Make Your Own Laundry Detergent
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Posted By Suzanne McMinn On December 14, 2008 @ 1:05 am In Handmade Soaps, Primitive Crafts & Country Style
Make laundry soap at home! You can! Its easy and frugal and doesnt even take very long.
The ingredients are simple and inexpensiveBorax, washing soda and/or baking soda, and any plain soap such as Ivory.
Borax, washing soda, and baking soda are all natural laundry boosters that help remove soils, fight stains, and freshen laundrybasically, they are soap enhancers.
You can find Borax and the laundry-size baking soda in the laundry aisle at the store, and many places you can also find washing soda there, too, but I had a hard time finding washing soda here.
(Tip: If you live in this areathe only place I found that carried washing soda was Smiths Food Fair in Big Chimney.)
You can find a number of laundry soap recipes (and soap bar suggestions) here. I tried Recipe #3, which includes one-third of a large bar of soap, 1/2 cup Borax, and 1/2 cup washing soda.
I didnt find that it was quite strong enough to suit me, and so with some experimentation, I came up with my own recipe. If youre interested in making laundry soap, I suggest you do the sametry a recipe or two, then experiment and modify until you find the mixture that works for you. Try mine for starters if you like!
I doubled the Borax in the original recipe and used a combination of washing soda and baking soda, as well as doubling the soap. (I didnt want to double the washing soda since that might be too hard on fabrics. I can get the added cleaning power with the addition of the gentler baking soda.) This mixture makes over two gallons of detergent.
How to make Homemade Laundry Soap:
1 regular (not large bath-size) bar of plain soap
1 cup Borax
1/2 cup washing soda
1/2 cup baking soda
water
Grate the soap. (Soap grates easily.)
Heat 3 pints (6 cups) of water on the stove and add the grated soap. Stir occasionally, until the soap melts.
I use a pint jar and a quart jar for all the water measuring for this recipe as its faster than doing it one cup at a time.
Once the grated soap is melted, add 1 cup Borax, 1/2 cup washing soda, and 1/2 cup baking soda, stirring to dissolve.
I use a large pot, large enough to hold all the water Ill need for my mixture so I dont have to get a separate pail. If your pot isnt large enough to hold over two gallons, youll have to transfer the mixture to a bucket at this point.
Add one quart jar of very hot water to your soap mixture.
Stir well. Add six more quarts of cold water. (If youd like to add some scent, now is the time. Add 10-15 drops. I dont add scentits no big deal to me and would increase the cost. Im happy with my laundry simply smelling fresh.) Stir well again and ladle or scoop the mixture into your container(s).
Ive found that three large plastic coffee containers are exactly right to hold this recipe. They come with handy snap-on lids and one is just right to keep by the washer for daily use.
Use 1/2 cup per large load of laundry. Mixture may gel or clump as it sits, so stir before each use. (I keep a 1/2 cup scoopin a plastic bowl to prevent messon top of my washer to measure out the detergent. I just stir it with the scoop before measuring it out.)
Works for me! And its cheap. For the price of a couple of average size containers of store-bought laundry detergent, I can make gallons and gallons and gallons of homemade laundry detergent. (Its better for the environment, toono steady stream of containers to throw away.)
Its easier to stock up and store the Borax, washing soda, baking soda, and soap bars than cumbersome containers of store-bought detergent, and it only takes 15-20 minutes to whip up a new batch when needed.
If you do any experimenting, Id love to hear about it!
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