The job of the artist is always to deepen the mystery

......Francis Bacon

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Homemade Laundry Detergent

In these tough economic times, making your own cleaning goods as well as growing your own food makes so much sense. I am going to share with you a recipe for making homemade laundry detergent. This is really easy to do and you will end up with a 10 gallon bucket of laundry soap which is all natural, with no petroleum products added. It is gentle and safe to use for babies and anyone with skin allergies.And it is also safe to use in those new fandangoed, HE, (high efficiency) washers too! The best part is, this 10 gallon bucket of laundry detergent will cost you under three bucks! Yep, you heard that right, under three dollars. This is what you will need....................


Make sure you get washing soda, not baking soda! It might be hard to find, I had to order my box online. I did find the Borax and the Fels-Naptha soap at my local grocery store. You do not have to use Fels-Naptha.  You can use a bar of Ivory soap or other mild soap instead.

You will also need a clean, 5 gallon bucket available for a couple bucks at your local hardware store.
A quart pot to heat everything up on your stove
A wooden spoon
a measuring cup
a cheese grater
water...........
and an empty commercial laundry detergent container like an old Tide container to store your detergent in.

First........grate your soap up into bits with your grater. Don't worry about using your grater for food afterwards, just wash it first. Fill your quart pot with 4 cups of water and add the soap flakes into the pot. Heat to just  melt the soap, stirring with your spoon,  DO NOT let this boil.

In the meantime, fill your 5 gallon bucket half full of plain water. No need to measure it, just "eyeball it". Once your soap is melted, add that to the water in the 5 gallon bucket.

Then to this you will add 1/2 cup of the Borax Powder and 1 cup of the Washing Soda. Mix this well with your spoon. Next, add more water to fill the bucket all the way to the top.

Now............you will let this mixture "set up" over night. The next day, you will find that the mixture has become thick and jelly like, this is normal. Once again, stir it up well with your spoon and fill your old Tide or laundry detergent bottle up half full with the mixture. cover and store the unused portion still remaining in the 5 gallon bucket.  Add water to fill the container up the rest of the way. You will need to shake this well before using it. All you need is 1/4 cup added to your wash. That's it! easy peasy!

  This detergent works really well. Your clothes will come out unscented and almost completely static free. If you do like a scent to your wash, you  can add a little bit of essential oils to the mixture. Look at all the money you will save and it's great for the environment too!  Happy laundering!