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I love using things that I think my elders might have liked. This is why I use cast iron and Borax and started putting bleach in my dishwater from the time I started doing dishes. I got it from my mama, as the song says. This is how I also learned - long before Nestles did - about adding fresh fruit and/or canned fruit nectar to my iced teas.
One thing I think that my mother and grandmothers might have is this:
That's a Fels Naptha laundry bar. I learned about it while looking for another soap bar that my mother did use: Zote. She used a big pink bar of Zote to pre-treat stains. And, listen, my mother was a laundry goddess. She got clothes so clean that you'd think they were new. She ironed and folded so beautifully that other military wives asked for tips. I'm serious. To this day, my two older brothers can iron and fold better than a professional laundry service. They got it from our mama. (I don't know what happened to my skills. Right this minute, I have fitted bedsheets rolled up in the top of my linen closet... So sad.)
By the way, this is my old Zote bar I put aside once I got the better Fels Naptha:
Warning: a really important difference between Zote and Fels Naptha! I know that some people use Zote as a bath soap. You cannot do this with Fels. As a matter of fact, I make sure to use gloves when using it because it irritates my sensitive skin. Although Naptha is no longer an ingredient in Fels Naptha soap, there is something strong in it that I didn't like on my skin.
These are the ingredients in the Fels Naptha. (These are not on the package; I had to go to the Purex site for them.)
The soap is from Purex, a brand of Henkel. You can get comprehensive ingredients info here.
Anyway, I usually can find a good laundry bar in Walmart but we all know how I hate leaving the house. When I checked on Amazon, I was amazed at the choices. Then I saw the Fels Naptha and... it looked really familiar. It was cheap so I ordered a few bars and when I got them, I remembered the smell. I am pretty sure that this is one of the soap bars my mother used!
The best thing about Fels Naptha is the smell. It's very vivid and bright and "clean" smelling. It's hard to describe but I like to keep one bar in the closet with my dirty clothes basket. The scent masks that icky odor of dirty clothes and slightly damp towels. When you wash with it, it gets rid of nasty odors in the clothes but doesn't leave a strong scent behind.
Using Fels is easy because it's so pliable. Some laundry bars can be almost rock hard. I could use Zote as a weapon if needed, but Fels is more like a medium soft wax. I like to cut the bars down into pieces. I even grated one part of a bar so I could add the shavings to the wash water. Also, I added some of the shavings to a bottle of water that I use to spray down the sink and around the faucet.
This soap is really versatile. Because of the clean scent that it leaves behind, I like to spray the soapy water into the toilet bowl for scrubbing. I also wipe down the shower curtains with some of the water and I love cleaning the hard water spots around the faucets with some of the soap.
As far as stain removal, the soap works best if you get to the stain before it sets, of course. I did try using it on some older stains and it worked better on non-greasy food stains. I did get some turmeric off of a kitchen towel by applying some of the Fels Naptha right away. Turmeric stains are a disaster if you don't catch them asap. The Fels only did a so-so job of getting most stains out of white kitchen towels. I've had better luck with other fabric cleaners.
To be totally honest I give this a 3 out of 5 as far as for laundry use. Personally, I like this more as a general cleaning bar than as a laundry agent. I add some shavings to the laundry just because it gives clothes a nice fresh clean scent. And, as a mention, our laundry room doesn't have the hottest of water and the soap shavings did melt in the wash cycle, thank goodness. What I have done laundry-wise is to start applying some Fels to stains before I toss items into the dirty clothes hamper. Hopefully, this will help when I finally get around to doing laundry every week...
Mainly, I use this around the kitchen and bathroom to clean counters, around the sink and, as I mentioned, the shower and toilet. I am in love with the scent. It reminds me of wash days back when I was young.
The soap is so incredibly cheap that I paid $0.88 per bar and I see that the price has not yet changed as I type this. I cut up one bar in fourths to basically place pieces in cabinets and under sinks for odor control. I'm currently using a piece of one bar in the kitchen and one in the bathroom. From that same bar, I shaved enough to make soapy water for a spray bottle that I cart from kitchen to bath to laundry room. I am about to buy another trio to give to neighbors because we all tend to share things like this.
I thought that I was being thrifty and smart by finding so many uses for the soap but then I saw this list and, wow. (NOTE: The page loaded funny for me. Just scroll down and you should see the entire article.) At least now I see why the soap works so well on the hard water stains around my faucet. Here is another helpful post with some history of and uses for Fels Naptha.
So, I feel like I have found something my mother would love - or probably did love. It's affordable and versatile so it's going to remain a part of my housecleaning arsenal. I'm not kidding when I say this is the kind of thing the women in my family would like getting as stocking stuffers.
