A Laundry Soap Update

I haven't written about my laundry soap in a while. I thought I had written about it since we moved, but evidently I didn't because there is no post about it anywhere to be found. Here is A LAUNDRY SOAP UPDATE for those with inquiring minds who likes keeping up with my laundry.

Switching from Fels Naptha to Zote in my laundry soap, a why in A Laundry Soap Update. It's probably not what you think. frogslilypad.net

A Laundry Soap Update



We have a town well for our water. It is icky and I don’t see how people drink it. I remember the first time, I turned the tap on and all that came out was a dingy liquid, not the sparkling clean water I was used to.  Believe it or not, over the past two years that water has played a role in our clothes becoming dingy after repeated washings and soakings.

During the summer, when I was grocery shopping I had my trusty Fels Naptha on my shopping list.  Wal-Mart was out of it that day and I found Zote further down the aisle while in search of a cheap jug of liquid detergent. I was a little hesitant about the citronella scent coming from the package but I bought it anyway.  When I opened the package, I found that the citronella smell was not a powerful, scary smell like the candles and burners for mosquitoes. Instead, it is a soft, pleasant scent and has no lasting effect on your clothes. You don’t have to worry about smelling like a human mosquito repellant walking around. :)

What drew me to trying Zote for a batch of soap is a friend of mine only uses Zote and doesn’t recommend anything else. Another thing I was interested in was the whitening power. Over the past year, I could have bought stock in Clorox because I was using so much on our whites. I really wanted to cut down on the use of bleach to keep from ruining what was being washed. After a couple of washings, our whites were whiter without having to use bleach. Over the last six months, I’ve only had to bleach a few things. YAY! I’m happy for that and I know our whites, kitchen towels, and dish cloths are happy also.

Zote costs the same as Fels Naptha and it is a larger bar. When making the soap, I did it the same way and found that the mixture has a little stronger washing power, so when I fill my smaller jug, I add a little extra filtered water and give it a good shaking.  A five gallon bucket lasts a little longer than six months because of this.

While I love Fels Naptha and would recommend it to anyone, I love the whitening power of Zote. As long as we are dealing with creepy water, Zote will be in my laundry soap.

You can read all my past posts about Laundry Soap.