Homemade laundry detergent
I do a lot of laundry. The children who I don't do laundry for do a lot of laundry. The laundry machine is running fairly constantly around here. I didn't used to make my own laundry detergent, but a friend shared the recipe she used, so last year, I decided to try it. I've been happy with it, and having done the math for how much it costs me today, I'm even more happy with it.
This recipe originally came from another website, but since this is third hand now, I don't know what it is. (If I figure it out, I'll add it in.) I have also tweaked it just a little bit based on container sizes I could find. Here is what I use:
Fels Naptha soap bars - 3, grated
1 1/2 boxes (~ 76 oz, give or take) of borax (I think the boxes are also 55 oz since they are the same size as the washing soda)
1- 55 oz box washing soda
2 c. (or one small box) baking soda
1 - 5 pound box oxyclean (there are approximately a gazillion types, I always choose the cheapest)
4 C epsom salts with 20 drops of orange essential oil mixed in
Stir together and you're done.
Some notes about making it. I timed myself today and it took me a half hour start to finish. Grating the soap was the most time consuming (and annoying) part. I used a regular kitchen cheese grater to do the job. The essential oil (for me, at least) is all about the smell. I'm not an essential oil user. (I know, I'm a homeschooler who makes by scratch a lot of what we eat, have a lot of children, etc., etc. It's my demographic, in theory. But... I'm not. Don't try to sell me any, I won't be buying them.) If you have another oil you like better, go for it. Finally, when you stir everything up, be sure to get all the way down to the bottom. The Fels Naptha shreds like to sink, so I occasionally re-stir.
Here is what I make it in:
It cost me all of $5, I think, and it has a snap-on plastic lid. All of the ingredients fill this bucket up about half way. We use just 2 tablespoons per load, putting it in first to dissolve in the water.
Now to the money side of things. I had to buy the Fels Naptha, one box of borax, the washing soda, baking soda, and Oxyclean. I still had a half box of borax, epsom salts (this is my third batch with what I originally bought and still have enough left for another), and orange essential oil (which will probably last me the rest of my life if I'm only using 20 drops at a time). I added up what I spent this time and it was $13.53. (If you were making this for the first time, your total would be higher because you would need to buy everything including your storage bucket.) I wrote down when I made a batch the last time because I wanted to see how long it would last. According to my notes, I made my last batch on August 26. That means it lasted six months.
I was also curious about how much per load I was spending. To do this, I needed to figure out how many laundry loads I typically did. I decided that 15 loads a week was pretty close, though probably on the low side. This figures just a little over two loads a day which seems about right. after I did the math, I learned that in six months, I typically do 360 loads. That makes each load, detergent-wise, cost approximately $0.04. That seems worth the half hour of grating and mixing, I think.
This mixture and amount we use seems to work for us. Our clothes seem clean and smell fine. There doesn't seem to be undue suds draining out of the washer. Remember, I am also washing barn clothes, which don't always smell nice. I haven't noticed them smelling like barn after they have been washed.
A funny aside, when I was first doing the math, I must have figured wrong because I initially thought my results were that I did 1200 loads in six months. This seemed high, but did explain why I felt as though I was always doing laundry. I'm glad this number was wrong because otherwise I would be doing fifty loads of laundry a week. I'm not sure that is even possible because I would have to be doing slightly over 7 loads per day. Not even we own that many clothes!
_________
Several people have indicated interest in reading The Swooping Eagle. I think what I will do is to create it's own page for it, which will join the rest of the pages listed. That way those who are interested can read it, but I won't subject my entire readership to reading a 10 year old's novel if they don't want to. I'll let you know when I have it typed out and posted. First, I still have several chapters to rewrite with L. It may be a work in progress since I'm not sure she has finished it.
This recipe originally came from another website, but since this is third hand now, I don't know what it is. (If I figure it out, I'll add it in.) I have also tweaked it just a little bit based on container sizes I could find. Here is what I use:
Fels Naptha soap bars - 3, grated
1 1/2 boxes (~ 76 oz, give or take) of borax (I think the boxes are also 55 oz since they are the same size as the washing soda)
1- 55 oz box washing soda
2 c. (or one small box) baking soda
1 - 5 pound box oxyclean (there are approximately a gazillion types, I always choose the cheapest)
4 C epsom salts with 20 drops of orange essential oil mixed in
Stir together and you're done.
Some notes about making it. I timed myself today and it took me a half hour start to finish. Grating the soap was the most time consuming (and annoying) part. I used a regular kitchen cheese grater to do the job. The essential oil (for me, at least) is all about the smell. I'm not an essential oil user. (I know, I'm a homeschooler who makes by scratch a lot of what we eat, have a lot of children, etc., etc. It's my demographic, in theory. But... I'm not. Don't try to sell me any, I won't be buying them.) If you have another oil you like better, go for it. Finally, when you stir everything up, be sure to get all the way down to the bottom. The Fels Naptha shreds like to sink, so I occasionally re-stir.
Here is what I make it in:
It cost me all of $5, I think, and it has a snap-on plastic lid. All of the ingredients fill this bucket up about half way. We use just 2 tablespoons per load, putting it in first to dissolve in the water.
Now to the money side of things. I had to buy the Fels Naptha, one box of borax, the washing soda, baking soda, and Oxyclean. I still had a half box of borax, epsom salts (this is my third batch with what I originally bought and still have enough left for another), and orange essential oil (which will probably last me the rest of my life if I'm only using 20 drops at a time). I added up what I spent this time and it was $13.53. (If you were making this for the first time, your total would be higher because you would need to buy everything including your storage bucket.) I wrote down when I made a batch the last time because I wanted to see how long it would last. According to my notes, I made my last batch on August 26. That means it lasted six months.
I was also curious about how much per load I was spending. To do this, I needed to figure out how many laundry loads I typically did. I decided that 15 loads a week was pretty close, though probably on the low side. This figures just a little over two loads a day which seems about right. after I did the math, I learned that in six months, I typically do 360 loads. That makes each load, detergent-wise, cost approximately $0.04. That seems worth the half hour of grating and mixing, I think.
This mixture and amount we use seems to work for us. Our clothes seem clean and smell fine. There doesn't seem to be undue suds draining out of the washer. Remember, I am also washing barn clothes, which don't always smell nice. I haven't noticed them smelling like barn after they have been washed.
A funny aside, when I was first doing the math, I must have figured wrong because I initially thought my results were that I did 1200 loads in six months. This seemed high, but did explain why I felt as though I was always doing laundry. I'm glad this number was wrong because otherwise I would be doing fifty loads of laundry a week. I'm not sure that is even possible because I would have to be doing slightly over 7 loads per day. Not even we own that many clothes!
_________
Several people have indicated interest in reading The Swooping Eagle. I think what I will do is to create it's own page for it, which will join the rest of the pages listed. That way those who are interested can read it, but I won't subject my entire readership to reading a 10 year old's novel if they don't want to. I'll let you know when I have it typed out and posted. First, I still have several chapters to rewrite with L. It may be a work in progress since I'm not sure she has finished it.
Comments
My husband has a highly sensitive nose, so that started me on the homemade laundry soap bandwagon. Our clothes are clean, but don't have any extra perfumes added.
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