If you haven't tried it yet, here's some encouragement. I just discovered that a friend of mine made a YouTube video of the process using the recipe we use. Tim shows that it's really as easy as it sounds.
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Have You Taken the Plunge?
It's been eight months since we've been using the homemade laundry detergent that I posted about here. We are super pleased with it and I can safely say that I'm never going back to buying laundry detergent. I still pre-treat nasty potential stains and soak really soiled clothes, but I did that when I used commercial detergent, too.
If you haven't tried it yet, here's some encouragement. I just discovered that a friend of mine made a YouTube video of the process using the recipe we use. Tim shows that it's really as easy as it sounds.
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If you haven't tried it yet, here's some encouragement. I just discovered that a friend of mine made a YouTube video of the process using the recipe we use. Tim shows that it's really as easy as it sounds.
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I am using the same recipe, except with Ivory, and have been for a while. My husband claimed it didn't work as good but I haven't heard any complaints recently.
ReplyDeleteI recently starting using my food processor to bread down the soap once I cut it up into chunks and it literally takes 5 minutes to make it. A few minutes of clean up but no grating. I love it.
Here's a tip I learned from an kid's activity site: place a bar of Ivory soap on a large sheet of wax paper in a microwave. Set it on high and timed for 5 minutes. The Ivory bar will start to expand and will end up looking like a pile of snow. Watch it. When it stops expanding, turn it off. It won't need to go the full 5 minutes, but this way you can stop it when it needs to. Allow it to cool. It will crumble to powder in your hands. No more food processor wear and tear.
DeleteThis only works with Ivory soap and works best on a "fresh" bar. An older bar won't expand as much.
Been doing this for about 2 1/2 years -- LOVE it!
ReplyDeleteGreat video! I made it for the first time a few months ago using a slightly different process, and have been really pleased with the results. Such a great money saver!
ReplyDeleteI am about to. I have had all the necessary ingredients for awhile now and I am almost out of store bought detergent.
ReplyDeleteI do this as well..the recipe i found uses the same 3 items and makes a total of 10 gallons of detergent. the whole family loves it and i also sold my mom and siblings on it as well and it works great in HE machines which is what i have :)
ReplyDeleteI did this before I got a new machine last fall. My new machine is HE and I'm afraid to use homemade soap in it until it is no longer under warranty because if you use anything other than HE detergents it voids the warranty. I guess I'll have to stick it out until the warranty expires, then I'll go back to my homemade detergent.
ReplyDeleteWe always seem to live where we have hard water, and it doesn't work as well. Eventually, you may start noticing that your whites are becoming slightly gray. My mom tried it, and thought it was great for about a month - then she said that her clothes were dingy and smelled bad. But those for whom it works really love it.
ReplyDeleteour clothes started smelling musty. any suggestions?
DeleteHmm...We have not had this problem. How/where do you dry your clothes?
DeleteVinegar or lemon juice added to your wash should kill the stinky bacteria plaguing your clothes
DeleteI did it too and we love it as well....
ReplyDeleteI actually think it cleans better and smells better than anything I've ever bought. Well, aside from Charlie's Soap. That's stuff is fantastic but ultra $$$$
Lindsey
Bought all the ingredients after your first post, but haven't run out of my other soap yet. Looking forward to trying it.
ReplyDeleteWe made this a few months ago and added some lavender essential oil for fragrance! My husband and I both love it! I do have one question though, I've read recently that Borax isn't safe for infant's skin. Has anyone found this to be the case? We don't have any little ones yet but I hope to not have to buy detergent again when we do start our family.
ReplyDeleteWe have made this and have hard water. We found adding 1 cup of oxi-clean takes care of any greying. We also found that when one of th children left swimming clothes in a placis bag over the weekend at a friends house that adding a 1/2 cup of vinager to the wash cycle not only removed the smell it also soften the clothes like a farbic softener would. We LOVE IT.
ReplyDeleteMight I also add tha just 1 tbsp add to 20oz of water is a great surface cleaner for tables and to spot clean chairs. After having a child get sick on the carpet in the hall i place 2 tbsp spoons into a tub of warm water and used an old dish towel to clean it up. It worked wonderfully!(Note the carpet is a cream color!) We are very happy with it.
I made the laundry soap & have been using it for two months. It smells nice & I think it cleans better than the detergent I was using. I'll never go back. Thanks so much for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI have used this recipe for about 4 months and I love it. Except that I too have noticed that my whites aren't staying as white. Our water is very hard and I guess I can blame that, but I will start adding oxi-clean to the next batch I make.
ReplyDeleteDo you add 1 cup of oxi clean to the 5 gallon concentrate?
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't think you would add it to the 5 gallons of detergent, as oxiclean is activated by the water and therefore it would no longer be "working" after a couple of hours. I add 2 scoops (not cups) to my whites in the washer and it helps a lot.
DeleteI've been using the same 3 ingredients for the past 6 months, and love it! We have 6 kids and do a TON of laundry. I grate the Fells Naptha bar, then add 1 cup each of borax and washing soda. That's all. I use it in powdered form, and use 1 Tablespoon per load. LOVE it! Gets stains out SO great.
ReplyDeleteI live overseas but would love to try this. Can someone please look on the box of the borax and the washing powder and give me the generic ingredients so I can look for something like this over here. you can send your answers to shemesha@zahav.net.il. Thanks in advance. Ilana
ReplyDeleteBaking soda and washing soda, are they the same thing, and what are they called in Europe? And the bar of soap, I wonder if one just uses laundry soap, which is easy to buy here in Portugal.
ReplyDeleteJust curious if this is biodegradable?
ReplyDeleteI guess someone would need to research each ingredient to find out. If you have the time and look into it, would you mind coming back and sharing? Thanks:-).
DeleteBaking Soda and washing soda are NOT the same thing. There is a slight (yet important) difference. You can make washing soda using baking soda; but their chemical structures are as closely related as water and peroxide; I wouldn't suggest drinking peroxide though. And for reference: baking soda is sodium bicarbonate, washing soda is sodium carbonate, and borax is sodium tetraborate. And yes, a bar of laundry soap is just what you would be looking for in place of the fels nappa.
ReplyDeleteI also seem to recall hearing that adding citric acid to hard water (or your detergent) will help break up the minerals, but I may be thinking of dish washing detergent (check this before you try it, you do not want chemical burns on your clothing!). I believe that borax (sodium tetraborate) also works to soften hard water. That said, If you do use vinegar as a fabric softener, do not use it with hard water as that will make it worse. So, logically from this, if you have very soft water, you can add vinegar to your wash; I also understand baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) will also harden super soft water.
And to the person with the question about the safety of borax, I read much the same thing about it being hard on infant's skin. I seem to recall from my research that it is harmful when applied directly to the skin, that is where your rinse cycle comes in. I chanced it, I will admit. My daughter has skin allergies just like her father, but I decided to try it out. (I did try it on my DH first). All I can say is that after switching to homemade laundry detergent my husband breaks out a whole lot less and my daughter has fewer rashes, but that is just my experience.