I posted waaaaaaaaay back in September about something new I tried. I forgot to follow up and let you know how it worked. I was reminded by a post on moneysavingmommies recently and thought I'd tell all about it.
I've been making my own laundry soap ever since then. This is how I do it:
Step1 Grate bar of soap into a large pot(I used an old one, now dedicated to soap). Cover soap with water, and heat on stove(medium heat) while stirring until the soap is dissolved.
Step2 Using large bucket ( I repurposed a washed, empty cat litter bucket) carefully add the hot soapy water.
Step 3 Add 1 cup washing soda and one cup borax to the bucket. Stir carefully, it is hot!
Step 4 Add enough water to nearly fill your large bucket. Stir.
Step5 Let the mixture sit overnight
Step6 Stir again the next day. Your laundry soap is ready! Use about 1 cup per load, depending on dirty-ness!
I got the idea from reading about this in some random blog. (no clue now what it was) I was like "do people really do that?" and "does this work?" I looked it up online, and there were a billion slightly different ways to do it. I picked one way, and made it my own. I have found that this is a great idea for my family. I have one child with eczema, so I can use a soap that doesn't irritate her. Before this, I was using the All small and mighty. I loved the All, but I felt like I was constantly bringing home bottle after bottle of soap for lots of $$$$$, and then throwing the empties away. I do a lot of laundry...a lot!!! This makes me feel less wasteful! I've bought ingredients for this one time so far, and spent about what I would have on two bottles of commercial soap. Those bottles might have lasted a month...but now I am into month three on just my second batch, with plenty of stuff left to make more. Plus, this stuff was fun to make. The kids were intrigued, and I was able to use it to talk with them about liquid vs. solid, why things melt, etc...So far, my clothes are just as clean...and still as wrinkly, because I never get to fold them straight from the dryer (I just cannot bring myself to line dry yet), unless my Granny comes to visit!
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5 comments:
Wow...does that work on HE machines as well? Now if you can find a way to make the clothes NOT wrinkle, you wouldn't have any money worries ever! ;)
One frugal girl to another - well done!
I know we talked about the borax but what is washing soda?
From Wikipedia...
In domestic use, it is used as a water softener during laundry. It competes with the ions magnesium and calcium in hard water and prevents them from bonding with the detergent being used. Without using washing soda, additional detergent is needed to soak up the magnesium and calcium ions.
And, I have no clue about the HE machines...I still have an 8 year old regular top loading GE model.
my understanding is that it can be used for he without difficulty, you just decrease the ivory by about 25% so there aren't quite so many suds to rinseout.
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