery seal around the front....the grosses thing I have EVER cleaned in my own home. EVERY. Gross, smelly, dark, disgusting, slimy gunk!

Washers are damp, dark and closed up and a breeding ground for all kinds of grossness!!!

Try to leave your washer open when not in use. Air and light are your friend

Do you use powder detergent? It can cause build up that liquid detergents don't. I don't use powder anything any more after a friend had to spend an arm and leg to have her plumbing fixed. Plumber said it was due to years of powdered detergent use in the washer and dishwasher. I'm quite sure the homemade kind isn't as bad and store bought, but I'm still wary of it.

Did you know powder laundry and dishwasher detergents often contain sand as a filler? You can test yours by boiling the detergent then pour through a coffee filter. If there is something in the coffee filter, that will clog places in your appliance, pipes, etc.

I add another vote for vinegar. In GA, if you don't remember to put your clothes in the dryer within seconds after the washer finishes in the summer you have a horrible smell to contend with. Rewashing it doesn't get it out. Someone told me to run them through a rinse cycle with vinegar and it worked! So now I always use vinegar in the fabric softener compartment for every wash.

 

I have an HE washer, but I'm pretty ocd about cleaning it. Also, the smell is certainly BO, not just general yuck. And the smell is worse in the smelly places... like the armpits of my "clean clothes" are the super smelliest spots. It's just obvious that my clothes are not getting clean.

I always leave my washer open.

I don't use powdered detergent (in my dishwasher, either).

 

I bought a huge bottle of detergent at Sam's. I'm figuring that, by the time it runs out, we'll have washed everything we normally wear at least one time with the "normal" soap. Maybe that'll wipe the slate clean. After that, I'll be trying to add vinegar. [I say "trying" because the smell of vinegar makes me physically ill. lol]

 

Your clothes will not smell like vinegar lol... Do you hang them outside to dry? Use the vinegar in the rinse and hang them in the sun for a few hours, that should get rid of any smell.

 

I have been making homemade laundry detergent for more than a few years now and never had this specific problem. BUT, a few years ago I had a problem with wash rags taking on a strong smell that didn't smell clean or dirty. It was an odor I can't explain, and it wan't good.

I have since changed the recipe around to suit our needs. This might make a difference since all water types differ, as well as our body chemistry. After many years, I have come up with what works great for us, and I have the bottom of the line washing machine.

I add a few squirts of dish soap, and I use both Zote and Ivory in my soap. I no longer use the generic OxyClean. It wasn't cost efficient for me, but it DOES works. I also add a couple drops of Tea Tree oil or lavender essential oil to the mix. If it is an essential oil, it will not stain your clothing as long as you do not add too much. Tea Tree oil and lavender are both bacteria killers. Orange oil, or citrus, is too, but ounce for ounce you get more bang for your buck with the other two. I also second the vinegar. I use it to remove odors from my husbands work clothes.

 

Can't line dry here.

[Which was extra miserable when our dryer broke recently. Two horrible weeks.]

 

My store-bought stuff (Gain) leaves BO smells behind at times. That's why I just add vinegar now. I don't line dry (no place to put one up) and still can't smell the vinegar. Clothes do smell cleaner but not like vinegar.

 

I wasn't concerned about them smelling like vinegar. I'm not sure where that came from.

 

I use 4lb Armor Hammer Washing Soda, 4lb Armor Hammer Baking Soda, 4lb Borax, and Oxiclean. I think it was 3lb and something. I also use vinegar in my rinse cycle.

 

I've been using the homemade recipe that had fels naptha,borax,washing soda in it for about 4 year now and have never had this issue.. We have always used vinegar in the wash though.. Until recently and I discovered the scent salts that go in the washer. BUT I do put more of the naptha in the recipe than it calls for.. We tried to use zote in place of naptha and it just didn't work out well.. So we switched back to the original recipe.. As far as the vinegar smell staying in the clothes, it doesn't.. you will never know it was put into the washer.. it works as a fabric softener as well..

 

Vinegar. It even worked to get the smell out of the wash that got left in the washer when I went away for 4 days and DH got sick and didn't do any laundry while I was gone. Too bad it wouldn't get the smell out of the grass-fed chuck roast he left in the fridge, too. Poor guy couldn't eat, much less cook. Oh, well. But remember the vinegar. It really works.

 

We have a second refridge in the basement. "Something died" in there, lol! don't know what or how or whom or ANYTHING, but it was NASTY!!! We cleaned it with all kinds of stuff, aired it out, etc. Finally we hit upon a bowl of activated charcoal (which you can get at a gardening store) and baking soda. Leave that in for a few weeks and see if it helps.