Wasting Soap - I've Been Doing it for 30+ Years!!!

[Midpack]

Maybe I'm the last person to figure this out, but I did the washing machine experiment below and the results were surprising! We use the recommended amount of soap or less, always. So I just washed one clean bath towel in hot water for five minutes without adding any soap - and the suds were unbelieveable! I will probably cut my laundry soap spending in half if not much more...jeeeeeeeez.

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Here is Mr. Schmidt's test to determine if you're oversoaping. Take four to six clean bath towels, put them in your front–loading washing machine (one towel for a top loader). Don't add any detergent or fabric softener. Switch to the hot water setting and medium wash and run it for about five minutes. Check for soap suds. If you don't see any suds right away, turn off the machine and see if there is any soapy residue. If you see suds or residue, it is soap coming out of your clothes from the last wash. "I've had customers that had to run their towels through as many as eight times to get the soap out," Mr. Schmidt said, who lives in Indiana. He offers other handy advice on his Web site, refrigdoc.com.

[W2R]

A few years ago, at Frank's suggestion I started using less than half the recommended amount of liquid detergent for my top-loading washing machine like he does. I fill the cap with only about 1/8" of detergent for a very large/supersized load, instead of up to the line. My clothes have been just as clean as ever and I have saved a lot of $$$.

FWIW, I think they recommend way too much.

[freebird5825]

I have to use powdered laundry detergent because I have a septic system. The septic pumping service guys told me that a lot of liquid detergents have petroleum derivatives in them and will clog up a septic system over time. No fabric softener for same reason.
I use A&H powder with no fragrances added, always measuring to approx the medium line for a large load of clothes.

[samclem]

I'm not quite sure that I follow the logic of the demonstration--couldn't the fact that soap is still remaining in the towels just as easily be evidence of the insufficient rinse efficacy of the machines rather than too much soap? Is soap "used up" so that if there's just enough to provide sufficient surfaction/grease cutting/cleaning there is no trace of bubbles? I'd be surprised.

But, I do agree that too much soap is generally recommended. We use 1/2 fl oz per load in our (wonderful) Staber machine, and that does the job very well.

The soap mfgrs obviously want people to use a lot of their product, and I guess the washing machine companies recommend a lot of soap since it costs them nothing and probably helps get clothes their cleanest in very hard water conditions.

By the same token--does anyone really use the amount of toothpaste shown in the TV ads for that stuff? It'd be frothing out of my mouth in 20 seconds of brushing.

[Nords]

We have a water conditioner and a front-loading washer, so we use a bit more than one tablespoon of detergent.

But I'd take the article's advice with a large grain of salt:

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One last bit of advice on an appliance — your oven. Use the self–cleaning mode more than once a year — otherwise, so many food particles have built up that when they burn off, smoke will billow throughout your entire kitchen. But don't clean right before a big holiday dinner, Mr. Schmidt advised. That's because the oven heats so high during cleaning that any weak part will give. "If it's ever going to fail, it will then," he said. "Every holiday we get swamped with calls."

This is a huge waste of energy and a great way to fry expensive oven components. Maybe a better solution to oven-cleaning problems would be... to not let it get dirty in the first place?!?

[tinlizzy]

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Originally Posted by samclem By the same token--does anyone really use the amount of toothpaste shown in the TV ads for that stuff? It'd be frothing out of my mouth in 20 seconds of brushing.

And the liquid dishwashing detergent mfgs go the opposite direction and tell you that with their detergent you will only need a drop - then they make the hole in the bottle so large or the shape of the bottle such that it's impossible to only squirt out a drop.

[Koolau]

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Originally Posted by Nords But I'd take the article's advice with a large grain of salt: This is a huge waste of energy and a great way to fry expensive oven components. Maybe a better solution to oven-cleaning problems would be... to not let it get dirty in the first place?!?

That's what DW used to tell me. So now, I let her use the oven by herself. Works for me!

(No, I didn't used to break dishes so she'd wash them herself. Styro plates and bowls just bounce when you drop 'em. )

But back to OP. DD of close friends went off to college. She'd never done a load of laundry in her life, so mom was concerned but didn't offer advice. Upon returning after semester one, DD did her own laundry to the shock of mom. Of course, she used fabric softener instead of detergent!! Apparently she had the softest dirty clothes on campus for a whole semester until mom wised her up.

Now, even more seriously, we've always performed an additional rinse on our clothes as we tend to get chaffing otherwise. Now, after all these years, I think I'm finding out we were just using too much detergent to begin with. Once again the forum has paid for itself with helpful advice!

[CuppaJoe]

I never wring out my wash cloths, assuming the soap can be re-used in the washing machine.

Silly me, I bought another box of laundry detergent to stay stocked up; the small amount left from the last box is probably good for two or three years more.

Thanks for the reminder, Midpack, when are you retiring?

