The results are in & they are pretty good! I've used the home made detergent on about 5 loads & they all smell fresh & look clean. I'd like a stronger fragrance but to get that I'd need to add some essential oil, which I don't have yet.
So, here is the recipe (that I got off the Duggar Family website):
Liquid Laundry Soap
4c. hot tap water
1 bar Ivory soap
1 c. washing soda
1/2 c. borax
Grate soap bar and add to pot of water.
Stir constantly over med-low heat until soap dissolves.
Fill a 5 gallon bucket about half full of hot tap water.
Add soap mixture, baking soda & borax.
Stir well until powder dissolves.
Fill bucket to top with more hot tap water.
Stir, cover, and let sit overnight.
Stir again. Fill a laundry soap dispenser half full of soap mixture & then fill up with more hot water.
Shake before each use.
Optional: Add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons once mixture has cooled.
Yield: 10 gallons laundry soap
Top load machine: 5/8 c. per load
180 loads=approx. $2.00
I was surprised that it only took about half an hour to make this detergent & Mark loved helping by grating the soap bar & stirring the pot. The borax & washing soda were easy to find in the laundry soap section at Walmart. Let me know if you try it out & how it works for you. I'm going to try some different scents using the essential oils. Does anyone know where to buy that stuff at a reasonable price?
7 comments:
what walmart did you find washing soda at? I have looked at no less than a dozen stores for it over the course of about 6 months, and i haven't found ANYONE who carries it!
Alright, I have now been enlightened - what I got was NOT washing soda! Oops! I googled the stuff online & apparently it is pretty hard to find in some states. So, I will begin looking but I think I'll keep using my flawed batch of detergent since it seems to be working OK anyway. I guess this is a very ongoing experiment!
P.S. Thanks for the tip that I was off course Erin! How did you know about the stuff - did you use it in Uganda?
we heard about it from a lady in Montana who almost adopted from amani but then ended up in Ethiopia instead. I HAVE heard that you can get it (labeled as Soda Ash) at pool stores.... but since there IS a walmart up the street and NOT a pool store, i haven't gotten around to checking it out :) I have also looked online for it, but the shipping was so much that it made it more expensive than the costco detergent that we normally use!
Well i looked in so many stores , but never find it.
homemade lye soap
Patti, I used to use this all them time but for some reason stopped and then I totally forgot about it. Thanks for reminding me. I used to buy my washing soda in the laundry aisle at Cub Foods. It's usually tucked away on either the very top or bottom shelf. It looks like a giant Arm and Hammer baking soda box. Anyay, thanks again for the reminder.
Ooh, I like this. I recently made my own detergent and was satisfied with it except I thought it would be liquid and its not... which then means that I have to wash with warm water so the powder will dissolve. I'm not sure I'm saving any money by using more hot water. maybe I'll try this one next time. How's it working for you? The one I used has simple green (I used the lemon scent) and it seems to help with kids filthy clothes.
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