You Need:
(Yields 10 gallons of laundry detergent)4 Cups of hot water
1 Bar of soap
1 Cup of Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda
1/2 Cup of Borax
Directions:
Grate your bar of soap and add to sauce pan with your water. Stir continuously over medium high heat until soap dissolves. Fill a 5-gallon bucket half full with hot water. Add melted soap, washing soda and borax. Stir well until powder is disolved. Fill to top with hot water. Let sit over night to thicken.After your soap has thickened stir and fill a used, clean detergent container half way. Fill container the rest of the way with hot water. Shake before each use.
Tips:
- Recomended soap: Ivory, Fels-Naptha, Zote, or Sun Light
- I use my food processor to grate my bar of soap. It's soap. It's clean!! Just rince it well with HOT water when youre done. I like to do it the easy way!
- Be sure you get Arm & Hammer SUPER WASHING SODA. Don't confuse this with Baking Soda. Baking Soda will not work. You can get your super washing soda in the laundry detergent isle.
- You can your 5-gallon bucket free at a deli/bakery. Just ask. You never know what you can get till you ask!
- This laundry soap does not make suds. Just remember suds doesn't clean clothes. The soap does. This soap doesn't have a strong smell. If you enjoy smelling your clothes when they are clean you may want to add 10 - 15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons of soap. (Recommended oils: lavender, rosemary, or tea tree oil)
DRYER SHEETS:
Why stop at laundry detergent?? I even make my own dryer sheets. I can imagine that this would sound crazy to some, but when your dog shreds and deposits thousand of dryer sheets under your bed and your son pulls them out of his pant leg while out in public you start to wonder if there is an easier way!And Guess What!! There is!!! I don't chase the dog around yelling "drop it; drop it, I said!" any more. I'm all about making life easier on myself! So here's what I do:
Ingredients:
- 1 container of your favorite fabric softener (or better still, click here to learn how to make your own!)
- a bucket
- water
- 2 sponges
Directions:
Pour fabric softener in bucket. Add 2 parts water. (Fill your fabric softner container with water twice and add to bucket.) Mix well. Throw in your sponges. Ring your sponge out and add it to dryer with your clean, wet clothes. Return sponge to mixture when clothes are dry.There you have it!! Life is easier already! =)
My "dryer sheets".
I really have issues when it comes to doing laundry, so I made my bucket as pretty and colorful as possible and believe it or not, it helps me out. ;)
Other homemade cleaning supplies you may be interested in:
This is so neat I will try it
ReplyDeleteI was wondering.. do you think homemade soap would work to grate in this recipe? Possibly castile or such? Just wondering lol :)
ReplyDeleteProbably. You could certainly give it a try. I like castile too,and, I actually thought about using it in the detergent myself. We should try it! Let me know what you think.
ReplyDeleteI'm very excited to make my own laundry detergent and NO MORE IRONING by using your method.
ReplyDeleteThanks,
Leah
as a missionary living in Jamaica I can't find washing soda anywhere. Is there anything that I can substitute. I had to have a visitor bring me Borax but I thought I could use Baking soda but I see that you said it doesn't work. Sorry to bother you with questions.
ReplyDeleteraising4princesses@yahoo.com
No, don't be sorry! I love to get comments! I am sorry that I don't know the answer. I will have to look into this for you.
ReplyDeleteI was wondering if you have a recipe for laundry soap that is safe for cloth diapers and wont cause build up?
ReplyDeleteIf you're worried about build up, you can put a half a cup of vinegar in your washing machine during the rinse cycle. That will help to remove buildup and whiten your whites. :)
ReplyDeleteThis is so great, thanks for sharing! Wondering how much you use per load... a cap full?
ReplyDeleteI was also wondering how much detergent you use in each wash.
ReplyDeleteHow much do you use per load?
ReplyDeleteI use about a half a cup...or whatever a regular scoop of commercial laundry detergent would be. (Making some tonight, actually!) ;)
DeleteI love making my own laundry soap. I leave mine concentrated though so it takes up way less room (not a lot of storage) you only need 1 tablespoon how I make it.
ReplyDeleteI make my own dryer sheets by using fabric softener and water on a rag and ringing it out before tossing rag in the dryer. It works great. Are the sponges reusable?
ReplyDelete