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.

Here's the recipe I've been using for about three years...I get all my ingredients at our local Krogers...I also add a bottle of oil of essence I find at Hobby Lobby or Michaels...otherwise it has virtually no smell! I also picked up an empty pool chemical bucket last summer at a garage sale for 50cents...it's a little over 6 gallons and I can triple the recipe... Laundry Soap You will need 3 basic ingredients; a soap of some sort, washing soda and borax. The Soap: The most typical type of soap to use is Fels Naptha. It is an old-fashioned type of soap usually found in the laundry aisle. The other options for soap are Ivory or another brand called, Zote. Any of these will work. I use my own homemade soap and find it works quite well. If you use Ivory or your own homemade soap you will need to use the whole bar. Washing Soda: This is not to be confused with baking soda. They are not the same thing. Washing soda is sodium carbonate or soda ash (baking soda is sodium bicarbonate). It is a white powder. Its purpose is to help remove dirt and orders. The brand to look for is Arm & Hammer Washing Soda. I find it in the laundry section of my grocery store. Many people have a hard time finding this locally. I know you can purchase it on-line, even through Amazon.com. I would also suggest asking your grocery store manager if it would be possible for the store to get it for you. Borax: Borax is a naturally occurring mineral: Sodium Borate. It is a white powder. ItÂs purpose is as a laundry whitener and deodorizer. The brand to look for is 20 Mule Team. It comes in a 76 oz. box. You should be able to locate this in the laundry detergent aisle. Again as with the washing soda, if you cannot find it ask you store manager or look online. The Recipe 1/3 bar Fels Naptha or other type of soap, as listed above ½ cup washing soda ½ cup borax powder ~You will also need a small bucket, about 2 gallon size~ Grate the soap and put it in a sauce pan. Add 6 cups water and heat it until the soap melts. Add the washing soda and the borax and stir until it is dissolved. Remove from heat. Pour 4 cups hot water into the bucket. Now add your soap mixture and stir. Now add 1 gallon plus 6 cups of water and stir. Let the soap sit for about 24 hours and it will gel. You use ½ cup per load. Optional: If you want your soap to have some sort of scent you can scent this with ½ to 1 oz. of essential oil or fragrance oil of your choice. My favorite scent is orange essential oil.

It's doable and the right blend would not gunk up your washer. Fels and Zote would because they are blended to be skin safe. The basis of many detergents is indeed a soap. Sodium coco anything is saponified coconut oil. It's oil reacted with sodium hydroxide lye. That's soap. Washing soda and citric acid = sodium citrate. D limonene ($3 a liter) heavy duty degreaser (orange essential oil is 90% d limonene) often listed as citrus extract. Zeolites and sodium silicate - crystal cat litter ground fine or some of the eco friendly tsp. Add a bit of grapeseed extract for antioxidant properties. Just made a batch of Biokleen powder :). The DIY crowd just needs to think bigger. Edited : left out a few ingredients :) Sodium sulfate is a cheap filler. It does nothing. It's only real use is as a laxative as it binds so well with water. Laureth 7 - secondary surfactant. It makes bubbles but doesn't actually clean anything. It's there so you see bubbles and are happy. Cellulose gum is listed as a chelator. It's a thickener, a starch. Used to thicken liquid soaps and foods. More filler basically unless your water is too thin....

I use only the powdered homemade version. I make about 2 batches a year and store the powder in clear plastic storage containers that I get bulk nuts in from Costco. It costs me less than a large bottle of Tide for a whole year's worth of laundry -- and I am not having to toss plastic detergent bottles. (They don't recycle them here yet.) I use a 5 ingredient version that works well for my semi-hard water and a front loading washer. It has Oxy-Clean so it keeps my lights bright. It does not leave any white residue on darks, no oil marks on synthetics, does not suds up, and leaves no scent on clothes. I mix the following in a 5 gallon pail. Don't inhale the powder mixture while mixing it up. Store the dry powder in plastic containers. I use only one rounded tablespoon for each load. 1 box Borax 1 box Washing Soda 5 lbs Baking Soda 3 lbs Oxy-Clean (or generic substitute) 1 grated bar of Zote (or two bar Fels Naptha, or two bars Castile Soap) If the soap bar is allowed to dry out in advance, it grates much finer. I cut up the Zote soap in 4 parts to air dry. I use a hand crank rotary Mouli shredder to grind up the soap.