Laundry soap Zote

[jen_in_southtexas]

Have any of you made homemade laundry soap using Zote bar? I have read many recipes where they substituted Fels Naptha for Zote. Fels Naptha is not available here but Zote is.

I have read that the Zote did not dissolve well in the wash or when melting it on the stove pot. Guess I wont know till it try but was just wondering of your experiences with it.

-jen

[GoodDaughter]

Hi Jen.

I use Zote all the time. It's cheap and it works just fine. If you get a bar that is fairly 'fresh', it is somewhat soft and you can easily cut it with a sharp knife. It dissolves just fine.

I sometimes use Fels Naptha, and in my experience, that stuff is hard as a rock and you have to grate it into fine shavings/powder to get it all to dissolve when heating. And then sometimes there are little pieces that never dissolve. Plus it goes up my nose when I'm grating it and burns. *

If I have the choice, I use Zote. *I would suggest you try to get bars that have been recently stocked, to try to get ones that are softer than old ones that have been sitting for a long time.

ETA Fels Naptha is only available at Kroger stores here. I"ve never seen it anywhere else. At Kroger, its usually up on the top shelf and they usually only have a few bars at a time.

[jen_in_southtexas]

Thank you for the info GoodDaughter. Do you make the dry detergent or the liquid one? I was also curious to know how long a batch will last you.

Thanks,
jen

[marnee]

We make a powdered detergent with Zote, and I love it. I can even hand grate it if I need to (like during toddler nap times that are so precious), and it works really well. I haven't had any problems with it dissolving, though I was sure that my clothes were going to smell like citronella (they didn't, I promise!).

This is the "recipe" I've used. How long a bath lasts will depend on how big of a batch you make and how often you do laundry, but you know that. :) For ease of use, I like keeping mine in one of the tall sour cream containers and scooping out of that, and I usually am good for about 2 weeks.