I've recently been intrigued by the idea of making homemade laundry soap. There's just something very cool in sustainability, right?
So this weekend I had at it. All found in the laundry aisle of my local Kroger grocery store. And, all for under 10 bucks. Woo-hoo, me likey.
1/2 bar soap {Fels Naptha or Ivory- I used Ivory}
2 cups Borax
2 cups Washing Soda
Grind in food processor until a very fine powder.
Voila.
Laundry soap.
Use 1-3 T per load.
My two cents: Homemade laundry soap seems to work very well. I did all of our weekend laundry with it and everything appears clean with no odors- Yippee!
I've read there are two things that turn some people off from the homemade stuff:
A) Lack of scent. Your clothes have zero scent when using the homemade powder. (Unless you use a laundry sheet in the dryer and that scents your clothes.)
B) Zero suds. Having made my own handmade soap for a time, I understand that suds are not the cleaning agent. That's why you see SLS (Sodium Lauryl Sulfate) in most soaps/shampoos. It just makes the stuff sud/foam/lather. The cold process soap gals know to use coconut oil to achieve a fantastic lather, too.
That being said, most people have to have that lather & suds to feel like it's 'cleaning'.
Not me.
I'm not scared away.
Bring on the homemade powder stuff- I'm game.
That's my two cents for the week.
Happy Tuesday blog friends! =)
-Jen
Very Interesting!!!!
ReplyDeleteI wonder what amount you would use for HE machines?? (high effiency) (the newer upright machines that are out now)
I was wondering the same thing as Becky. I'm intrigued but not sure it would work with my front loader.
ReplyDeleteDropping by from SITS
Hi ladies! From everything that I've read, the homemade soap would work in the HE/from loading machines. I guess the HE soap is low sudsing, too. I'd probably make the liquid version though. {That's next of my list.}
ReplyDeleteHere's another blogger who makes the liquid version and uses it in her HE washer.
http://momsmess.wordpress.com/2008/08/20/homemade-laundry-soap-tutorial/
Happy Tuesday!
Great job!
ReplyDeleteHey! Becky stole my comment!
ReplyDeleteI was gonna say very interesting too.
Thesaurus...here I come.
Ok, found one. How's this?
Homemade laundry soap? Purely Fascinating!
Good for you. Was it hard to clean out your food processor? I'd worry about food and getting a soap taste.
ReplyDeleteBut don't your margaritas taste soapy???
ReplyDeleteOhhh. People on my dog forum have been discussing this and it sounds like an awesome idea. Sadly I can't find the ingredients in the commissary on base and don't trust my Germany to get me the right ingredients off base. =D
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment. I'll post pictures of my finished dresser redo when I'm done.
ok, where did you find the washing soap? i've looked for this before at walmart with no luck.
ReplyDeleteHi Andrea! I found it in the laundry aisle at Kroger- it's my local grocery store. If you can't find it on the local level, there's always amazon. =)
ReplyDelete