Friday, March 2, 2012

A new way to wash

After seeing it on Pinterest about a 10, 000 times,
Ed and I thought we would try to make our own laundry detergent.
Ed does at least 2-4 loads per day, which means we go through A LOT of detergent in a week.
All the posts we saw claimed that homemade detergent not only worked great, but was also super cost efficient.
What the heck....we thought....let's give it a go.

We found a variety of recipes, but settled on the one that had 3 ingredients:
-1 cup Borax
-1 cup Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda
-1 bar of Fels Naptha laundry soap, shredded
Use 1 Tablespoon per load


I found an old ice cream bucket and shredded away. 


Looks like cheese doesn't it!


My cousin suggested that we try vinegar as a fabric softner.  So we invested in a Downy Ball, because seriously WHO can catch the rinse cycle?!?!?


The vinegar has been magic. 
I'm not kidding....our clothes, towels, etc have never been softer.  We LOVE it.
And we also love the detergent!
It works really well and one batch has lasted way over a month already....and will likely last for another.
I totally recommend trying it.

Happy Washing :)

4 comments:

chris said...

Is your machine HE? Sounds like a keeper.

Leese said...

No...I have a plain ole washing machine. I've heard this works in HE washers too, but don't know that for fact.

Katie said...

I've been happy with this stuff too. This last time I made a triple batch, so I don't have to make it that often. I also found that the Fels Naptha grates much easier than the Zote. Chris, I've also heard it works in HE washer because it doesn't make suds.

SDI said...

I've always wondered...have a military friend that uses a recipe similar:

laundry soap.
I have been asked for the recipe a few times so here it is:

2 c. Fels Naptha or Ivory Soap, grated with the finest side possible of my hand held cheese grater
1 c. Borax
1 c. Washing Soda

1 Tbs for light loads, 2 Tbs for heavy loads

it took me 10 minutes to make a triple batch and it fit in a shoe box sized plastic container
I use an old formula scoop

And also uses vinger as an all-purpose clearner: the smell of vinegar goes away as soon as it evaporates - I have a mixture of 1/2 vinegar, 1/2 water in a squirt bottle and I use that to spot treat my floors, clean walls, disinfect counter tops and tables, clean windows, clean out fridge and microwave, etc.

Haven't tried either, may venture out now! Just bought a huge container of laundry soap...