Too much laundry soap

After I finished cleaning my washing machine (see my last post), I threw my family cloth into the washing machine for cleaning. I poured in my soap and then watched as my machine filled with water. Since I broke the value on my machine, the one that tells the machine to stop filling and stops water from entering the machine, I have to turn off the water line manually once it is full. As I noted in my last post, my washer is hooked up to a quick release value on my laundry tub so this really isn't an issue for me. Having well water means I don't start a load when I can't finish the load and throw it directly into the dryer. The excess iron in the water makes the clothes stinky if they sit in the washer for too long.

I digress...back to the story. Because of the broken value, I was still watching the washer when it began to agitate. I was surprised by what I found.



I thought...."ok, that is probably not a good thing." When the washer finished the first cycle, I turned the water back on to rinse and found this...



Well, the string of expletives that escaped my mouth made me glad my daughter was asleep already. All I could think of was that I was throwing money down the drain in the form of laundry soap because I was using too much to wash my clothes. Now, I purchased the soap I am using here, Gain powder laundry detergent, right around Christmas when I had too much going on with the holidays to make a batch of my homemade soap. I am still working off that same box I bought, but now realize that my laundry soap should be lasting much longer. When I added the soap to the washer, I had barely filled it to the first line on the scoop that came with the box, but that was still too much soap for my washer.

I reran the load again, using plain water, to rinse out the excess laundry soap out of the family cloth.



You can see how much soap was left in my family cloth after the first wash and rinse. I was extremely surprised and then concerned. Using too much soap in your washing machine is a problem for many reasons.

1. Waste of money.
I could have washed another full load with the soap that was left over in the family cloth. Such a waste.

2. Poor washer.
That excess soap leaves a residue on your washer, which can cause many problems over time, not to mention require extra cleaning. The residue can build up on the washer and cause problems for the spin bearing, causing hundreds of dollars in repair costs. The residue can also cause your washer to have a yucky moldy smell it from mildew build up. Yuck.

3. Poor clothes.
That excess residue isn't only on your washer, it is also on your clothes. This means that your clothes will look dull and fade much quicker. That means replacing clothing much sooner than we should have to.

4. Poor skin.
Laundry soap isn't truly "soap", not the definition of soap that we think. It contains surfactants to help remove the dirt and grime from our clothes. Surfactants can be skin irritants for some. My daughter has sensitive skin, just as I do, and there are times when she will get a little rash from some laundry soaps. I don't usually have this problem with my homemade soap, but we have run across it with using the Gain soap on occasion. The excess soap in the clothes can cause contact irritation to the skin of those with sensitivities to it.

Bottom line, it is important to use the correct amount of soap for your washer so you can keep your clothes and washer in the best condition possible. I know I tend to use too much laundry soap, so I will start lowering the amount of soap I use to see how much soap I truly need to clean my clothes without leaving excess soap residue in my washer and on my clothing. My homemade recipe calls for 2 tablespoons of soap in a full load of clothes, 1 tablespoon per load for a HE washer. My washer is a smaller, apartment size washer, so I will be using 1 tablespoon of my homemade soap per load when I make my next batch.

Do you use too much soap?

Happy washing

Danielle