My Homemade Laundry Soap-revamped!
So awhile back, my friend Elisa introduced me to homemade laundry soap! SUPER cheap and it has worked great! I LOVE it!! It only required a bar of soap, Borax and Arm & Hammer Washing Soda.
The only thing I wasn't happy about was that it didn't handle stains very well. (Like every other detergent I had ever used!)
Then my mother-in-law told me about Fels-Naptha and that she has used that bar of soap for treating stains and LOVES it! So I wondered if I could substitute Fels-Naptha for a bar of Dove soap...and then I ran across the Duggar's recipe site! And guess what...same recipe but with Fels-Naptha!!! So while I didn't come up with the recipe, my theory works! ;)
Here is their site: http://www.duggarfamily.com/recipes.html You can find the complete recipe over there.
So here are the ingredients...
Then, you want to grate your bar of soap as finely as possible so that it dissolves quickly. (Mine was shredded thick and took FOREVER to dissolve!)
I ran mine through my food processor....best thing ever! ;)
Then you dump your shredded soap into 4 cups of water on the stove. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves.
Now half-fill a 5 gallon bucket with hot tap water (the hotter the better!)
Add the melted soap, 1 Cup of Arm & Hammer Washing Soda
and 1/2 Cup of Borax. Stir well until the powdered soap is dissolved.
Fill bucket to top with hot water. (Oops! I still have a couple of lumps!)
Stir, cover it and let it sit for 24 hours to thicken!
After 24 hours, stir again and half-fill a empty detergent dispenser with your new soap concentrate! Yep...all of that is concentrate! Seriously! I told you it was cheap!
Then fill the rest of the dispenser with water. You need to shake before use because this soap will start to gel.
Top load washers use 5/8 of a cup. Front load washers use 1/4 cup per load. ;)
The Duggar's site will tell you exactly how many loads of soap you have made, I just know it lasts forever! And we do a LOT of laundry!
Also, I love the smell of this soap!!! I wish my whole house smelled this clean!!! Maybe it will if I keep up on my laundry! ;)
Your initial cost might be $20 but as you can tell....it is definitely worth it! Let me know if you try it or if you have any tips for laundry! I need all the help I can get! ;)
Also, you can use white vinegar for your fabric softener. I have been using it for awhile and have been really pleased. The smell doesn't stay in your clothes at all and obviously it is cheaper than Downey...
Happy Homemaking!