Sunday, January 24, 2010

Homemade Laundry Detergent

This is a recipe, therefore it qualifies for this site, right??? I found this on a friend's Facebook page and would love the chance to try it. And this is a very convenient place to save/share it, so here goes!


1 Fels-Naptha laundry bar, grated
1 1/2 C. Borax
1 1/2 C. Arm & Hammer washing soda

Put Fels-Naptha in a stainless steel pot and add a gallon of water, heat and wait for the grates to completely melt. Add Borax and soda and wait for everything to dissolve. Remove from heat. Put a gallon of hot water in a 6 gallon bucket and add your soap mixture. Stir and then add 4 more gallons of water. Stir. Let sit for 24 hours to gel. Will look like it has soap clumps in the gel, this is normal (it kind of looks like egg drop soup). Funnel into containers like old milk cartons. Makes about 6 gallons.
Use about 1/2 cup per load.



Notes: the friend who made this said it worked great for her in a top-load washer but wasn't sure about how well it would do in a front loader (and I've never used a front loader to understand why she made a disclaimer - does it matter???). She also said she spent about $20 on enough supplies to make 5 batches so it's super CHEAP and the individual items store well for food storage purposes. And lastly, my mother used Fels-Naptha on our stained clothes and I don't recall a stain she couldn't get out. It's awesome stuff! My question is whether or not this will irritate sensitive skin.

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