It seems like Fels Naptha has been around forever.
It is currently manufactured by Dial Corporation but was developed in the late 1800s by Joseph Fels who lived in Philadelphia. Mr. Fels created Fels Naptha originally to treat contact dermatitis for exposure to poison ivy or poison oak. That leads me to wonder… since Fels Naptha soap works by breaking up the oils, would work for exposure to handling jalapeno peppers? Did you ever slice and remove the seeds from a pound of jalapeno peppers? I have. Talk about some pain. When those oils start sinking into the layers of the skin it can burn for hours. And please don't touch your eyes or any other extra tender place on your body.
My grandparents used Fels Naptha, and my mother always had a bar of the soap on hand – with 7 children, it was a regularly used item for removing stains from clothing.
Homemade Laundry Soap
I personally never bought Fels Naptha until I learned it was an ingredient for making homemade laundry soap.
I'm always interested in trying homemade products to stretch our budget so I bought all the ingredients and gave it a shot. The recipe I used to make my homemade laundry detergent is here, and this post has photos of the batch I made. I was able to find Fels Naptha from my local Walmart but when my boss wanted to try the recipe she had trouble finding it. Her daughter with six children also wanted to try the homemade detergent but could not find it. I told her no problem – I'd just check my local Walmart, thinking maybe we were able to find it easier since we live in a rural area.
I was surprised to find they were no longer carrying it. I started searching for it on the Internet.
I ordered six bars for my boss and had it shipped to our job.
The joke was on me when I got to work on Monday and told her the good news. Apparently she'd found and bought six bars, and another person at work had done the same thing!
She told me to go ahead and give her the bill for the Fels Naptha and she'd reimburse me, but I didn't feel that was the right thing to do. I kept the Fels Naptha for myself and have been finding ways to use it ever since.
My mom was right, it works great at removing oily and greasy stains, ring around the collar, grass stains and blood. I wished I'd taken my mom advice earlier in life when my children were young and creating havoc with their clothing on a daily basis!
I also learned that Fels Naptha removes stains from carpet that I thought would never come up. One of our dogs sleeps at the foot of our bed and it was very stained. I'm including a photo below – the left side was taken before I replaced my bedding with a beautiful comforter set (only $50 from Ross Dress for Less). But look at the carpet. I swear to you, that's the same carpet, in the right side of the photo it looks brand new! I scrubbed that carpet on my hands and knees, but it was totally worth it! I wet the carpet with the carpet cleaner, then scrubbed a square foot at a time with a bar of Fels Naptha until it had suds, then sucked up the soap with plain water in the carpet cleaner.
What do you use Fels Naptha for?
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I have been using Fels Naptha soap for years. I use a knife to crumble it bit by bit. I then add very hot water and it melts the soap making it thick / creamy. Whenever I have clothin with a stain I dip a toothbrush into the soak and take out the stain. Has worked on stains from mustard, ketchup, blood, marker, ink and never disappoints. toothbrush
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Chris Reply:
August 13th, 2011 at 1:46 pm
I was looking for a recipe that just uses Fels Naptha in a liquid form. Thanks so much!
P.S. Does it stay thick and creamy or does it harden? I’ve heard to add some dish soap to emulsify it. I will try your way first. Thanks again!
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Thanks for the info on where to buy Fels Naptha.
I also made a batch of homemade laundry detergent with only Fels Naptha and I found that it was rather rough on my clothes. So, I came up with a blend of Ivory soap and Fels Naptha. The recipe does a great job gently cleaning the clothes. Hope this helps you convince your husband that homemade is the way to go!
http://www.homemademothering.com/2009/12/homemade-laundry-detergent-update.html
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Mrs. Accountability Reply:
January 5th, 2010 at 6:53 pm
Maureen, when I saw how cheap it was at that place I just had to make a public announcement! Two people at my job were looking for Fels-Naptha because we couldn’t find it in the grocery stores. We ended up buying so much Fels-Naptha that I have about six bars of my own. Your suggestion to use less Fels-Naptha with a gentler soap like Ivory is very clever, thank you very much for taking the time to share with me. I will try this soon! I need to make a new batch of soap I’m almost out of the batch I made six months ago. Thanks again!
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I buy it at ACE Hardware. The places you find the Borax, the Arm & Hammer Soda and Zote Soap may be different from one city to another. The stores I find these items are Walmart, Walgreens, Save-a-lot and Ace Hardware. Ace Hardware carries things the larger hardware stores do not have. This may be the reason they are still in business. Hope this helps!
My son and I are always trying to make things like our own detergent, pest repellent, plant pesticide and many other household projects so we are always looking for uncommon items.
Mike
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This is a little pet peeve of mine – please indulge me.
It’s not homemade laundry detergent. It’s homemade laundry soap. There are no detergents in the ingredients, and thus no detergents in the finished products. There is a big difference; detergents are petroleum byproducts, very good at stain removal.
