Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Home made laundry detergent

Ah ha! I did it! I heard about easy ways to make your own laundry detergent for very cheap on bulk and I just had to know more!! I found a recipe online and followed All of the steps and viola!!!! Home made laundry detergent!! The best part of it is it is all natural and HE compatible. I got a 5 gallon bucket for $2 at Lowes, a box of Borax for $1.85 at Target, a box of Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda for $3.00 and a bar of Fels-Naphtha laundry bar soap for $.98 at Walmart.

You use:

1bar of Fels-Naphtha
1/2 cup of Borax
1 cup of Arm & Hammer washing soda


- Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.

-Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.

-Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water. Shake before each use. (will gel)

-Optional: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons. Add once soap has cooled. Ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil.

-Yield: Liquid soap recipe makes 10 gallons.
-Top Load Machine- 5/8 Cup per load (Approx. 180 loads)
-Front Load Machines- ¼ Cup per load (Approx. 640 loads)

•Works well in traditional or HE machines.
•Low sudsing. It is the ingredients in the soap, not the suds, that does the cleaning.
•Clumping and geling of the detergent is normal. Stir before putting in dispenser, and shake before each use.

2 comments:

Lena said...

i made my first batch with castile soap. i plan to make another batch with fels-naphtha to compare the two options.

Jenny said...

I've never tried Castile soap but I've heard about Dove being used as an option. I love the smell of Fels-Naphtha! I am just having a hard time getting some of the more dirtier clothes clean. For example, my new to food baby's clothes after a meal. :)