Some experiments with soap

Updated,

1.29.18


Time to wrap up this post.  My findings is that you can separate the dirt and scum out of the waste water and return it to clear water.  However, something still remains in the water, so it is not a done deal yet.  Also, it takes a long time for a filter system to work.  Unless that can be expedited some, it won't be practical for me to use this.

Bottom line:  Boraxo can be used for your hands.  Maybe for dishes too, but I didn't test that very much.  You can indeed reclaim water for further treatment.



1.28.18:

12:49 pm:

Hold off on the washing soda.  I took about a tablespoon of baking soda ( different from the last batch, this is only bicarbonate of soda ), and checked to see how much vinegar it would take to dissolve it all.  About six ounces.  Water as clear as a bell.  ( or should I say, a solution mixed up with water )  A more precise measurement may give me a better idea of how much is needed per ounce of vinegar, you see.  Evidently a lot of vinegar is needed per bicarbonate.

After seeing that the untreated waste water from the boraxo didn't clear, I added the vinegar again.  It is clearing up the water all right.  Now I can guess about how much bicarbonate it would take to neutralize the vinegar.

It is not very exact.  Trial and error will be necessary to know how to measure it out.

7:30 am

Filtered the baking soda/ vinegar mix.  It is fairly clear.  Also, some preliminary results with untreated waste water from the boraxo soap:  It doesn't filter clear.  Quite the surprise.  It does appear that the vinegar does something to the boraxo, but it isn't obvious from just looking at it.   Adding the baking soda to the mix doesn't prevent it from filtering clear, but it does appear to neutralize the vinegar, which is an acid. 

Now on to the washing soda.

1.27.18:

9:45 pm :

The filtered vinegar-treated water is fairly clear.  Another experiment to try is without the vinegar.  I have a hunch that the boraxo will filter out without much chemical assistance from the vinegar.

Also, I may try to filter out the baking soda/ vinegar mix mentioned earlier today.  It will sit overnight, and then I will attempt to filter it.


10:30 :

The vinegar didn't cause it to precipitate.  So now I am using a paper filter to get it clear.  It does seem to help.  However, it is still not clear.

Another "goofy" thing I did was to put some baking soda in the filtered water.  Yes, there was still some vinegar as it fizzed up a bit.  ( that was kinda funny )  The results were not so hot, either.  The water is worse than before.

But that wasn't the washing soda.  Let us hope that those results are better.


Originally posted 1.26.18


The soap arrived at the Walmart, so I picked it up.

This stuff is called "Boraxo".  Also, there is some stuff called washing soda.  Now, the idea is to get the waste water from cleaning with these two products, and react it to vinegar, and precipitate out of solution, leaving clear water.  The washing soda should definitely do that, but I am not so sure about the Boraxo.

Once I got it home, I opened the Boraxo first, and found that it is not so easy to use.  Perhaps that is why it is no longer popular.  It does wash pretty well, or so it has so far.

First thing was to attempt to make it come out of a soft soap dispenser.  I mixed up a batch, and poured it into the container.  However, it doesn't work too well that way.  The Boraxo wants to settle to the bottom, leaving a pale white colored liquid that doesn't soap up nicely.

With that in mind, I mixed up a second batch, using much less water.  It won't dispense through the pump apparatus.  However, if mixed up with small amounts of water, it will make a kind of a paste.  The paste does indeed soap up nicely.

Getting this to dispense conveniently may be an issue.  It needs to keep for a period of time in order for it to be useful.  Putting it in an open container will expose it to the air, and the water will evaporate, making it into a solid again.  It has to be covered.  Now, I would like to make it so that it will dispense without having to put a lid on it.  But it may not want to cooperate.

With waste water from washing with this stuff, I tried the vinegar experiment.  I added a couple caps full ( off the vinegar bottle) of the vinegar to the waste water.  No visible reaction occurred.  It will sit overnight, and then we'll see if the mixture will settle out.

That's all for now.  More to come later.