Fast forward to a few days ago when I was dorking around on Pinterest. I found this recipe for powdered homemade laundry detergent. No cooking, no adding more water, very little stirring. Three easy and cheap ingredients and next to no work. Also, it makes a ton but doesn't require much in the way of storage space.
Here's the recipe. You can definitely click on the link above but you won't need to. It's that easy. I found everything in the laundry aisle of Walmart (blegh).
1 (4-5 oz. bar of soap)
2 c Borax
2 c Washing soda (not to be confused with baking soda, they are not one in the same)
Grate the soap on the smallest grater option. I used Fels naptha laundry soap. Gigi said it looked yummy like grated cheese. I didn't let her try it. :)
Add the Borax and Washing Soda. Mix. This is the whole of powder and soap.
I found a great cup to scoop with but it turns out I only really need 1-2 T of this soap per laundry load. So, I might try to find a coffee scoop or something along those lines. We'll see. So far, I've done 2 loads of laundry with this stuff and it seems to be working just fine. I have high efficiency washer and this soap seems to be just right for the job.
I did find another helpful hint. Instead of buying Downy or fabric softener, the blogger I was readying suggested getting a downy ball and filling it with white vinegar. It does the same job as Downy but is cheaper and better for the environment. She also said it doesn't leave your clothes smelling like vinegar, just in case you were wondering. After I blow through my dryer sheets, I may give this hint a try.
5 comments:
Ooh-this is on my list too. Finding the ingredients was one of the things holding me back. I don't have a HE washer. How do you think that might change things? And how did you determine how much to use? And I want to know about the vinegar! Would it prevent static?? That's what I use dryer sheets for...
Betsy-I don't think it makes a difference if you don't have HE. The only thing that matters with HE is the need to keep the suds down. This homemade doesn't suds up like commercial detergents. I tried the amount I found suggested on a couple of different posts about this stuff. I think I still might need to experiment. Neither of the loads I washed were full loads. The vinegar..... I don't know about static. I don't think the lady that posted about it mentioned one way or another. If I try it I'll let you know.
I've always made the kind where you have to use tons of water and cook it but basically the same ingredients. I wonder about how well it dissolves. Even with the liquid kind it kind of chunks up and I can get by on warm water, but cold water is out of the question. It would be nice to just pour and stir and no longer cook it although it's not really hard, just takes longer to make.
Darci, so far I've had really good luck with it. I've done both warm and cold loads and not had any clumping or problems not dissolving. It could be the machine? I don't know. I'm really pleased with it and how easy it was to do. I think it toile me about ten minutes to grate the soap but then the rest was easy peasy.
Gramma Sush used Fels when we had the wringer washer. She had 3 50-yr 0ld bars there as I was cleaning out the cabinets, and she refused to let me throw them away.
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