I have been making my own laundry detergent for several months and really LOVE it! It gets the clothes really clean and is easy to make - and, of course, really CHEAP!
Here is the recipe I have been using, but I am also giving you this page that has 10 slightly different recipes for making laundry detergent (liquid and dry), so you can try and see what works best for you.
1 bar of soap (I like to use Fels-Naptha)
1 cup Arm & Hammer Washing Soda (not the same as baking soda)
1/2 cup Borax
Step One: Put about four cups of water into a pan on your stove and turn the heat up on high until it’s almost boiling. While you’re waiting, whip out a knife and start shaving strips off of the bar of soap into the water, whittling it down. Keep the heat below a boil and keep shaving the soap. Eventually, you’ll shave up the whole bar, then stir the hot water until the soap is dissolved and you have some highly soapy water.
Step Two: Put three gallons of hot water into the five gallon bucket (fill up three gallon milk jugs). Then mix the hot soapy water from step one, stir it for a while, then add a cup of the washing soda. Keep stirring it for another minute or two, then add a half cup of borax. Stir for another couple of minutes, then let the stuff sit overnight to cool.
And you’re done. When you wake up in the morning, you’ll have a bucket of gelatinous slime that’s a paler shade of the soap that you used. One measuring cup full of this slime will be roughly what you need to do a load of laundry – and the ingredients are basically the same as laundry detergent.
This will NOT suds - the suds don't clean the clothes, the other ingredients do. So don't fret!
Try it out and see if you like it - it will definitely save you money!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
I tried to make my own the other day, I had read other recipes and one had said that you could use a regular bar soap, borax, and baking soda...........well, while still warm it looked good but thin but by the next morning, the solids had risen to the top and the lower was almost water with a little soapy feel.....any advice... I am trying to use this because I can't bear to waste but I am using like 2 cups of the liquid with a chunk or 2 of the solid--- and some of my kitchen clothes came out with odors still locked in........any advice would be appreciated! -Donna from momsfrugal.blogspot.com
Donna,
The first time I made it I used baking soda and the same thing happened. The Washing Soda is what makes it gel up nice and thick. You still get some separation after sitting, but just stir it up when you are going to use it. Also, Fels Naptha soap is a great cleaner, so it would probably work better than just any old bar soap. Hope this helps!
Post a Comment