I'm curious where I will get the better answer for this question I asked at Ask Yahoo & here in Yahoo! Answers

Question

I'm out of liquid laundry detergent (gain or tide), and the only soaps I have in the house are Prell shampoo and a bar of Ivory soap. Will those work well in the washing machine if I use a three of four tablespoons of Prell and a small amount of shavings from the bar of Ivory soap?

Answer 1

I've heard of putting soap shavings in the laundry - you could probably grate up a bit and throw it in. Especially Ivory - that's pretty pure (but no softeners or anything like that). The Prell might work too, but I think you'd need more than a couple tablespoons. There was one shampoo that I know we used to wash our wool stuff in because it prevented shrinking, and I think we used 1/2 cup of that. Of course, I'd hate for you to have an attack of the suds so could scale it down a bit. Good luck! Great question!

Edited to add: I found this on shaving bar soap. Sorry for my previous bad advice.

Bar soap

You can use any bar soap you like to make it, but what is probably the original recipe used Fels Naptha, a old stand by - the yellow soap your grandmother grated into her wringer washing machine. They still make it and it's still good:
Fels Naptha The one and only, yes!

How to do it

Some people shave the bar of soap into a pan of hot water and stir until it's dissolved, but there is a lazy way to do it. Break or cut up the bar soap and put it in a pan of warm water one night. Let it set over night, then stir until it's dissolved. Heat it if it's stubborn, but it won't take nearly as much time or stirring this way.

After the soap is dissolved, put about three gallons of hot water into a large container. Add the soap, stir in well, then add a cup of washing soda, stirring until dissolved. If you want to use borax, now is the time to add a half cup or so.

For those of you who are outside the US: Put about 10 - 12 litres of hot water in a bucket and, after adding the dissolved soap bar, add 250 ml washing soda, and half that of borax, if you use it.

Set the whole thing aside until it cools, when you'll discover a gelatinous mass, vaguely of the same color as the bar soap you used. Depending on the strength of your soap and how much water you used, you'll need 1/2 to 2 cups of this laundry soap for each laundry load.

Washing soda should be in the laundry section of your grocery store. It comes in a yellow box, made by Arm & Hammer, but it's NOT baking soda. If you're interested, washing soda is Sodium Carbonate (Na2CO3), baking soda is Sodium Bicarbonate (NaHCO3), and borax is Sodium Tetraborate Decahydrate (Na2B4O7*10H2O), all different chemical compounds.

Answer 2

Ivory Soap shavings, IF it cleans your BODY it will clean your clothes, as most of the dirt comes from your body!
Also they make Ivory clothes soap...
USE IT!
Prell is for hair and can work but it is gentler for hair, and Ivory is made for BODY SOIL!

Add it to the machine FIRST with hot or warm water to melt it 1st...OR melt it to a liquid first in hot water and add it to the washer.
Depending on your load of wash and how dirty.
If you have a FULL load I would use a cup of shavings softened or melted in HOT water first.


IF you put it on TOP it will not melt in very well and leave white smudges here and there on your clothes.

IF you have stains then scrub the soap on the stain and use an old tooth brush and scrub it good...then just add it to the wash!

Answer 3

Prell is for hair, not laundry. Bar soap is for bathing, not laundry. Gather up some change in the sofa and go to the dollar store where you can get some detergent cheap!

Answer 4

Ivory soap shavings will just congeal and make a mess of your laundry. If you have liquid cleaning like Ajax, Mr. Klean, etc., you can use a half cup of that to a full tub of water in washer.

Answer 5

If you must use Prell with a teaspoon full of vinegar added to break down the bubbles.

Answer 6

Do not use the shavings from the soap. You can use the shampoo and it will do just fine. I have used diswashing liquid before and I have used body wash before. You have to use what you got.

Answer 7

It would work but why don't you just go to the store to get them. Do you want your clothes to smell using shampoo and ivory is not made for clothes.

Answer 8

Wait and do the laundry when you have bought detergent

Answer 9

do you have ammonia and baking soda? If you do, use ammonia for washing and the baking soda during the rinse cycle to get rid of any remaining smell and you should be good to go.

Answer 10

Try some baking soda instead