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It seems like it’s been so long since my last post! We had a couple weeks of the dreaded flu and instead of writing my blog during the evenings I took advantage of going to bed early to help fight off this horrible infection! I may have been skimping out on actually writing, but I still kept up with some of my homesteading projects and am back, in full effect, to share them with you!
This post will share with you the recipe for homemade laundry detergent. Now I have to warn you, this is kind of time consuming, but I thought it worked great. In fact, I felt that this detergent took out stains better than some of the alternative detergents I have been using. For a couple of years I have used detergents without all the yucky petrochemicals in it, but feel that I had to sacrifice getting out some stains. This homemade detergent is good to use, and gets the stains out pretty well. I felt like my whites were brighter than they have been for awhile.
The recipe is easy, and much more cost effective than buying your own laundry soap. My main complaint, is the grating of the laundry soap. I despise this step, but since I only have to do it once every two weeks or so, I can deal with it. Just be warned, the grating is not fun.
The ingredients are easy and cheap, you buy a box of Borax, a box of Super Washing Soda (not baking soda) and a bar of laundry bar soap. I used Fels Naptha. All you have to do is mix a cup of Borax, a cup of Super Washing Soda and up to 1/2 the bar of Fels Naptha. I actually used about 1/3 for the two batching of detergent I made, just because I got so tired of grating, and still think the mixture works great!
I ordered the ingredients off of Amazon, but you can find them at most stores as well. You can also use the Borax to make your own dish washing detergent, which I will try once we run out of these little tablets. Have you tried making your own laundry soap? I would love for you to share your recipes and/or your experiences.
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Hello, I love this post and a couple of questions for you please. Does it smell pleasant? Is it more eco friendly? Is it allergy/ skin friendly? Thank you xxx Rose
Thanks for the comment Rose! Yes, its smells very fresh but not all chemical like. It is eco-friendly and is allergy/skin friendly if you get good soap. You can use just bar ivory soap, or a laundry soap. Next time I will try it with a bar of Dr. Bronner's Castile bar soap. I can't wait!
That sounds great! You should get a cheap food processer to do the the soap. I bet you would get one on http://www.freecycle.org xxx
I have been wanting to try this for awhile; maybe I will attempt it when we run out of detergent in a few weeks! Thanks for sharing!
I just tried this for the first time recently and have been meaning to post about it too! I agree the soap grating is definitely the worst part! I was making a double batch (2 cups Borax + washing soda plus the full bar of soap) and ended up grating the soap using the largest side of the grater since it was so much quicker. So mine has big soap chunks, but it still works well!
Thanks for the tip! I will definitely check it out!
Thanks for the posts ladies! I think I am going to start making double batches too! I will try the larger side of the grater. Thanks for the top Jess! Chelsea, I would love to know what you think of making your own!