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Head into my laundry room and you will find several bars of Fels-Naptha soap. This laundry bar soap is one of my favorite cleaning products hands down. Despite the fact that it was created as a laundry soap, there are so many ways to use Fels Naptha that it just makes so much sense to me to always have it handy.
One of the reasons that I love Fels-Naptha so much is because it is incredibly cheap.
Here in the US, I can pick it up at Walmart for less than $1.00 per bar. If you can’t find it at Walmart, Amazon sells it as well.
As always, I love anything that helps me to save money and since there are so many uses for Fels Naptha, it definately does that!
Like I said, It’s one of my favorite cleaning products period!
Ways to Use Fels-Naptha Soap
When you use Fels Naptha, a little usually goes a long way which means that is a dollar well spent.
At that price, I can afford to buy a few bars to experiment with and I’m fairly certain you can as well. After all, experimenting with new products is how we all find new uses for things.
Since it is so cheap, we can all afford to buy a few bars of Fels-Naptha to find those new uses with.
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Uses for Fels-Naptha Soap
I will be honest and say that this soap hasn’t always been a favorite of mine. In fact, I was well into my thirties before I really understood how great a little bar of soap really can be.
Then, in 2015, I began a journey that I still continue today. I began to look for things to make at home to save money and make money with.
What began as a list of around 30 things is now a huge list and Fels Naptha is the main ingredient for a lot of those things.
And if I were to be honest with you; I would never go back to the way we used to live. Making things at home, drinking milk straight from the farm, eating eggs and produce grown and raised here at home; it’s all enhanced my life in ways I could never explain.
But we are here to discuss the ways to use Fels Naptha and since there are so many uses for Fels-Naptha that I am 100% certain that once you see them all, your home will be the same as mine; full of Fels Naptha!
The History of Fels-Naptha Soap
Created around 1893, Feby Fels and Company, Fels-Naptha was the first soap to contain the product Naptha. Naptha was a liquid hydrocarbon mixture that worked amazing as a laundry soap, but thankfully it was removed from the soap as it was a cancer risk.
As the new soap prospered, the company did as well. In 1964 it was sold to Purex which was then sold to Dial and further sold to Henkel in 2003.
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Is Fels Naptha Soap Safe?
Fels-Naptha was extremely popular during WW2 but over the years it dropped in popularity as convenience products made their ways to the shelves.
Recently though it has seen a resurgence since so many people are starting to recognize the value of saving money with depression era money saving tips or money saving tricks from World War 2.
As I stated earlier, originally, Fels-Naptha containerd the hydrocarbon Naptha. Since it was known to be a cancer causing carcinigen, it was removed.
After the removal, the soap became safe to yuse iand is no longer toxic. Even better, it still cleans just as well – if not better!
Is Fels-Naptha an Eye Irritant?
Fels Naptha is safe, however, it is a known eye and skin irritant with prolonged exposure.
Also, while Fels-Naptha isn’t labeled as a nasal irritant, I find that grating it does irritate my nose quite a bit so just keep that in mind when you’re looking for ways to use Fels-Naptha in your home.
If grating it does irritate your nose as it does mine, you can eliminate that issue by using a food processor to grate it for you.
How to Use Fels Naptha Soap
With all of that said, you will be fine as long as you aren’t sitting in a bucket of soapy water for hours. You can view the Fels Naptha MSDS sheet right HERE if you would like.
If you find that trying these uses for Fels-Naptha irritates you a bit more than you care for, you can give Zote soap a try.
My friend Jenn over at Simple at Home has an a really nice list of uses for Zote soap if you are interested.
Ways to Use Fels Naptha for Laundry
At it’s core, Fels Naptha is a laundry soap. It makes sense then to begin talking about how to use it in your laundry.
These are only a few of my favorites as I am sure there are plenty of different ways you could use it in the laundry room.
Make DIY Powdered Laundry Detergent
Starting with the most common way to use Fels Naptha, making DIY powdered laundry detergent is easy with this soap.
Combined with Borax and baking soda, Fels Naptha makes an amazing powdered laundry detergent.
If you need a good DIY Laundry Detergent recipe, mine can be found HERE.
Make a DIY Liquid Laundry Detergent with Fels Naptha
If you prefer liquid laundry detergent, you can use Fels Naptha to make that as well.
A good DIY liquid laundry detergent recipe is the one I use right HERE. If you’re using Fels Naptha, just replace the castile bar soap with a bar of Fels Naptha.
Use Fels Naptha to Make DIY Laundry Detergent Pods
One other way to make homemade laundry detergent with Fels Naptha is to make DIY Laundry Detergent Pods.
I have a tutorial HERE if you would like to learn how to make them.
These make doing your laundry so much easier but are homemade so they are so much cheaper!
Use Fels-Naptha as a bleach alternative to brighten your whites
We don’t use bleach in our home as I have an allergy, but if you do, consider skipping it. Washing your whites in bleach too often can make them take on a yellow or dingy color.
