L u c y ?
Posted on 06/12/2009 12:31:42 AM PDT by JoeProBono
Making your own detergent is a great way to save money on doing your laundry. You get a lot more bang for your buck! I started with the powdered detergent and just got brave enough last weekend to try the liquid. It was a LOT easier than I thought.
Powdered detergent 1 cup Borax 1 cup Washing soda 1 bar of soap (I prefer Fels Naptha which is a laundry soap.) Grate the bar of soap. Combine all three ingredients in blender and mix well. I used 2 Tbsp for a normal load of laundry and 3 if I was washing my husbands work clothes. Liquid detergent 1 5 gallon bucket with lid 1 bar of soap 1 cup Borax 1 cup washing soda 3 gallons plus 4 cups water Put about 4 cups of water in a pan on stove on high heat until almost boiling. Take soap and grate or shave off pieces into the pan with the water in it. You want to keep the water just under boiling so you will have to keep adjusting temp on stove top. Once you have put the whole bar of soap in the water, stir it until all the soap dissolves.
Put 3 gallons of hot tap water in the bucket. Then stir in all the other ingredients making sure to mix well. Place in a safe spot and let cool overnight. When you get up the next day you will have a bucket of slimy looking stuff a little bit lighter in color than whatever soap you used. I use 1 cup in a load of clothes. I thought this was going to be a long drawn out process but it took me maybe 15 minutes. A box of Borax and washing soda will make about 6 batches of the detergent.
Each batch should get about 48 loads of laundry. Keep in mind differences in cost for different areas but it equals out to about .03 a gallon. LOTS cheaper than Tide!
Twenty mule team borax is manufactured in the USA. I use a similar recipe and save about $2.00 per box. I like knowing the main ingredients are made in the USA.
RINSE AND WASH blender REAAAAAAAALLLLLLLYYYYYY well! :) :)
Cool stuff, Joe! Thanks for this thread!
You.
To your room.
Come out when you can play nice.
How about dish washer detergent
What is washing soda... you meet sodium bicarbonate?
Anybody who buys Tide is an idiot IMHO. Tide and the other big national brands are very expensive.
I buy Sun at Walmart for $3-$4 which does 75 loads and doesn’t require me grating and melting soap and other PITA stuff.
The fact is that perfectly good bargain brands will be superior both in real cost and effectiveness to making your own.
Not factoring in your time and effort (and electricity) into making your own soap is not showing the true cost. Additionally commercial detergents contain ingredients that keep dirt suspended in the water so it doesn’t get back on the clothes after being lifted from the garments.
I make my own detergent. When liquid detergent went up to $16.00 the decision was easy. I also gave up fabric softner sheets and use 20 Mule Team Borax along with my detergent. Makes your whites white and your clothes soft. You can also use Borax for other uses around the house.
By the time this turkey gets done with things, we’ll be making our own salt and pepper!
You wipe out these kinds of threads by saturating them with large pictures. It sure would be nice if you could control your compulsion of posting so many photos no matter what the topic is.
I make my own laundry deterget as well, saves me money, its fun, and I make it while listening to the Mark Lavin show.
It is an odd compulsion that makes reading a thread next to impossible, what is it with you and pictures?
A closed mouth gathers no feet
Well, that helps explain why you don’t post more of your own words.
What is Washing soda?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.