Now that homemade peanut butter and yogurt are part of our routine, I decided to try homemade laundry detergent. (Sorry, am I making you jealous because my life is so glamorous? Deal with it!)
Most of the recipes I found online call for you to melt the soap on a saucepan. I don’t think so. I am far too lazy for that. So I followed this recipe, though I used Dr. Bronner’s castille bar soap (got it at Trader Joe’s but I’ve also seen it at Target and I’m sure the Health Concern has it or something similar) instead of the Fels Naptha (sounds like an NPR foreign correspondent to me, not a bar of soap).
I grated the bar of soap in my food processor. I used the blade that one uses for grating cheese, but that made the chunks too big, though perfect for a taco, so I then used the regular blade to turn the grated soap into a powder. Next time I’ll try just using the regular blade from the start.
The borax and washing soda (which is NOT the same as baking soda) I purchased at the Giant on York Road across from Panera.
It works well. We also just got a new front-loading washing machine today, and the homemade stuff is low-sudsing and is supposed to be ideal for front loaders.
Thanks to Johanna and her neat blog for putting this idea in my head in the first place!
Can you use the liquid Castille soap and skip the grating step? I happen to have all those ingredients in my house right now? But only liquid castille soap not bar. What are the chances?
bblinkoff
OK, just read what Joanna said about the liquid soap. NOW, where do I get a 5 gallon bucket with a lid. Hardware store? I also have a friend who puts one bottle of fabric softener with 2 (I think) bottles of water (using the softener bottle) in a 5 gallon bucket with a lid. She got sponges and cut them up and put them in the bucket and just puts one of the diluted softener soaked sponges in her dryer with her clothes. FYI
bblinkoff
Interesting. How much do you figure you're saving, per load?
I didn't calculate the savings, but this person thinks it costs about a penny per load. I'm not sure if that's right, but even if she's off by half…
http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/laundrysoap.htm
B – I'd try Ayd Hardware or Home Despot for the bucket… ?
I have been making my own detergent for over a year. When I tell someone, they look at me like I have two heads and say, "Who has time for that?" But I promise that it really is easy and inexpensive.
I still have the original boxes of Borax and Washing Soda that I bought over a year ago. My only other investment since then is the soap.
Instead of a 5-gallon bucket, I use an old Rubbermaid container that has a lid.
Here is a link to a post with more pictures and a breakdown of cost per load. http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/04/09/making-your-own-laundry-detergent-a-detailed-visual-guide/
I purchased all of the ingredients but haven't tried it yet. FYI: the Fells Naptha makes a great "stain stick"
I love this idea and plan on giving it a try. I've also been experimenting with homemade weed killer. Here's the link: http://tinyurl.com/mrqjgo