In fact, it can even eat away at the fabric of your clothing which will only serve to cost you most money on clothing.
To keep that from happening, skip the bleach and use Fels-Naptha to help whiten them.
Simply dissolve one cup of grated Fels-Naptha into a sink full of warm water. Soak your white clothing for an hour then wash as you normally would.
When the whites come out, you will notice they are whiter, less dingy, and will be sparkling clean!
How to Remove Wine Stains
Spill wine? Grab a bar of Fels Naptha and dissolve the soap in 1-gallon hot water. Soak the stained item for one hour before you wash it.
Remove Chocolate Stains with Fels Naptha
Kids can be messy sometimes and chocoalte is one of the owrst stains to have to try and remove from clothes. That’s why this is one of the best uses for Fels Naptha that a parent can have in their arsenal.
To use Fels Naphta to remove chocolate, rub the stain with a wet bar of Fels Naptha. Then, soak the item in a Borax and water mixture for 30 minutes.
Wash as normal and the stain should come right out.
Make a Laundry Stain Pre-Treat Solution
Keeping your white clothing looking great isn’t the only laundry themed tip on this list of ways to use Fels-Naptha soap.
You can also use it to pre-treat stains so there is never a need to buy those expensive stain remover sticks or sprays!
Fels Naptha Laundry Pre-treat Spray Recipe
Combine 1 part grated Fels-Naptha with 1 part Borax laundry powder in a heavy bottom pot. Add 2 parts water and heat until the soap flakes are melted and combined.
Pour into a glass spray bottle and use to pre-treat your laundry!
Remove baby formula stains with Fels-Naptha
Baby clothes are one of the few clothing items that keep their resale value. This means that if you’re looking to make money selling kids clothes, you want them to be looking their best.
Unfortunately, babies are not great at keeping stains for their clothes and baby formula is one of the worst to get out. Luckily, you can use Fels Naptha to remove baby formula stains pretty easily.
To do so, rub the stain with a wet bar of Fels-Naptha.
Soak it in 1 gallon of water with 1/2 cup dissolved Borax powder for 30 minutes. Wash like normal and the stains should be completely gone!
My dad had a hole in the gas tank of his car and rubbed fels -naptha over it and it stopped the leak until he was able to get to a shop to have the tanked fixed. This was back in the 70s don’t know if anything in gas or the soap has changed since then but I was amazed at how good this worked.
As a child back in the 50’s, if I said a “dirty or naughty”word my mother would march me down to the basement laundry room and wash my mouth out with fels naptha bar soap. Very effective.
Oh NO ! I had forgotten about that!
But its all true, what carrie said?
Can you usE Fels Naptha for washing a kitten with fleas?
Pat, for that I would recommend the original blue Dawn.
Brenda, do you have an ACE Hardware nearby? or another hardware store? The ACE near me has it for around $2.
Fels Naptha is GREAT keeping deer out of flower gardens. The couple who tend to our flower beds at The River Golf Course here in IInt’l Falls, MN us Fels Naphth shavings in the flower beds to keep the deer out. I swear it works, none of the beds have been bothered by the roaming deer at the course.
Glad to hear it works that well Martha!
I had a bar of feels naptha sitting in my laundry cupboard and used it as a last resort to get lipstick out of a whole load of clothes that I dried with a bright pink lipstick (left it in the pocket of my sweatshirt). I was so upset and thought I would have to throw away about ten pieces of nice clothing. I scrubed every one of those pieces with fels naptha, threw it back in the washer with a Tide Pod and Oxyclean powder, and there was not one trace of lipstick when I pulled it out of the washer. I am still amazed! I cannot praise fels naptha enough! Where have you been all my life, FN?!?!
I seem to be the only one who ruined my 100% cotton shirt by rubbing naptha soap on the grease and dirt stains. It bleached the turquoise color out where I applied the soap on the stains. Now the shirt has small white spots. I did not leave the naptha on my shirt that long (10 minutes?)…..and I put the shirt in water with the soapy naptha water to let it soak a while afterwards. What went wrong? I had read the label to be sure it was OK to use on colors. I even went on the internet and saw no warnings about using it on colored clothing.
Lori, that sounds shirt specific. I’ve used it on colors many times with no issues.
I LOVE, LOVE, Fels Naptha. I have been using it since 1962 and my Mother swore by it, too. I use it
on all collars, cuffs and grease spots. Never fails me. I save all little pieces in a mayo jar. Then add
water and make my own liquid Fels Naptha. I hope they never discontinue it. Like they do every other
good thing.
Another icky thing. When my mom was a youngster in the early 1900’s they use to Fels to wash their
hair when they contracted lice. I said it was icky.
i Live in Florida and we have a Roes they are $1.00 Bar
Does the water get funky after some time? Do you keep a lid on the container?
I saw it today and the Baraboo Wi Walmart for $1
Hello. My favorite top got semi gloss paint on it. My friend recommended Fels-Naptha.
The brand is Slinky Brand sold by HSN. Material is light weight Jersey stretch knit, color charcoal gray.
