One of the Cuties was interested in the homemade laundry detergent I was was using when I accidently washed my thumb drive. I thought others might also be interested. Give your thanks to Suzanne (sdrise), she found the recipe and shared it with me.
4 bars of Fels Naptha soap
1 box Arm and Hammer Washing Soap
1 box Borax
Grate or cut 1 bar of the soap and place in a blender
Add 1 cup of Washing Soda and 1 cup of Borax
Blend until the Fels Naptha soap is broken up into pieces about the size of coarse sand.
Place in large container
Repeat for remaining 3 bars.
Add the remaining Washing Soda and Borax to the container and mix well.
Use 1 Tablespoon per load.
Use 1 1/2 Tablespoons if the load is large or the clothes are very dirty.
This batch will last approximately 1 year and cost about 6 cents per load.
You can find the Fels Naptha bars in some hardware stores, Walmart and on Amazon. The Arm and Hammer Washing Soda and Borax are in the laundry detergent aisle in your grocery store. Be sure you are using Arm and Hammer Washing Soda, not baking soda.
I marked a small scoop with a line to show how much to use with each load.
My clothes are clean, smell good and my washing machine dispenser is sparkling with no scummy residue. And it is low sudsing so good to use with my front loading machine.
Go on Pinterest and you will find many recipes for laundry detergent, both powder and liquid. Choose the one that you like and try it out. There are alos recipes for air and fabric freshener, cleaners for tile and hard wood floors and so on. Have fun.
OK, now everyone can share with us their favorite home made cleaning products. I am loving going green.
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What a super thread! This is great , especially since I picked up a LARGE bottle of hair conditioner instead of shampoo my last shopping trip!!
Keep 'em coming cuties!
Hugs, Nadyne
24424If you cannot find washing soda, I baked the baking soda in the oven and stirred it. The texture changes and turns it into washing soda. Google making washing soda.
822Thanks, but could you tell us how big the box of washing soda and the borax is as we are unable to get those brand here (Aussie) it would be helpful as ours may be in smaller or other sizes. I have been making my own hand soap for over twenty years, not because it's cheaper as it probably isn't but it is definately better as it has all the goodies in it to keep your skin soft and not dry out as it does with commercially made soap.
6833I have really bad well water full of IRON (yuck) and a lot of minerals. Even with a water filter/softener that cost several thousand dollars, the water still stains, tastes and looks yucky. I found that using liquid fabric softener in my wash the iron stuck to any place on the clothes that had maybe a slightly concentrated area of softener on it. If it was lightly colored the clothes were ruined I could at least bleach the colorfast and white clothes to save them (no more liquid fabric softener, which I miss). Does anybody know if this works in Iron laden water?
Muffy :)
5172I being making my own fabric softener too and with about 2 dollars you make a whole gallon and it works better than the one you get from the store!!!!!
8 oz hair conditioner
8 oz whte vinegar
16 oz of water
I double the recipe to get a gallon. I buy the 88 cents conditioner or choose the one you like the smell of.Stir it, do not shake it, if you do it will get foamy...still can use it though.
60484will have to try this one, the recipe I being using only take 2 soaps and I love it!!!!!***********************
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3809Thank you for sharing this recipe. Most of the ingredients are foreign to us in S.Africa, so will have to figure out alternatives, We get Sunlight soap in a bar, which is pale green in colour, which is used for hand-washing and stain removal, it may be like your Fels Naptha. I am going to search for these products.This is truely an economical washing mixture at 6 cents!!
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11329So good to read down through the comments and find some humour in the middle of all the misery that is going on elsewhere !!! Thanks to all of you and flowers for all.
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27028I also have this recipe and you can also use a soap called Zote and it is in the laundry aisle and it"s not as gummy as the felsnaptha when you grate it up and it works great also. You can also put a cup of arm and hammer baking soda in and a container of purex crystals or downy to keep your clothes smelling fresh. I love this! My friend gave me the recipe and i expecially like the price! It is the best laundry detergent I have used! Roberta
1191Thanks. I have this and it works really well. Just don't do what I did the first few times and used so much of it because I didn't see the suds. lol
89895I can see that I'm going to have to dig out my "Mrs Beeton's Home Management" book.
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11929Yep this recipe works great. 1` box of A&H washing soda 1 box of 20 mule team borax and the 4 bars of grated Fels naptha.
It gets the blender really clean. hehe You can even wet spots on your clothes and rub the Fels naptha soap on the spot and wash. Great spot remover too.
Fabric softner: I gallon of vinegar add 1 regular bottle of you favorite hair conditioner. Mix well .. Use in the rinse cycle. pennies a load and it does not smell like vinegar at all.
My contribution! Suzanne
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111388I like the idea of having no scummy residue...
However, I was hoping for self-cleaning and auto folding clothes. Does anyone have a recipe for that?
2 comments
by dennis999
26 Apr 2013
You are correct 02kar, it is a maid. The English translation for which is 'wife.' .............................incoming!!!!
57675I bought a bar of the Fels Naptha a while back, and now I know why. I think I am making my own detergent. I also have borax so all I need is Arm and Hammer washing soap. Thank you so much. I am also going to make my own starch, however because I am at high altitude I want to use a pressure cooker to create a super saturated solution.
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173695I just knew that this recently reported mishap was going to turn into a 'Homecare' thread which I am sure will be beneficial to all you ladies. Following on from this and being mindful of the series of disasters that have been visited upon several of you, may I just add a couple of further tips missing from the 'recipe.'
1. Do make sure that you thoroughly wash out the blender following use.
2. Do be careful handling the blender cutters.
3. When loading your blender, take care not to drop your thumb drive in with the contents.
No, don't thank me. I like to be of service. LOL
7 comments
by asterixsew
25 Apr 2013
Dennis do you have a wife to pass these tips on to and if so have you passed it on?
by dennis999
25 Apr 2013
If you were unfortunate enough to have seen a picture of me, you would know that I have a wife. And yes, I have tried to pass on my wisdom to her but I get the same response as I do from you lot...lol. I've always been a glutton for punishment!
by bevintex
27 Apr 2013
wash the blender in the dishwasher the same time you cook your salmon packet. Saving energy at the same time.
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