Monday, March 5, 2012

Homemade Laundry Soap

I finally joined my ‘green’ friends, jumped on the bandwagon, and made my own dry laundry soap tonight.

Louie stopped and picked up the necessities after work, and as I watched ‘Hoarders’, I shredded the Fels-Naptha soap.

soap 008

I made two batches, so I shredded two bars of soap. I added two cups of Borax and two cups of Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda. I mixed it with a big spoon first, but then I scooped it into the Presto Minnie-Max about a cup and a half at a time, and pulsed it until it was well mixed. (I got Minnie at Goodwill yesterday!)

soap 004

soap 005

soap 003

soap 006

The double recipe made THREE PINTS of dry laundry soap.

soap 009

I am washing a load of ‘towels and whites’ right now, and I used TWO TABLESPOONS of soap. I probably didn’t have to use that much, but I thought I would test it using that amount and see how it comes out.

I’m excited to see how it works on my oily/mineral spirit-y work uniforms, but that won’t be until the end of the week. I know I will only use ONE TABLESPOON for regular clothes, as we don’t get them soiled much at all.

It was kind of fun!

Be blessed,

Michelle

laundry

10 comments:

  1. Hi Michelle, What a great idea. I wonder if your homemade laundry soap is compatible with an he front load washer. Looking forward to reading how it cleans your oily work clothes.

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  2. I have the ingredients...but my recipe makes liquid...which is what I use in my washer...do keeps us readers/friends/laundry people aware of the results.

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  3. Just had to add my two cents here I've been using this home made soap for over a year
    1 yes it is ok for a HE washer because there is no suds to it ( something you have to get used to)

    2 I don't care for it in my white cloths it seems to turn them grey .

    3 .You can also add some oxy clean to it .

    4 I also use vinegar instead of fabric softener

    | hope this helps .

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  4. My daughter started making her own recently. She made liquid by grating the bar soap and cooking it and the other ingredients. Sounded kind of hard to me. But since then I have found a recipe that is for liquid that sounds SO easy...Borax, Washing Soda, and Liquid Dawn (though I saw someone say they used Dr. Bronner's and that's what I would use too), and boiling water.

    As I understand it, these are compatible with HE washers.

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  5. I've been using this laundry soap for several years now. I love it and it saves so much money!!

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  6. keep encouraging me and maybe one day I WILL get some made too!! I did buy the washing soda....

    keep us posted on how well it works!!

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  7. I keep thinking about doing this... (I think someone needs to kick me in the pants sometimes!) Let me know how you like your laundry after you have used it on a few loads!

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  8. I've been making my own laundry detergent for a couple of years Michelle. I use a little different formula but nearly the same: I use a whole box of washing soda, a whole box of Borax, and two bars of white Ivory soap. I found when I used the Fels Naphtha soap my white clothes were a little dingy...maybe from the yellow color of the soap, I don't know. I use 1/4 cup in my HE machine and it works great but I do occasionally add a little Oxyclean or bleach for colored clothes to brighten things up a bit or if they're really soiled. I also make my softener using 1/3 vinegar, 1/3 water and 1/3 cheap hair conditioner. I've tried using straight vinegar but that's a bit strong for me, although I know it's good for killing some germs. blessings, marlene

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  9. I make my own too!! That is one thing that I gave my son in laws for Christmas. Just realized that I haven't even showed that on my blog. I LOVE it! I never thought of putting it in a food processor. I will have to look for one at the thrift store just to use for my laundry detergent. That is so smart!

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  10. Oh my goodness Michelle. I couldn't believe my eyes, I make the exact same soap with the exact same ingredients, and the most amazing part is I have mine in the EXACT same plastic container! Well, you know what they say . . . great minds think alike!!
    I'm your newest follower. So nice to meet you!
    Julie

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