Monday, February 8, 2010

Homemade Laundry Detergent

Okay guys.  Here's the laundry detergent recipe I promised I would share. 

Here's what you need:












 


I found each of these at our local Kroger.  I had to search hard for the Super Washing Soda, but with the help of a nice clerk, we found it.
From what I have read, you can use other soaps, but the Fels-Naptha is what most people recommend.  It has a nice scent.

Now onto the steps:

First, grate 1/3 of the bar of soap.
Put soap in saucepan.
Pour 6 cups of water into saucepan.
Heat until soap melts.
 
Add washing soda and borax to saucepan.
Stir until dissolved.  Remove from heat.
Pour 4 cups of water into a large bucket.
A note about this bucket:  I did not own a large bucket, so I went to Lowe's to purchase one.  While waiting in line to pay for my new bucket, a kind man told me I could get a free one at Sam's bakery.  I thanked him, returned the Lowe's bucket to its shelf and proceeded to drive to our local Sam's club.  I was still a little skeptical, but hey, if I can possibly get something for free, I'm going to try.  Well, it was easy-peasy.  The nice bakery lady told me she had just cleaned up a few and kindly handed over this lovely 5 gallon bucket that still smelled of butter cream icing.  So, if you're a member of Sam's club, hop on over and get you a free 5 gallon bucket.

Okay, back to the directions...
After you pour in the 4 cups of water, add the soap mixture and stir.
Add 1 gallon + 6 cups of water and stir.
Let soap sit for 24 hours and it will gel.
Use 1/2 cup per load.

Note:  I doubled the recipe which is why it filled up my 5 gallon bucket.  If you go by the recipe exactly, it will only fill up half of the bucket.

You can also add essential oils for a nice scent, but I like the scent of the bar soap just fine and still use a scented dryer sheet.

Here's a breakdown of the ingredients and directions without the pictures:

1/3 bar soap
1/2 cup Borax
1/2 cup Washing Soda (not baking soda)

Grate soap and put in saucepan.
Add 6 cups water.  Heat until soap melts.
Add washing soda and borax.
Stir until dissolved.  Remove from heat.
Pour 4 cups water into bucket.
Add soap mixture and stir.
Add 1 gallon + 6 cups of water and stir.
Let soap sit for 24 hours and it will gel.
Use 1/2 cup per load.

Feel free to double recipe to make 5 gallon batch.

I would love to get your feedback.  Do you make your own laundry detergent?  What else do you make from scratch?  Are you interested in making your own laundry detergent now after reading this or are you thinking "Are you kidding me?"?  I wanna hear from you.

Computer Crash

Well it's been ages since I've posted.  While loading some camera software a week or so ago, my laptop crashed.  I mean, major nose-dive.  Thanks to my smart husband, we had a backup of some things, but not all.  He had to completely re-format my hard drive and re-install all my programs.   There are still a few quirks to work out but I finally feel like I have my computer back.
So hopefully I will be blogging more frequently.  I know you're thinking "Yeah right, I'll believe it when I see it".  

Well stayed tuned.  My laundry detergent recipe is coming up next!  Make it a great Monday!