Difference between Soap Bars, Soap Flakes & Laundry (Household) Soap

handymanni

Hi all

Am about to make another batch of washing powder next week and was looking around at soap options.

I notice that the these three soaps seem to be used in lots of recipes interchangebly.

Last time out I used soap flakes from Wilkos which were fine but this time round I have found a good offer on laundry soap bars (like to old Fairy ones).

Thing is I make the powder for dermatology reasons as well as economy and because of this was wondering what exactly is in laundry soap? Is it just unflaked soap flakes?

Same goes for normal soap bars like the Tesco Value ones.

Are they all pretty much the same? Do they have any chemicals in them?

Linda32

As I understand soap flakes is the best thing to use in this instance.


They are not all the same thing, if you are worried about any chemical components.

ragz_2

Well, they will certainly have chemicals in them! As for what is in them, they should have ingredients listed, but I know you can use any of them in the recipes, a lot of people use cheap soap bars for it, so I imagine the main difference would be fragrance and the quantity of 'soap', if you see what I mean...

okay, have just googled a few...
http://www.tesco.com/groceries/Product/Details/?id=268305805 tesco value hand soap, hardly any ingredients compared to the Pears one, for instance (value one doesn't have SLS, interestingly)...
Laundry soap - seems the only ones I can find are for kind of stain removal, to be used alongside normal washing...

Sorry, that wasn't much help really, was it?

handymanni

Thanks for the replies so far guys

Here is the soap flakes http://www.dri-pak.co.uk/soap-flakes-for-laundry.html#.UsceAvtKQsM

And here is an example of the laundry soap http://www.wilko.com/stain+pre-treatment/wilko-household-soap-original-150g-x-2/invt/0330308?VBMST=&VBMTC=d74c40a72f846a669f39d79feec2be98

Not exactly an encyclopedia of ingredients

I am more concerned if anything in them will flare up skin irritations like some branded detergents do

Cant afford to keep buying Ecover!!

@Ragz The laundry bar can be grated up and added to a couple of ingredients to make washing powder

Linda32

handymanni wrote: »

I am more concerned if anything in them will flare up skin irritations like some branded detergents do

In which case I would go for soap flakes, especially if you have used them before.


Money saving is great but not for the sake of health.

handymanni

Suppose it is easier to find the ingredients in soap bars, but I just assumed household bars were soap flakes in whole form...cant seem to find a list of ingredients for them anywhere

handymanni

Looks like all the recipes involving flakes instead of grated soap require a lot less flakes than you would grated soap.

So I am assuming the flakes have more concentration of soap than the bars

Jacksmummy

I'd love to have a go at making my own washing powder, after reading this thread I've just tried doing a search for a list of ingrediants and instructions but the search won't work for I wonder if one of you would be so kind to send me a list or point me in the direction of one .... thank you x

BitterAndTwisted

There is a thread entitled "Gloop" which has instructions on how to make liquid laundry soap. The ingredients are similar to home-made powder: grated household soap (I've used Fairy and Sunlight), soda crystals and borax or borax substitute. You'll need hot water, a largish saucepan, a bucket and containers for storage plus about half an hour of your time and can make about a year's supply for a couple of quid. Bung about 100ml per load in the drum of the washing-machine.

Chris25

Knights of Castille soap is gentle - can be grated and used for gloop. Trouble is, it's not so widely found now. You tend to find it as a plastic wrapped multipack rather than in the individual cardboard sleeves it used to come in.

Gigervamp

Oh wow. From the Dri-Pak link:

As they do not contain chemicals, Soap Flakes are as kind to the environment as they are to your clothes.

Everything on this planet is a chemical! You would have thought that a company that sells a product that would need to be formulated by chemists would know that.

You might find it difficult to find an ingredients list for soap flakes and household soaps as they're household cleaners and don't need to list them, unlike bar soaps for use on the body.

Having said that, home soapmakers make laundry soaps from coconut oil (it has excellent cleansing properties, although a 100% coconut oil soap tends to be a bit harsh on the skin) and use a 0% superfat.

If you grate a bar of soap to make the gloop, make sure you use bog standard household soap. A lot of soaps are not pure soap, but have added detergents, surfactants, fillers etc.