There are many recipes out there and I used a basic one and adapted it to our hard water needs. Tip: If you have hard water and your home made laundry soap is not working, add extra borax. It will soften the water and your clothes.
I grated my one bar of soap, which wasn't too difficult, and heated it on the stove in a huge canning pot with water. The amount of water you use depends on your preference. I used 8 cups to start, but ended up adding more as I went.
When the soap was disolved, I added the borax (1 cup) and washing soda (1 cup). I then added more water to about half full (which ended up making about two and a half gallons.) I continued to heat it for about 5 more minutes. I am not sure why, I guess I felt like it blended it a little better, then I turned the heat off and added some lavender essential oil. Lastly, I poured it into half gallon containers.
I don't think I put enough of the essential oil in. It isn't required, but I wanted a scent. There is a very faint one, which is okay, but next time I will add more.
As I used this to wash my first load of laundry, I wasn't really sure how much to use. I ended up using about 1/4 cup and it worked well. Clothes came out clean and, although they didn't smell like lavender to me, they did smell clean. Coming out of the dryer, they were very soft, but there was a static problem. I have read that if you add vinegar to your wash, it will take care of this problem, but I really don't want my clothes to smell like a salad. I think I will experiment on making some fabric softener. I have seen people do this many ways, but I will come up with something fun.
All in all, the detergent ended up costing me about 70 cents a gallon, so I think I did well!
Thanks for reading. I would love to hear your comments and suggestions!
I almost always make our own laundry soap, just keeping store bought on hand for when I get behind and need to do laundry and haven't made a new batch. We have also made a powdered laundry soap with the same ingredients.
ReplyDeleteAre you making "dryer" sheets also? We have a 5 gallon bucket we use. We put a bottle of fabric softner in then fill it up 2 times with water. All you do is then gets some cheap kitchen sponges and toss them in the bucket. When you put a load of laundry in the dryer you toss in a sponge and then put it back in the bucket when the laundry comes out. Because we do this we don't bother with the essential oil in the actual soap.
Loving the blog by the way!
I am not making my own dryer sheets right now, but Great idea! I have a recipe to make my own fabric softener. I plan on trying that one tomorrow. We will use this idea along with it! Thanks!
DeleteI made a batch of liquid detergent a couple of summers ago. Loved it at first, but over time, the soap separated from the water leaving a globby mess and water. The next step is to try the powdered version. The best to you!
ReplyDeleteThanks Emilie. Yes, I have seen the powdered version. Just make sure you mix with hot water if you use it in cold water and it will work just as well.
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