I use the homemade stuff too, but I usually alternate batches with commercial laundry detergents, especially in the winter when I cannot dry my whites out on the lawn to freshen and whiten. Without the detergents, everything gets dingy after a few batches.
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Mrs. Accountability Reply:
January 29th, 2011 at 3:46 pm
@Maria Stahl, hi, you know what? You’re right. I have heard that before, that soap and detergents are two different things. Thanks for pointing this out!
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I find it at Winco, a cheap grocery store near my parents, and it’s cheap – under $1.50 per bar, no shipping. I’ve also seen Zote at Big Lots.
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Mrs. Accountability Reply:
January 29th, 2011 at 3:45 pm
@The Saved Quarter, I have never heard of Winco. I don’t think they have them here in Arizona. Thanks for leaving the comment, maybe some other visitors will find that they have a Winco in their area.
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Chris Reply:
August 13th, 2011 at 1:42 pm
Smart and Final has a large bar of ZOTE for 99 cents.
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I am in Phoenix and I bought mine last night at Walmart for $1.97.I saw it mentioned somewhere and thought I might try it out on some stains on the living room carpet.OMG-it is phenomenal.I am rarely impressed with new products (not that Fels Naptha is new, just new to me) and believe me I buy enough of them, but this is my new favorite cleaning product. My boyfriend was highly amused that someone could get so excited about a “bar of soap”.
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I use Fels Naptha for poison ivy! I scratch the area on my arm (or wherever) that has the poison with the soap on a wash cloth and it dries it up in no time! A lifesaver!!
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Fels Naptha has been a staple item for as long as I can remember. I used to buy it at the grocery store for stain removal and hand washing my clothes. I just recently heard it was good for carpet stains, so I picked it up at the grocery store for about $1.50.
It only takes up a few inches of shelf space. There is no good reason for grocery stores not to carry it.
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I just made my first batch of laundry soap! I just couldn’t waste a drop..I filled up the bucket after, with hot water and what was left on the sides and washed my kitchen floor…Oh my goodness..its white again!!I can hardly wait to do laundry!Thank you..thank you!!
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Wow! I was amaze by the result of using this stuff to your carpet huh, and it was just affordable unlike other soap I know. I would be glad to have an order of it. Anyway, thinking if you have lots of coins in your house or under your carpet, thought you might interest on coin counters to count your stray coins out there.
coin counters
http://www.betterbusinesselectronics.com/Coin-Counters-c26/
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I curious to know Fels Naptha. What particular product do they offered to the consumer. thanks!
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I love homemade laundry soap and use the same recipe as “Out of Debt Again”. However, I hate the gelled form and take an electric mixer to the gell, which then becomes smooth. It’s eaiser to get into bottles this way. Also, since it is so cheap for me to make, I make some for a homeless shelter, which houses 180 persons. I figure why not share the blessing.
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Walmart carries Fels-Naptha in the laundry aisle. It is 99 cents a bar (so $1.05 with tax) and Krogers carries it for $1.29 a bar.
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Mrs. Accountability Reply:
December 10th, 2011 at 10:35 pm
@Sara, thanks for letting us know you were able to find it in your local stores. I bought enough online to last and haven’t checked to see if my local stores have started to carry it again. Best, Mrs. A
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Any True Value store can order it for you. There is no shipping charge just takes about 5 days.
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Mrs. Accountability Reply:
February 5th, 2012 at 9:52 pm
@Mr. Doug, awesome, thanks for letting us know. So just walk into the store and ask? Do you have to pay in advance? Can you call your local store and ask them to order for you? Thanks for visiting and commenting. Mrs. A
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I was looking to see if I last bought the Fels Naptha at Walmart and started reading these comments. I love using this soap for many things but also really like the cedarwood and sage cleaner from Trader Joes for carpets and upholstery. I have lots of pets and this cleaner works miracles for getting out stains and smell. If you don’t have a Trader Joes by you, you may be able to order online. I have one close by so I’m not sure.
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Mrs. Accountability Reply:
February 12th, 2012 at 5:07 pm
Hi @Michell, thank you for joining in on the conversation and adding your comment. Fels Naptha is quite a product and has been around for such a long time! 🙂 Thanks for the tip on checking at Trader Joe’s. Best, Mrs. A
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I’ve herd of pink Zote bar/ Zote bar soap, is there a big difference between that and the fels naptha soap?I’m so pumped about making my own laundry detergent but I want to use the right bar soap… Help please!
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Mrs. Accountability Reply:
July 1st, 2012 at 2:26 pm
Samantha, I’m sorry but I am afraid I don’t know the difference between Pink Zote and Fels Naptha. I googled but it seems the only difference might be that the Pink Zote smells better? I think you should try the Pink Zote and see how it works out. Best of luck!
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