Hi All, I used to use powder until an appliance repairman had to come to my house to fix a maytag neptune. That's another sad story. Believe me they are never lonely now. Anyhow, the repairman told me that it's better to use liquid because it mixes with the water faster and works on your clothes longer. I have hard water so I can't say that I noticed any difference in cleaning ability. To prevent the build up problem, I just put the soap right in the washer while I'm loading. I must say that I love the more concentrated detergents. They are really much easier on the back and shoulder which is important to me. When I was in high school I had a Chemistry teacher that had retired from Proctor and Gambel in the 1960s. He told our class that at that time customers equated cleanliness with suds, lots of suds. Unfortunately, phosphates were used to make the suds. I'm looking forward to the day I only have to use a tablespoon of soap to do the clothes. Does anyone know if there is an additive that you can add to the wash water that really softens the wash water?

I use both but prefer liquids. Much easier diluted although the powders of late seem to dissolve much better than 20 years ago. A liquid spill is far easier to clean up than a powder spill and powders are just messier. But it's not a real big deal either way. I've learned to be more careful. I used mostly powder then switched to liquid until about 2 years ago and went to Great Value enzyme powder, and tried Sun, a non-enzyme powder then tried Tide dye & perfume free and Gain liquid, oh and also Tide Regular 2x and have some Arm & Hammer left too. So I'm using a variety of products. Let's see, offhand I know of 6 different ones down there! I gave away the Spring liquid because I itched from it. And it looks like I might get to try out another different one. I never thought I'd enjoy doing laundry! LOL

I made my garden stuff with dish soap and it was very sudsy. My first batch made with hand soap didn't seem to suds in the top loader (and I used a full powder scoop). I did throw that batch away. The second batch I made, I used the duggar family recipe (1 fels bar, 1 cup washing soda, 1/2 cup borax--5 gallon bucket--half fill final container and fill rest with water. Makes 10 gallons = 640 loads. Use 1/4 cup for front loader). I did add some hand soap, but far less than the first time. When I was filling my milk jugs they did suds, but when I put 1/4 cup in a pint of water and shook it up, nothing. Also, because it seems so diluted, it didn't smell as bad (I did learn that adding ajax grapefruit dish soap to the garden stuff smells really, really bad--directions calls for dishsoap so suds ok). I did dilute it again and put some in with my kid's bedding load. I don't see any suds (I sure hope it isn't too diluted to actually work). Thank you for the powdered version. I think that I might try that. Although, I have 5 gallons of liquid (just made half the duggar family recipe). Will that hurt a septic tank to pour it down the drain? Although it is about 98% water. I appreciate the parts directions. Most of what I found have cups and bars. Well, yesterday I graded an old bar and a fresh bar. There is a difference in a cup of old shavings and new, so I'm not always sure I have the portions correct). Can I use Dr. Bonner's castille soap instead of zote or fels naptha? I think that I read something about it sudsing too much but I found some with the scent in it already.

I've never heard of Fels Naptha bar soap. Will another brand do? JoAnn, Do you think it would be okay if I could post the homemade laundry detergent recipe that many of us use? If so, here it is. Homemade Liquid Laundry Detergent 1 Fels Naptha bar soap (Sunlight Bar for Canadians) 1 cup washing soda 1/2 cup borax 4 cups hot water Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan of hot water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap is melted. Fill a 5-gallon pail half-full with hot water. Add melted soap, washing soda and borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Add more hot water until the pail is full. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken. The next morning it will be a gel-like consistency. Dilute the gel 1/2 and 1/2 with water in a laundry jug. Use 1/2 cup for top-load machines and 1/4 cup for front-load. (I just fill the cap on the laundry jug) The concentrate can be used as a stain pre-treater. It works great to remove carpet stains!