Thursday, July 22, 2010

Homemade Laundry Detergent

I feel so domestic! I have been meaning to make this post for awhile now and I kept forgetting. We finally ran out of our last batch of homemade laundry detergent so I decided today would be the day to make more and post about it.

Okay so here is what you will need:
Water
Zote soap ( but I hear any bar of soap will do)
Borax
Arm and Hammer Washing Soda
5 gallon bucket


So to start you take a pan and boil 4 cups of water in it. While you are waiting for the water to boil you grade your bar of soap.


Then you turn down the stove to medium after the water has come to a boil and slowly start to add a little bit of your grated soap at a time. Continue to stir it until it all melts and turns into hot soapy water. By the way its way hot, I burnt my finger when it splashed on me so watch out!


This next step I think is easiest done in the bathtub. You take you 5 gallon bucket of water and fill it up half way with hot tap water. Then you are going to add 1 cup of Arm and Hammer washing soda, stir until it has dissolved. Next you will add 1/2 a cup of Borax and do the same. Last you will add your soapy water mixture to the bucket and stir. Fill the bucket the rest of the way and stir. Then you cover and let it sit for 24 hours. When you are done you will have a more solidified mixture.

Be sure to stir the mixture before every use. What I do is take my old laundry detergent bottle and just fill it with my mixture so I don't have a 5 gallon bucket next to my washing machine. Now if you want your laundry detergent to be extra strong you can leave the mixture just like this and use 1 cup per load. Another option is to fill your old laundry detergent bottle half way with water and then the rest with your mixture. This works just as well. Just make sure to shake the bottle before each use either way.


This works out to be about 2 dollars per 5/10 gallons depending on how you use it. Saves TONS of money and works awesome too!!

Those of you that try it let me know how it goes :)

4 comments:

Hight Family said...

That's cool. My friend Erika makes a powder laundry soap that she likes as well. That's so super cheap, how does it smell and do you ever use a store bought soap for tougher stains, or does this work really good? I would love to save money on laundry soap since I go through it so fast!!!

Emily Shurtleff said...

Hey Sasha, to do the powerder its the same stuff you just put it in a blender and chop up the soap. Then you use a tablespoon per load. I sometimes get coupons for spray in wash for way cheap so I will pre spray stuff sometimes with that. But I would do that with my regular stuff too. But I would say it works the same as store stuff. Yes it smells good :) I have heard you can also add essential oils to it if you want to. But otherwise it smells like whatever bar of soap you used.

Emily Shurtleff said...

Hey Sasha, to do the powerder its the same stuff you just put it in a blender and chop up the soap. Then you use a tablespoon per load. I sometimes get coupons for spray in wash for way cheap so I will pre spray stuff sometimes with that. But I would do that with my regular stuff too. But I would say it works the same as store stuff. Yes it smells good :) I have heard you can also add essential oils to it if you want to. But otherwise it smells like whatever bar of soap you used.

Julie Winder said...

wow, you never cease to amaze me emmy. now if only you lived closer so i could pick up on your many skills, or at least benefit from them a little more often:) seriously i don't know how you do all you do. but you are so inspiring. love all your new clothing creations. you have such an eye for beauty!