Laundry detergent vs. laundry soap; why are my clothes not getting clean?

Laundry detergent vs soap  

I see a lot of questions around laundry and I figured maybe I can help with determining how to choose what’s right for you. 
A lot of the common questions I see when it comes to laundry is ….. 
🧺why do my clothes still stink? 
🧺what can I use for cloth diapers or will this (insert laundry option) work for cloth diapers? 
🧺 can I make a diy laundry detergent? 

A common misconception around laundry is that all options labeled for laundry are a detergent. Did you know laundry detergent and laundry soap are not the same thing? The functionality and performance will greatly differ. Did you know some of the DIY recipes aren’t actually a detergent or soap at all? 

There are so many things that go into laundry and how to choose a detergent/soap/recipe that right for you and your family. 

🧺water hardness 
🧺type of machine 
🧺mode of washing 
🧺ph 
🧺 dirtiness 

So let’s start by distinguishing the difference between a laundry soap, laundry detergent, boosters and water softeners. 

What are surfactants? 
Surfactants are chemical compounds that reduce the surface tension of a liquid, allowing it to spread and mix with substances it normally wouldn't, such as oil and water. They are amphiphilic molecules, meaning they possess a dual structure: a hydrophilic (water-loving) head that attracts water and a hydrophobic (water-repelling) tailthat attracts oil and grease

Common types include:
* Anionic surfactants: Carry a negative charge and are the most common cleaning agents in laundry and dish detergents. 
* Nonionic surfactants: Carry no charge and are effective in a wide range of water conditions, often used for oily soils. 
* Cationic surfactants: Carry a positive charge and are typically found in fabric softeners rather than for primary cleaning. 
* Amphoteric surfactants: Carry both positive and negative charges, often used in gentle or "green" formulations. 

Detergent based surfactants are synthetic surface-active agents used as the primary cleaning components in modern detergents to lower water surface tension and remove hydrophobic dirt and grease. Examples of detergents are glucosides (non toxic), SLS (not non toxic), DDBSA/DDBS (not non toxic) 

Soap based surfactants  are anionic surfactantschemically defined as the salts of fatty acids, produced through a process called saponification where fats or oils react with an alkali like sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide. 
Examples of soaps are sodium/potassium tallowate, sodium/potassium cocoate 

Water softeners are systems or additives designed to remove calcium and magnesium minerals from water, which are the primary causes of hardness. Water softeners are often used boost detergent efficiency, prevent mineral build up in fabrics, protect appliances, and reduce detergent use. Common water softening ingredients are borax, calgon, sodium citrate, washing soda. 

Laundry boosters are supplementary additives designed to enhance the effectiveness of regular laundry detergent, tackling issues like tough stains, stubborn odors, and dulling fabrics. Examples of this are baking soda, washing soda, sodium percarbonate.  

Enzymes are are biological proteins derived from microbial fermentation that act as bio-catalysts to break down specific stain molecules into smaller, water-soluble particles. They enhance cleaning efficiency, allowing for effective stain removal in cold water and reducing the need for harsh chemicals or hot water.

Common enzymes found in laundry detergents are 
* Proteases: Break down protein-based stains like blood, egg, sweat, and grass. 
* Amylases: Target starch-based stains such as pasta, potatoes, and cereals. 
* Lipases: Remove lipid and fat-based stains including butter, oil, and grease. 
* Cellulases: Clean fabric fibers to remove soil and prevent pilling, often providing color care. 
* Mannanases: Break down mannan-containing stains like those found in barbecue sauce and ice cream. 
* Pectinases: Dissolve pectin in fruit and jam stains.

Now that we’ve defined soap, detergent, boosters, softeners, and enzymes let’s talk about laundry issues you may experience and other relevant details. 

Let’s talk ph and chelating agents. 
Yes ph does impact your laundry The ideal pH for washing most everyday laundry is between 7.0 and 8.0, which is slightly alkaline. This range effectively removes dirt, oil, and stains while maintaining the color and fabric integrity of most common textiles. Ph can impact your detergents efficiency but also your fabrics integrity. Certain enzymes operate better at certain ph’s the enzymes boost your detergents efficiency by removing stains and getting rid of proteins from the stains of every day life. Ph can also impact sensitive skin. Neutral pH detergents are preferred to prevent skin irritation caused by alkaline residues left on clothing. That said most detergent are between 7-10.5 in ph. 

