DIY Laundry Detergent
Sorry, no portraits tonight. I wanted to share something else though. We all know that people are trying to save money anywhere they can and those of us who do a LOT of laundry know how much laundry detergent costs can add up and it seems like we are always running out.
We have a good sized family and go through a lot of laundry so I have been making my family's laundry detergent for several months and have been very happy with it. It rinses out cleanly and leaves our clothes soft without the need for fabric softner. It does not have that freshly washed smell though. Since it rinses so clean the fabric tends to just smell like fabric. That can be changed by adding essential oils but I haven't done that with ours.
I am wondering if a lot of other people are doing the same. In the past I could only find two of the three ingredients at Walmart but now they have all three, nicely lined up side by side.
There are reciepes all over the internet and most of them are similar with different amounts of the three simple ingredients, Borax, Washing Soda, and Fels Naptha (a bar laundry soap product). I believe you could use another bar soap but I am very happy with how well the detergent cleans with these ingredients.
Pardon the grainy phone picture.
Here is how I make mine:
Dissolve the bar of Fels Naptha in hot water.
Add a cup of each Borax and Washing Soda and stir to dissolve.
Pour it all into a 5 gal. bucket and then fill the bucket with hot water.
Let it sit overnight.
The next day when I open it to stir it up it is a big blob of gelatinous goo.
I give it a good stirring to make the consistancy better for pouring in the washer.
I use a generous amount in a wash load because EVERY load in our house is oversized.
It works great! Especially if I let the laundry soak a bit before starting the wash cycle (which is true with any detergent).
Maybe this post will help someone else save some money in an easy way.
If not maybe it will give some folks a giggle knowing that I actually take time to do things like this. ;0)
We have a good sized family and go through a lot of laundry so I have been making my family's laundry detergent for several months and have been very happy with it. It rinses out cleanly and leaves our clothes soft without the need for fabric softner. It does not have that freshly washed smell though. Since it rinses so clean the fabric tends to just smell like fabric. That can be changed by adding essential oils but I haven't done that with ours.
I am wondering if a lot of other people are doing the same. In the past I could only find two of the three ingredients at Walmart but now they have all three, nicely lined up side by side.
There are reciepes all over the internet and most of them are similar with different amounts of the three simple ingredients, Borax, Washing Soda, and Fels Naptha (a bar laundry soap product). I believe you could use another bar soap but I am very happy with how well the detergent cleans with these ingredients.
Pardon the grainy phone picture.
Here is how I make mine:
Dissolve the bar of Fels Naptha in hot water.
Add a cup of each Borax and Washing Soda and stir to dissolve.
Pour it all into a 5 gal. bucket and then fill the bucket with hot water.
Let it sit overnight.
The next day when I open it to stir it up it is a big blob of gelatinous goo.
I give it a good stirring to make the consistancy better for pouring in the washer.
I use a generous amount in a wash load because EVERY load in our house is oversized.
It works great! Especially if I let the laundry soak a bit before starting the wash cycle (which is true with any detergent).
Maybe this post will help someone else save some money in an easy way.
If not maybe it will give some folks a giggle knowing that I actually take time to do things like this. ;0)
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