Homemade Laundry Detergent

I was checking out the AZMidday site looking for a spot they did today on Cerretas Candy. I didn't find it. I did find a spot about some lady from DIY, who was making homemade laundry detergent. I love Tide with April Fresh Downy. W is not allergic to it, and my clothes smell nice. For some reason, I decided to try her homemade laundry soap. I make our deodorant thanks to a recipe from Deidre, so hey, why not more homemade, cost saving items? Also, W and I are getting to our 'golden' years, which I used to think just was a nice way to say old, but have found out the hard way that they are 'golden' as you will need a ton of gold to pay for all of your doctors' appts from your body falling apart. Really. I have one friend who is 78 with a suitcase full of pills she takes. I looked at it all, and thought, not me, no way Hosea, but maybe it will be me, who knows? I better learn how to make CHEAP laundry detergent while I still have a memory to do it!

I asked on Face book if anyone had tried it, and posted the simple recipe. My cousin, Annette's daughter, Brittney, said she just tried some, and other than no suds, she liked it. She used Fels Naptha soap in hers. That stuff just smells like W will be allergic to it--not even going there. The other choice of soap was Ivory, or Castle, and W used Ivory soap for years, so knew that wouldn't be any problem.

Then, a friend of mine on FB, who I met through the baby group posted that because of allergies, she made homemade soap for a year, and I am quoting her here: "She stopped, as her mother said all of her clothes looked like they had been washed in a pee pot and hung in a chimney to dry." I do not know about you, but that sounds pretty bad! Still, I was undaunted. Sometimes, the more I hear something won't work, or I can't do it, the more I want to try it. (Then other times, I just give up and go to bed, but that is another story altogether.)

I had a little Borax from my ant killing experiment. (I put it around the edges of my rooms as ants won't cross over it. After I put it down, I didn't see any ants, so maybe it worked, until I washed the floors, mopped up my Borax and they were back. That time, I just hit them with some Raid and called it good.) As it turned out, it was good I had the Borax, as Walmart didn't carry it. I was able to get the Washing Soda I needed--bottom shelf--really had to look for it. Here is the recipe I used:

Homemade Laundry Detergent

1 cup Arm and Hammer Washing Soda, and it is different that baking soda

1 cup Borax

1 cup Ivory Soap, Castle Soap, or Fels Naptha Soap chopped up fine like cornmeal. (I just grated up one small bar and called it good.) I was looking for my pastry cutter to really mix it in with the other ingredients and couldn't find it, so used the sharp edge of a cookie cutter. Hey, it worked, ok!

Mix all together and put in a jar of some kind. I used an old, clean plastic mayonnaise jar. Use 1 tablespoon per a load of laundry. I can say, I just used 2 tablespoons for a HUGE load of towels, as one tablespoon just didn't seem like enough, but maybe it was. I am still experimenting here.

She (the DIY lady) said it will be enough for 48 loads if you use 1 tablespoon--obviously, I might not get 48 loads out of mine....and her cost was $1.96. I had the Borax. The big box of washing soda was something like $3.27 and I bought my Ivory Soap three bars for a buck at the dollar store and just used one, so my cost wasn't even as much as hers.....technically, since I have enough washing soda to make homemade laundry detergent for all of my friends and family for Christmas.....if I so desire. Remember the brownies and cookie mixes in a jar--I could take it to a whole new level, kind of like giving your friends a weed wacker or some practical gift instead of a really neat one they REALLY want.

First item I happened to wash was the bath mat from the girl's bathroom. It turned out pretty good. I just used the 1 tablespoon of my homemade laundry soap/detergent. I am not really certain which term is technically correct. I usually add bleach when I do this mat. It wasn't perfectly clean, but smelled nice and wasn't too bad.
My ingredients. I like the smell of the hypo-allergenic Dial, and W has used it before, so might try it in a batch.
The Borax, washing soda with the grated Ivory soap on top.
After I cut it up a bit with my cookie cutter...Hey, like I said, I couldn't find my pastry blender--bear worked great. Below: My laundry detergent in a clean, dry old mayonnaise plastic jar and red tablespoon in there to be able to measure it out.



In my second batch of laundry, I washed white clothes. I put in a pair of my grandsons really dirty white socks. The bottom was still dirty looking, but they smelled great. I will test the soap on W with one pair of socks and see if he gets rashy or itchy, but I am thinking he will be fine. I probably will still use Tide in my good clothes--just something about that pee pot statement ringing in my ears, but I will try this cheaper soap in my towels, etc and see how I like it. Give it a go yourself if you are so inclined.