Peace
--Free
One thing I think that my mother and grandmothers might have is this:
That's a Fels Naptha laundry bar. I learned about it while looking for another soap bar that my mother did use: Zote. She used a big pink bar of Zote to pre-treat stains. And, listen, my mother was a laundry goddess. She got clothes so clean that you'd think they were new. She ironed and folded so beautifully that other military wives asked for tips. I'm serious. To this day, my two older brothers can iron and fold better than a professional laundry service. They got it from our mama. (I don't know what happened to my skills. Right this minute, I have fitted bedsheets rolled up in the top of my linen closet... So sad.)
By the way, this is my old Zote bar I put aside once I got the better Fels Naptha:
Warning: a really important difference between Zote and Fels Naptha! I know that some people use Zote as a bath soap. You cannot do this with Fels. As a matter of fact, I make sure to use gloves when using it because it irritates my sensitive skin. Although Naptha is no longer an ingredient in Fels Naptha soap, there is something strong in it that I didn't like on my skin.
These are the ingredients in the Fels Naptha. (These are not on the package; I had to go to the Purex site for them.)
Anyway, I usually can find a good laundry bar in Walmart but we all know how I hate leaving the house. When I checked on Amazon, I was amazed at the choices. Then I saw the Fels Naptha and... it looked really familiar. It was cheap so I ordered a few bars and when I got them, I remembered the smell. I am pretty sure that this is one of the soap bars my mother used!
The best thing about Fels Naptha is the smell. It's very vivid and bright and "clean" smelling. It's hard to describe but I like to keep one bar in the closet with my dirty clothes basket. The scent masks that icky odor of dirty clothes and slightly damp towels. When you wash with it, it gets rid of nasty odors in the clothes but doesn't leave a strong scent behind.
Using Fels is easy because it's so pliable. Some laundry bars can be almost rock hard. I could use Zote as a weapon if needed, but Fels is more like a medium soft wax. I like to cut the bars down into pieces. I even grated one part of a bar so I could add the shavings to the wash water. Also, I added some of the shavings to a bottle of water that I use to spray down the sink and around the faucet.
This soap is really versatile. Because of the clean scent that it leaves behind, I like to spray the soapy water into the toilet bowl for scrubbing. I also wipe down the shower curtains with some of the water and I love cleaning the hard water spots around the faucets with some of the soap.
As far as stain removal, the soap works best if you get to the stain before it sets, of course. I did try using it on some older stains and it worked better on non-greasy food stains. I did get some turmeric off of a kitchen towel by applying some of the Fels Naptha right away. Turmeric stains are a disaster if you don't catch them asap. The Fels only did a so-so job of getting most stains out of white kitchen towels. I've had better luck with other fabric cleaners.
To be totally honest I give this a 3 out of 5 as far as for laundry use. Personally, I like this more as a general cleaning bar than as a laundry agent. I add some shavings to the laundry just because it gives clothes a nice fresh clean scent. And, as a mention, our laundry room doesn't have the hottest of water and the soap shavings did melt in the wash cycle, thank goodness. What I have done laundry-wise is to start applying some Fels to stains before I toss items into the dirty clothes hamper. Hopefully, this will help when I finally get around to doing laundry every week...
Mainly, I use this around the kitchen and bathroom to clean counters, around the sink and, as I mentioned, the shower and toilet. I am in love with the scent. It reminds me of wash days back when I was young.
The soap is so incredibly cheap that I paid $0.88 per bar and I see that the price has not yet changed as I type this. I cut up one bar in fourths to basically place pieces in cabinets and under sinks for odor control. I'm currently using a piece of one bar in the kitchen and one in the bathroom. From that same bar, I shaved enough to make soapy water for a spray bottle that I cart from kitchen to bath to laundry room. I am about to buy another trio to give to neighbors because we all tend to share things like this.
I thought that I was being thrifty and smart by finding so many uses for the soap but then I saw this list and, wow. (NOTE: The page loaded funny for me. Just scroll down and you should see the entire article.) At least now I see why the soap works so well on the hard water stains around my faucet. Here is another helpful post with some history of and uses for Fels Naptha.
So, I feel like I have found something my mother would love - or probably did love. It's affordable and versatile so it's going to remain a part of my housecleaning arsenal. I'm not kidding when I say this is the kind of thing the women in my family would like getting as stocking stuffers.
Peace
--Free
I fell so in love with this song after hearing a brief snippet
while watching The Sinner on Netflix.
Not crazy about that show but this song... It's
going to be stuck in my head forever.
