I've seen recipes for homemade detergent circling the internet for a few years now, but my husband is super picky about what detergent we use, so I didn't think he'd go for it.
Recently it came up again and again, so I decided to ask him about it, and he said he was willing to try it!
My sweet neighbor brought me a jar of hers {which happened to be the recipe that was best rated online after my hours of research} for us to try and we both loved it!
My husband asked how much this was going to cost vs. store detergent and once he heard that number he was 100% on board!
Homemade Laundry Detergent
1 cup Arm & Hammer washing soda
1 cup borax
1 bar Fels Naptha laundry soap
3 gallons plus 4 cups of water
a 5 gallon bucket with lid
a paint stirrer for the 5 gallon bucket
(We were able to find all the items at Walmart for under $15, and everything except the Fels Naptha can be used to make more batches. Next time we make this, it will cost less than $2! )
Andrew used a cheese grater to grate up the bar of Fels Naptha soap. We brought 4 cups of water to a boil, and then slowly stirred in the grated soap until it all dissolved.
After that was done, we poured the melted soap, the washing soda and the borax into the bucket and stirred it well until the powders were dissolved. We added the extra water
and stirred well again. We snapped the lid on and let it sit 24 hours.
It solidified into a gel (it reminded me of flan), so the next day we used our paint stirrer and broke it up and mixed it well again. Make sure to shake the bucket (and not just stir) before using. When I did not shake it, all the scent was at the bottom, and while it still cleaned, it didn't make our laundry smell as nice as I wanted!
I use 1 capful (I pour come into an old Gain bottle for easy pouring) per load of laundry.
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what did you use that gave it "scent" I have made this and it had no scent. I need to try it again because when I made it before we had well water and it would make my clothes dingy...
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing Angel!
ReplyDeleteAngel, When I make mine with this exact recipe, I consider it the CONCENTRATE.
ReplyDeleteI do the exact same steps, wait the 24 hours, then stir again, just like you. AND THEN I fill my recycled regular size liquid laundry detergent container ONE HALF FULL and then FILL WITH WATER.
I shake it a lot, and I then use 1/2 CUP of the diluted mix in each load. :-) No wonder mine lasted so much longer!!
Our clothes are getting clean, even our farm clothes. I do add Oxyclean powder to each very soiled load to boost the cleaning, but not on regular loads.