Do you think Fels-Naptha will work without messing up the color ?
Thank You
If it is a water based paint yes, it should be okay. If it is an oil based paint, I don’t know of anything that will take it out. Be sure to test a small inconspicuous area for colorfastness though.
I am 76 yrs old I learned about FELS NAPTHA from my mother. I have always kept a bar in the house. Recently my granddaughter (mid 30’s) asked me if I could try and get a stain out of one of her daughters outfits (she had tried her Dreft stain remover) to no avail. When I got stains out on first try she was amazed, and asked if I thought it would work on the grey rug by her back door. Said she didn’t know what made the stain but she had tried to wash it after using a pretreat stain remover and it was still there. I left her my FELS NAPTHA. She called me 2 days later so excited that she pretreated as I had told her then threw it in the washer and not only was the stain gone but she rug looked like new and smelled soo good.
I’m so glad you and she were able to get the stains out!
Very interesting information. I bought this soap. However, I am afraid to use it as it seems to be dangerous in many ways. Is it just a money saver?
Hi MJ, Yes Fels Naptha is safe. It can irritate skin with prolonged exposure, but the ways we’ve listed here do not put it on your skin long enough to really be a concern for the kind of prolonged exposure needed.
When the soap was first made, it contained “Naptha” which is where the name came from. The Naptha ingredient is the one that was unsafe, but modern Fels Naptha bars NO LONGER contain the ingredient. The modern bars do contain titanium dioxide, however, again, you would need to inhale far more of it than we are suggesting use of in order for it to be a true concern. Quite a few products contain titanium dioxide.
Ultimately, it is up to you to decide whether you feel Fels Naptha is right for you and yours. Thanks for the question!
Menard’s has it for 99 cents too!
Thanks for the tip Michaelina!
I used a bar to clean the mold off our Trex deck in Florida. Had previously used it to get mold off outdoor furniture.
Thanks for the Fels Naptha 30 uses I honestly have lived by this bar soap for the past 3yrs. When I discovered it’s miracle stain removing elements but never knew of other uses till this post infact my boyfriend has a slight touch of poison oak and as we speak just went to try it because I literally just read this article 15 minutes ago. Again like you love to save and love to find shortcuts new use of something. Thanks again this has Truely made my day.
Fel Naptha will also prevent swimmer itch. Just wash with it after you come out of the lake and you won’t get the itch. If you’ve already gotten the itch then wash with it and the itchy bumps will go away in a little while.
Thanks for the tip Angie! I love it when someone suggests another use for it. 🙂
Enjoyed your blog or post whatever. Very informative.
LOL glad you enjoyed it. (Post or article is the correct term ;))
Kroger carries Fels Naptha here in TX for 98 cents. I am 70 yrs old and beside laundry stains my mother used it for us when we got poison ivy by rubbing s wet bar directly onto a mosquito bite or a rash. It relieves the itch almost immediately and the rash is gone the next day. I buy 2 bars at a time and have been using it all my life. I am going to see if it works on grout too, something that usually takes a lot of harsh chemicals. I use it on my hubby’s collar stains as well.
Thanks for the tip about Kroger! I’ve always just grabbed it at Walmart. 🙂
How is Fels Naptha for putting under your bed sheet to prevent leg cramps? I know that’s an old home remedy, but it works for me with other kinds of soap, but I thought since Fels is so strong, it might be even better.
I have actually never heard of that one Marilyn! Please let us know how well it works!
My Mom had me at-the wash tub and wash board every Sunday evening with Fels-Naptha soap doing stain control, I was 10. I use it still, daughter works with children I have never met, or their Moms and she brings me stained clothing to treat. Yes my Mom also washed my hair occasionally with Fels-Naptha, especially school season and the threat of lice. I had very long blonde hair worn in braids also to confine due to head lice. I taught all my children how to use it and they still do, best stain remover ever!!!Janice
I use F-N to remove splinters. I put a small chunk in warm water til it’s soft then put it on the splinter, then put a bandage over it.
Leave it on for 2 or 3 days then remove the bandage.
If the splinter hasn’t come out, try sqeezing around it and it will pop out.
If it’s really deep, do it again but leave the bandage on longer.
It especcially helps to get it wet often.
60 years ago my Dad punched a hole in his oil pan on a rocky mountain road. He molded Fels-Naptha into plug for the hole. Towing cost saved.
That’s an awesome story! Thanks for sharing !
I heard maybe 30 or 40 years ago you can grate & dissolve a bar of Fels- Naptha in a gallon of water & this would make 55gallons of liquid fertilizer for your lawn. I’m thinking of giving this a try because my lawn is looking bad! have you heard of this?
Jeffrey, I haven’t heard about using it as a fertilizer but I do know it is good for using as an insecticide.
I first heard about it when I was looking at stain removers for baseball pants. Since then it’s been the only thing I use for all those different stains from every game: grass, clay and occasionally blood. My grandma hasn’t heard of it and I brought her a bar and now she recommends it to all of her grandkids.