Chelating agents are chemical additives in laundry detergents that bind to metal ions, such as calcium and magnesium, found in hard water.  By sequestering these minerals, they prevent them from interfering with surfactants, which enhances cleaning efficacy. Common examples of chelating Agents are as follows
EDTA, tetrasodium glutamate diacetate, Methylglycine diacetic acid, and citric acid. 

Let’s talk machines 
Washing machines clean clothes by combining mechanical agitation, water temperature, and chemical detergent action. The process begins when the machine fills the tub with water and detergent; surfactants in the detergent break down stains and lift dirt from fabric fibers.  Agitation moves the clothes to loosen soil. Rinsing and spinning remove the dirt and water. After the wash cycle, the machine drains the soapy water and refills with clean water to rinse out residual detergent and suspended dirt. 
Finally, a high-speed spin cycle extracts excess moisture from the clothes, leaving them damp and ready for drying

Not all machines are made equally. There are things that can impact preformed in machine like lack of an agitator, HE, water hardness, ph, and quality are all factors that go into the performance of laundry washing. It’s not *just* what you use to clean your clothes but also the Mode of how you clean your clothes. 

Machines are best designed for detergents because of how they clean your clothes. Detergents are designed to clean, lift and rinse away without attaching to fibers in your clothes. It also preforms well in both hard and soft water. 

Soap on the other hand doesn’t rinse away as easily and in some cases does attach to the fabric fibers causing build up; especially in the presence of hard water. We see this most apparently and commonly with cloth diapers. Soap reacts with the minerals in hard water creating a film called soap scum. This film coats your clothes and the inside of your machine and depending on severity you may not notice immediately or you’ll notice after the first wash. Soap actually is best used with handwashing dishes like back in the day before machines existed. 

Another tricky thing about laundry is that you may not know if your detergent is ineffective at first. It takes time for your clothes to accumulate the build up from not being cleaned properly. After all machines themselves don’t fully clean your clothes which is why yearly stripping is often necessary. 

What is stripping and why is it necessary? 
 
Laundry stripping is an intensive deep-cleaning method that involves soaking textiles in a mixture of hot water, Borax, washing soda , and laundry detergent to remove accumulated residues.  This process targets buildup from detergent, fabric softener, hard water minerals, and body oils that regular washing cycles often fail to fully eliminate.

“Regular wash cycles often fail to eliminate” yes! you have read this correctly.  Most machines are not made to fully clean your clothes in a normal wash cycle. Each time you do laundry regardless of what you use a tiny bit of residue is left behind. Not enough to be noticeable and no this doesn’t mean your clothes are always dirty. It does however mean that after a period of time they will have too much build up that a regular wash will be ineffective at cleaning and that’s when you need to strip them. Usually you’ll want to strip your clothes once a year because it is also really tough on fabrics. However The use of soaps and non detergents can exasperate this issue and you may have to strip more frequently as the build up will be much more severe. 

So if you’re experiencing dingy, stinky clothes that don’t feel clean or smell clean you may want to check a few things 

- What are you using to clean your clothes and is it compatible with your circumstances like water hardness ect. 

- Your machines functionality and its compatibilities and limitations as well as if it’s clean 
- Do you have build up and need to

- Strip your clothes? 

If you switch your laundry detergent  because you feel they aren’t getting clean u absolutely recommend cleaning your machine and stripping your clothes. A good detergent isn’t going to be able to tackle the build up that’s accumulated from using something that isn’t doing the job. 

The last topic on today’s agenda is can you make a DIY laundry detergent? 
The short answer is no; you can’t. This is because crafting a detergent requires so much more research and formulation experience than you may expect. I used to think you could diy a detergent. I used to even share recipes that frankly were not a detergent at all as a diy. It wasn’t until formulating my own detergent as a small business owner that I learned all the ins and outs about machines, what you should have in a detergent to make it effective, how important things like ph and chelating agents are, how machines function and are crafted in this generation, chemical interactions and performance of the various chemicals included in a detergent. 

The closest you can get to a detergent that’s diy isn’t really a detergent but is also not technically a soap and that’s using soap nut powder as your surfactant. Not to be so clear - it is a WEAK surfactant so while it might work for some it may not work for others. While it seems like it works again it takes time to find out it may not. BUT unlike soap it’s not likely to create soap scum on your clothes or your machine and with the help of boosters, softeners, and enzymes it could be a okay diy option but again it’s not a true detergent so try to keep that in mind so you can have realistic expectations for its performance. 

I know this is an extremely long winded post. There was so much to unpack here but I do hope that if you’ve made it through it all that you find it helps you on your journey with laundry and clean living.