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It is possible make a solid Detergent at home
Im trying to make a solid laundry detergent, i have been reading about the Slurry industrial process, i got almost all the basic components but i dont have the machinery needed in the industrial process. My first attempt was to make a Naoh/oil soap and added sodium carbonate which i obtain from Baking soda and Hidroxide Peroxide and deshydrating it using an oven. The results was “ok” but it isnt a good detergent.
I want to know if anyone knows a process that can be made basically at home, I got DDBSA/LAS/LABSA, Soda, Carboxymethilcellulose, Sodium lauryl sulfate, STP, Sodium carboate (heated sodium bicarbonate + peroxide) -
13 Replies
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Although it is possible to make your own powder at home it is unlikely that you will get the performance of commercially available powders because you will not have access to the optical brighteners, enzymes and anti-redeposition agents that are used in these products.
Here are some formulations that might give you an insight into what is in commercial laundry powders.
The Economy Powder for low temperature Laundry on page three is probably the closest formulation that you would probably be able to make at home.
Also check out the book Advanced Cleaning Product Formulations, Volume 1 By Ernest W. Flick. You can get lots of starting formulations in this book. You can view large sections for free on google books.
You might be able to buy sodium carbonate from the supermarket under the name washing soda rather than making it.
The surfactants used in laundry powders are usually non-ionic as they are lower foaming than anionic surfactants. Do not mix DDBSA with your sodium carbonate as this will just cause a neutralization reaction.
For at home you only really have the option of the blending process.
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Thanks Ozgirl for your help, your link was very helpful, i can find versene, sodium carbonate and metasilicate, but almost all etoxylated alcohols are liquids, so my question is how can i make those liquids to solids since they are 90% water free.
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small scale? Use a Kitchen Aid or other planetary mixer, put the dry materials in the mixer bowl, and then very slowly drip the liquids onto the powders while you are mixing with a wire whisk attachment.
Large scale needs a PK mixer or ribbon blender or equivalent, but the process is the same. Personally, I think that it’s a massive waste of time for any but the largest manufacturers.What’s wrong with a liquid detergent blend? -
Not sure if this will be of interest, but this laundry soap : http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0073LGECW/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A1BJ3DNIBBHXRX has a very basic ingredient list, yet seems to work enough for many people.
-sodium carbonate
-sodium
bicarbonate
-magnesium sulfate (heptahydrate)
-unrefined sea salt
-mentha piperita oilI’m quite interested in attempting a similar version of this myself. Something with sodium percarbonate could be added when more cleaning power is needed.
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You can definitely add liquid surfactants to the powders using a process like Bobzchemist described above. There is no need to use only powdered surfactants.
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@wpring I saw your formulation but it seems that Sodium carbonate and Magnesium sulfate in a aqueus solution makes a precipitation reaction forming magnesium carbonate which is not soluble in water.
Im trying with -sodium carbonate -borax - salt, and regular Soap all mixed and granulated, im willing to add sodium triphosphate.@ozgirl @bobzchemist i can add liquid surfactants to my current formulation but i will obtain a pesudo liquid detergent with lumps, and i need a Powder detergent -
What do you mean by “soap” exactly? Secondly, I have heard that the use of phosphates in detergents is an environmental no-no.
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@luiscuevasii, the basic idea is to choose a liquid surfactant that has little to no water in it, and then add just enough of it to a water-soluble powder - sodium bicarbonate, or Borax, for example - so that the powder granulates, but no more, so that the powder/surfactant mixture does not blend into a paste. If you get a paste, use less surfactant the next time. Also, the more water that there is in your liquid surfactant, the longer you will have to mix the powder/surfactant blend for, so that the water evaporates. Gentle heating will speed this up. If dripping surfactant in doesn’t make something sufficiently lump-free, you could try using an atomizer.
Why isn’t simply using powdered soap an option, or powdered soap blended with Borax?How much of this are you trying to make?Why is a powder so important? -
@bobzchemist im going to put like 1%-5% of SLES to improve the foam, and i will tell you the results, the current proces includes heating and mixing all.
1)I cant use powdered soap because there is powdered soap shortage in my country.2)Im trying to make at least 20 kilos3) its important because in my contry all the people including my family belives that liquid detergent arent good enough.and the main problem is that its imposible to find most of the raw materials to make almost any medium-good quality toiletries -
@belassi By soap i mean “saponified soap” im ussing coconut/canola/olive oils with NaOH
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Ah. I wondered because there is a big difference between a synthetic soap such as Dove, and a cold process soap.
First let’s talk about the soap. Laundry CP is different from personal care CP. We don’t discount oils in laundry soap because that reduces the soap’s cleaning power.Second, you should use only coconut oil to make the soap, since coconut oil produces the maximum cleansing power.The sodium carbonate should improve the effect of the laundry soap in hard water.This site here seems to have excellent information and took me only a minute to find… I like the idea of using meat tenderiser to make an enzymatic washing powder. -
Also try adding 0.1% D-Limonene. Honestly I don’t want to comment further because this is after all a cosmetic or at least, personal care forum, and I don’t get into or have much experience formulating household products.
Don’t you have chemical factors in your city? There are a dozen or more in mine, all of whom sell knock-off copies of Flash, Downy, etc etc in bulk at about a third of the price. -
Thanks belassi for your help, so im going to eliminate borax from my formula, and going to make coconut oil soap, there arent chemical factors in my city, the 99% of the products that we have in our country is imported, as i told you i cant find most of the raw materials i have seen in this forum, thats why im always trying to innovate or make cosmetics/houshold products with the few raw materials available.
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