[Tesaje]

I've gotten very sensitive to soap residues. Gives me a bad rash so I'm careful to use as little as possible I use white vinegar in the rinse to get the soap out. The amazing thing is that if you get the dirt & soap completely out, laundry is naturally soft so there is no need for that awful "softener" stuff either. Lol

[IBWino]

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Originally Posted by samclem By the same token--does anyone really use the amount of toothpaste shown in the TV ads for that stuff? It'd be frothing out of my mouth in 20 seconds of brushing.

I have no idea if this is true, but a friend once told me a story about a guy who had an idea for increasing toothpaste sales. He approached all of the major manufacturers and told them he knew how to instantly increase sales by 30%. They were all very interested but skeptical and balked at his request for a percentage of the sales, preferring to pay a flat fee for the information. After some time, they relented and agreed to pay him a percentage of sales. His idea was to increase the diameter of the toothpaste opening by 14% (thereby increasing the area of the opening by 30%). The idea quickly made him a millionaire.

[TromboneAl]

I've found that even half a teaspoon of dishwasher detergent can do the trick. But it seems like such a small amount, we usually put in more.

Remember those magic laundry balls that were supposed to clean without detergent? Perhaps leftover soap is the secret for those, at least for the first load or two.

[samclem]

Here's what not to do: When I was a kid and we ran out of dishwasher detergent, I used the regular "sink" dishwashing soap instead. I knew it made a lot of bubbles so I used a lot less. Apparently it was still too much--as the machine ran (unattended), sheets of bubbly lather spilled all over the kitchen floor.

[clifp]

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Originally Posted by samclem Here's what not to do: When I was a kid and we ran out of dishwasher detergent, I used the regular "sink" dishwashing soap instead. I knew it made a lot of bubbles so I used a lot less. Apparently it was still too much--as the machine ran (unattended), sheets of bubbly lather spilled all over the kitchen floor.

Been there done that twice, I am slow learning at times.

On related question, I am sucker for Costco Coupons so I bought new monster laundry. It says it does 112 loads of laundry, now I am sure I never do more than two loads of laundry (light and dark) a week and sometime it more like every 10 days. I also (not having read this thread before) dutiful fill the laundry to the line. So logically I should need not to buy a laundry detergent more than once a year. But I am sure that I buy it more often than that.

I suspect that X number of loads is using a small amount of laundry soap like you all advocate, but if you use the amount on the cap, you get less than 1/2 the amount.

Can anybody verify this?

[Janet H]

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Originally Posted by IBWino I have no idea if this is true, but a friend once told me a story about a guy who had an idea for increasing toothpaste sales. He approached all of the major manufacturers and told them he knew how to instantly increase sales by 30%. They were all very interested but skeptical and balked at his request for a percentage of the sales, preferring to pay a flat fee for the information. After some time, they relented and agreed to pay him a percentage of sales. His idea was to increase the diameter of the toothpaste opening by 14% (thereby increasing the area of the opening by 30%). The idea quickly made him a millionaire.

McDonalds did this a few years ago with their drink straws. They have a bigger bore and a small sip gets you a big mouthful....

[CCdaCE]

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Originally Posted by Janet H McDonalds did this a few years ago with their drink straws. They have a bigger bore and a small sip gets you a big mouthful....

You'd think with free refills, they'd go the other way - less diameter.

-CC

[Ronnieboy]

My wife still thinks more is better......and yes I am talking about the laundry soap.

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

A few years ago there was a strange washing product: a plastic puck with water inside. The idea was to put nothing but the puck and the clothes in the washer. No soap at all. Surprisingly, everything got pretty clean anyway. Partly because of residual soap, I suppose, but it goes back to washing clothes in the river, beating them against the rocks.

[Midpack]

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Originally Posted by Ed_The_Gypsy A few years ago there was a strange washing product: a plastic puck with water inside. The idea was to put nothing but the puck and the clothes in the washer. No soap at all. Surprisingly, everything got pretty clean anyway. Partly because of residual soap, I suppose, but it goes back to washing clothes in the river, beating them against the rocks.

Never stopped to think about it, but washing is simply separating dirt from clothing, so I guess it could be done entirely with mechanical/physical action. Soap is just supposed to facilitate the separation.

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Soap has two main functions: 1. Decrease water's surface tension 2. Bind to dirt, oil and bacteria

This morning, I did a load of laundry with 1/2 the recommended laundry detergent, we'll see how it goes...

[MikeD]

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Originally Posted by Janet H McDonalds did this a few years ago with their drink straws. They have a bigger bore and a small sip gets you a big mouthful....

I heard it was so they were not useful as cocaine sniffing straws. Apparently, the coffee stirrers were little spoons and were used to shovel coke up people's noses also.

Mike D.

[calmloki]

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Originally Posted by MikeD I heard it was so they were not useful as cocaine sniffing straws. Apparently, the coffee stirrers were little spoons and were used to shovel coke up people's noses also. Mike D.

Drug Czar in meeting w/ McD's honchos: Increased straw diameter? check. change coffee stirrers? check. <brushes hands off> Mission accomplished! Drug war is over!