Anyways, a few friends of mine mentioned how they were going to give a try to making laundry detergent.
At first, I laughed, and exclaimed "Why in the WORLD would you do that?"
But then, I actually compared the home made ingredients with the ones in Tide and realized they were the same active ingredients. Only minus the expensive cost. And the crazy chemicals I can't pronounce. And the lovely lavender smell.
So, I started to get excited, and went out to price the homemade ingredients. The initial purchase of Borax, Washing Soda (not baking soda, but by Arm and Hammer as well) and a bar of soap? Just under 6 dollars. And I got huge boxes of the Borax and Washing Soda AND I even splurged on some more expensive, lovely fresh smelling soap instead of the cheap soap I usually buy.
I then raced home to start my slime concoction, and it only took about 10 minutes-most of which was spent melting down the soap bar in a pot on the stove-and OH MY did my house smell yummy clean then!
After getting the homemade detergent mixed (and waiting 24 hours for it to thicken) I then tested it on the dirtiest laundry possible-the cloth diapers.
I am happy to report they came out nice and super clean. The soap smell isn't super strong; however, they do smell nice and fresh and look nice and clean, which is MUCH better than they were when I threw them in while holding my breath.
So success to my homemade laundry detergent! And for 6 dollars, I have enough to make around 10 more batches-and each batch is 3 gallons of detergent. Well, I lie, I will have to buy more soap; I only got 6 bars at the store, so add a few more dollars on there.
But my goodness! What a savings-compared to what we were spending-and flying through-each week for detergent, it is just crazy to realize I can make it so cheaply and it works!
I took pictures, so I will put more details up tomorrow and step by step with the recipe, for anyone interested in trying it out.
6 comments:
That is awesome! Frances makes her own detergent all the time and gave me her recipe. I haven't done it yet lol. It's a nice way to go Green! Glad it worked out for you!
how exciting!!! I actually tried that same recipe and Sweet Pea broke out in a rash. :(
I wonder if I just need to choose a different brand of soap...
I can't wait to get home and try it! I have all the ingredients now!
So cool, Michelle! If you wanted it to be unscented, can you find unscented bar soap? I haven't bought bar soap in so long... :) I can't wait for the recipe!
I've been thinking about doing that... looking forward to your pictures.
Nell
You can use any soap you prefer-from what I understand use half the amount of ingredients to the same amount of water for HE machines-but check during your machine's cycle-if you see a ton of foamy bubbles you have too much so either water it down more or put in less detergent.
Right now I'm using Irish Spring in a regular washer, and using about a cup of detergent for a full load of laundry. The scent isn't strong, but it is a nice light "irish spring" scent to the clothes. And I have enough mix to make a TON more detergent. Yippee!
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