I have recently been using Fels Naptha as a pretreater for stains. Wet the stained area and rub the stain with a bar of Fels. Rub the resulting soapy stuff in well. Somtimes I use an old toothbrush to get it into the fabric well. Let it sit for 10 minutes before laundering. I find the "new" Fels Naptha has quite a strong perfume, so I keep the bar in a plastic container. As to it not being the same as grandmom's Fels, Stoddard Solvent is also called white spirit in other parts of the world. It is a type of naptha, which is a petroleum distillate. It's the naptha in Fels Naptha that makes it the most effective soap for removing greasy oily soils. Perhaps Dial is being more specific in naming the particular type of naptha being used in the formula. They have also highly scented the product. It no longer is "the soap with the clean naptha odor" touted in the old ads. I have used Zout for years, and loved the results. I recently ran out of my original formula Zout. It was very lightly scented. The Zout I replaced it with is still effective, but I object to the way it perfumes my clothes, hence the switch to Fels.

ebear, yes, I agree, I sometimes get confused by reading too much info! I'm also interested in knowing what brands of essential oils are the real deal!! There are quite a few brands on the internet! How too, do you find larger sizes to be more cost effective? Anyone with insight please advise and/or give your experience. Thanks much!

@ kellycrash What is your goal in making your own laundry soap? Is it due to cost? Control of ingredients? Environmental concerns? Before using and promoting a homemade laundry detergent recipe, do you fully understand the role each ingredient plays? What is the hardness of your water? Do you understand how soap interacts with hard water, and the mess it can make in your machine? Do you know the final alkalinity of the wash solution and how that may or may not affect corrosion of your spider assembly? Soap flakes will create soap scum when combined with hard water. This will stick to your clothes, but what's even worse is that it will coat the inside of your machine and get you well on your way towards a mold/mildew/odor problem. Washing soda is a precipitating water softener, so again if you have hard water this is going to cause a white, powdery residue to coat your clothes and washer parts. Alkalinity is a well known enemy of the aluminum spider assembly at the rear of all front load washer drums. Particularly alkaline wash solutions may need the addition of sodium metasilicate or similar product to protect your spider from corrosion. If the soap does not rinse away properly, or you use ingredients that form a precipitate, this will coat your spider with possibly alkaline products, significantly accelerating corrosion and reducing the life of your machine. While homemade laundry soap or detergent may be a frugal person's fantasy, it's a "cheap at any cost" solution. If you don't know the long term effects of what you are putting into your machine, your frugal fantasy may end up costing you thousands of dollars down the line for a new machine or to replace ruined clothes. We have so many good detergents on the market today, most researched and formulated by people who are degreed, trained chemists. Why would we want to turn back the clock and use something in our machines that product science has rendered obsolete? It's almost like saying "hey, don't use your washing machine - use this washboard instead." Personally, I prefer benefitting from modern research and science versus turning back the clock and using ingredients that were prevalent in the 1800s. But that's just me. My personal opinion: stay away from this stuff unless you know exactly what you're doing.

Don't get me interested in another detergent. My family is already making fun of me now. My daughter sees me on here or looking at laundry videos on YouTube and laughs at me, shaking her head. At least that Zero Suds stuff is way too expensive for me to get interested in. No worries there. I do still want to try Members Mark Ultimate clean. Right now I have to make my way through 12 different detergents.