Love deeply. Laugh. Cry. Talk to God. Be realistic about the to-do list. Stay in touch. Hug. Dream. Smile. Break Bread often with Family. Spend Time with your Girlfriends. Shop til you Drop! Extend Grace. Be Quick to Forgive and Slow to Anger. Walk. Breathe. Sing. Dance. Read. Eat Chocolate. Savor a Good Glass of Wine. Wiggle your Toes. Sleep well. Life is Good!

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Homemade Laundry Detergent


I finally did it!  I made laundry detergent!  
I've had the ingredients for nearly nine months.  It's about time!
The recipe was a FB share by The Morristribe!  Thanks Kelly!!
You can watch Kelly's 'how-to' video here!



These are the only ingredients!  
I understand you can change the soap
to Zote or Ivory or Dr. Bronners, 
or whatever you choose, I suppose!

RECIPE:

1 bar Fells Naptha Soap
1/2 cup Borax
1 cup Washing Soda
Hot water

Other things you'll need:
A junk store pot, a grater and a long spoon or whisk
(these stay together - for detergent making only)
Two five gallon buckets
Containers to pour finished product into.



Grate the bar of soap.



Pour four cups of water over the grated soap.



Bring to a low boil over medium heat til melted, stirring often.



Per Kelly:  Pour melted soap into a five gallon bucket.  
Add remaining ingredients and stir.
Fill bucket halfway with HOT water.  Stir well.  
Pour half into second bucket and top both buckets 
off with HOT water.  Stir.  
Put tops on and let it sit overnight.

NOTE:  Lifting a full five gallon bucket is tough on my back.
I divided the ingredients in half for each bucket and 
then filled each with HOT water.  It worked out fine!
I left the buckets in place by the sink overnight.



The mixture was thick and gelatinous this morning.
I just stirred it up really good and commenced 
funneling into containers!



 I've been saving containers for awhile .... 
prob since I bought the ingredients 
for this project nine months ago!



 This posed an issue at first!



But, it popped right out!



Let the funneling begin!



All this for less than $3 !!!
Not $3 a bottle ..... $3 for ten gallons!
I only used a small portion of the washing soda 
and borax.  Enough left for many, many, 
MANY more mixtures from those single boxes!
~
Shake container when using.
Use 1/2 to 2/3 cup per load.  
It's a low-suds gel liquid.
 ~
You can add a scent from essential oils if you like, 
but I like the clean, fresh smell of the finished product!
~
Heck!  It took me longer to put up this blog post 
than it did to go through this entire process!
~
Next, dishwasher detergent!









3 comments:

  1. I like seeing it in all the bottles here! Youd did a great job saving all your bottles. Let us know how well you think the detergent works! Ive made the detergent too several months ago and this is all I use! like you said $3.00 for all this vs. the 7.00 per bottle I was buying every 2 weeks. a great savings indeed!! and the best part is it works very well!!

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  2. I've been making my own laundry detergent for a while now. Love it - it works great! I mix mine in a clean cat litter bucket and have a 1 cup measuring scoop with it. I use Purex Crystals to add a nice scent to our clothes.

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  3. It's now July 14th, 2013 ... I'm down to my last bottle of detergent ...not counting the one at the hunting camp. I'm making more today. Can't beat $3 for a couple buckets of laundry detergent that lasted nearly a year! It works great! I didn't add any essential oils to the buckets because I tend to add a drop or two the wash as I go, if needed! What are ya waiting for????!!

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