Tag Archives: laundry

{DIY} Homemade Laundry Detergent

Posted on by
Reply

laundry_detergentOn my to do list for today – making my own laundry detergent.  Yes, I make my own laundry detergent instead of buying it at the store, and you know what, I like it more than the name brand that I grew up using.

I started making my own laundry detergent about four years ago, and haven’t had any regrets!  In fact, on the rare occasion that something is washed in regular store bought detergent, I notice a difference in the scent (my husband said his shirt smelled like Pez) and in how clean the clothes look.  I have 2 young children, and a husband who works on the cars and does yard work, plus I do a ton of cooking and get all sorts of stains, and the homemade detergent works out just as well, if not better, than the stuff in the bottle from the market.

As for the price breakdown … a bar of soap is about $1 each, Borax is $3.50, and Washing Soda is $2.75.  The entire 5 gal batch costs under $2 to make since you use so little of the Borax & Washing Soda.  It works out to about 2-4 cents a load vs 18 cents a load or more for the inexpensive store bought stuff.

::  Homemade Liquid Laundry Detergent

1 bar of Ivory Soap – grated (use a food processor or box grater)
4 cups hot water
1/2 cup Borax
1 cup Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda (this is sodium carbonate not baking soda or laundry detergent)

Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with the 4 cups of hot water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.  Don’t stir it too much or you will have a bubbly mess!

Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all of the powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.  This will be the consistency of loose jell-o the following day.

Stir before using to break up the gel.

Optional: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons. Add the essential oils once soap has cooled. Ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil.

Yield: Liquid soap recipe makes 5 gallons.

I use about 1/4 cup per load, a little more if the clothes are particularly dirty.

Since this is a low suds detergent, you can use it in a traditional or front loading washing/HE washing machine.

{DIY} Homemade Laundry Detergent

Posted on by
1

laundry_detergentOne of my best money saving tips is to try various DIY products and projects instead of paying store prices.  Sometimes the homemade/handmade versions are better than the mass produced varieties too!

That’s the case with our homemade laundry detergent.  Yes, I make my own laundry detergent instead of buying it at the store, and you know what, I like it more than the name brand that I grew up using.

I started making my own laundry detergent about four years ago, and haven’t had any regrets!  In fact, on the rare occasion that something is washed in regular store bought detergent, I notice a difference in the scent (my husband said his shirt smelled like Pez) and in how clean the clothes look.  I have 2 young children, and a husband who works on the cars and does yard work, plus I do a ton of cooking and get all sorts of stains, and the homemade detergent works out just as well, if not better, than the stuff in the bottle from the market.

As for the price breakdown … a bar of soap is about $1 each, Borax is $3.50, and Washing Soda is $2.75.  The entire 5 gal batch costs under $2 to make since you use so little of the Borax & Washing Soda.  It works out to about 2-4 cents a load vs 18 cents a load or more for the inexpensive store bought stuff.

::  Homemade Liquid Laundry Detergent

1 bar of Ivory Soap – grated (use a food processor or box grater)
4 cups hot water
1/2 cup Borax
1 cup Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda (this is sodium carbonate not baking soda or laundry detergent)

Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with the 4 cups of hot water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.  Don’t stir it too much or you will have a bubbly mess!

Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all of the powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.  This will be the consistency of loose jell-o the following day.

Stir before using to break up the gel.

Optional: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons. Add the essential oils once soap has cooled. Ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil.

Yield: Liquid soap recipe makes 5 gallons.

I use about 1/4 cup per load, a little more if the clothes are particularly dirty.

Since this is a low suds detergent, you can use it in a traditional or front loading washing/HE washing machine.

Homemade Liquid Laundry Detergent

Posted on by
1

I started making my own laundry detergent about two years ago, and haven’t had any regrets!  In fact, on the rare occasion that something is washed in regular store bought detergent, I notice a difference in the scent (my husband said his shirt smelled like Pez) and in how clean the clothes look.

I have 2 young children, and a husband who works on the cars and does yard work, plus I do a ton of cooking and get all sorts of stains, and the homemade detergent works out just as well, if not better, than the stuff in the bottle from the grocery store.

Homemade Liquid Laundry Detergent:

1 bar of Ivory Soap – grated (use a food processor or box greater)
4 cups hot water
1/2 cup Borax
1 cup Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda (this is sodium carbonate not baking soda or laundry detergent)

Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with the 4 cups of hot water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.  Don’t stir it too much or you will have a bubbly mess!

Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.  This will be the consistency of loose jell-o the following day.

Stir before using to break up the gel.

Optional: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons. Add once soap has cooled. Ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil.

Yield: Liquid soap recipe makes 5 gallons.

I use about 1/4 cup per load, a little more if the clothes are particularly dirty.

Since this is a low suds detergent, you can use it in a traditional or front loading washing machine.

Today’s Eversave Round Up: 4/10

Posted on by
Reply

Today’s National Save: JGolf and Sport

Today’s Save:$25 for $50 worth of golf accessories for women from JGolfandSport.com

Expires 11:59 PM – Apr 12, 2011

Bonus Save: Blue Dolphin

Today’s Save:Get an annual subscription to Good Housekeeping, Redbook or Popular Mechanics (up to a $47.88 cover value)

Expires 11:59 PM – Apr 10, 2011

Bonus Save: ScrapWalls, LLC

Today’s Save:$15 for $30 worth of custom photo collages from ScrapWalls.com

Expires 11:59 PM – Apr 11, 2011

Bonus Save: Kitsel

Today’s Save:$15 for $30 worth of name-brand kid’s clothes, toys and more – from Frecklebox to Urban Bratz – at Kitsel.com

Expires 11:59 PM – Apr 12, 2011

Today’s Philadelphia Save: Got Laundry?

Today’s Save:$15 for $30 worth of laundry services from Got Laundry?

Expires 11:59 PM – Apr 12, 2011

Bonus Philadelphia Save: The Village Belle

Today’s Save:$20 for $40 worth of food and drinks from The Village Belle

Expires 11:59 PM – Apr 11, 2011

I Hate Laundry Day…

Posted on by
1

I have a confession to make…for the last 3 months or so, I have been too tired to bother putting laundry away.  It gets washed, dried, and tossed into a basket in the dining room or laundry room.  Everyday we just pull out what we need to wear after hunting through the piles.  But, Mt St Laundry has taken over!  I knew something had to be done, but wasn’t sure where to begin.

And then, for the second time in a week, divine intervention.

David managed to knock over a 2L of Dr Pepper in the pantry and it exploded all over the laundry room.  All of the clothes in there needed to be rewashed.  Then my charming kitties, decided to walk through the soda & take a nap on top of the remaining pile that was Mt St Laundry.  So now that needed to be rewashed too.

So the soda explosion was on Monday.  Yesterday, I made a new batch of laundry detergent and had to let the 5 gallon bucket cool before I could use it to wash clothes.  So after the kids were in bed, I gathered up all of the dirty laundry from around the house, all of the clean but never put away piles, and Mt St Laundry and I began the overwhelming task of sorting.

Linens in front of the stove.  Whites in the basket by the sink.  The kids’ clothes in 2 baskets by the cabinet.  A huge mountain of jeans by the table.  An overflowing pile of Steve & my clothes in the hamper.

The worst part about looking at the piles upon piles of laundry was knowing that 80-90% of it was technically clean, but it had gone so long without being put away properly that it was just easier to start over.  Among the piles were my maternity clothes (my daughter is now 18 mos), summer wardrobes (there is 6 inches of snow out there for heaven’s sake), and size 9-12 mos things for Emily (she is in 18-24′s).

So far I have complete 6 loads of laundry which includes 1 load of towels, 2 loads of jeans, 1 load of kids’ clothes, 1 load of our clothes, and a load of whites.  There are currently whites in the washer & dryer, and one more load of those still to go.  As each load comes out of the dryer it is being folded and instantly put away.  The clothes that the kids have out grown are going into another basket to go off to consignment, and my maternity clothes are being packed up.  Putting away just one load of laundry at a time is a lot less daunting than dealing with Mt St Laundry.

I never again want to get to this point.  I don’t want to have marathon days of doing laundry.  I think I can handle one load a day, start to finish, but I’m realizing I need to work some additional organization into the mix.  We currently only have one hamper, and I think that that is part of my day to day laundry problem.  With just one hamper I can’t tell when I have enough clothing to make a full load because everything is commingled.

I want a 4 bin Laundry Sorter!  Ah, to have the laundry presorted by colors, whites, linens, and gentle cycle will lead me closer to domestic bliss.  Now to find a way to justify the almost $50 to get the one I want
!