Homemade Laundry Soap....

My mom makes her own, I don't know what the Duggars use but hers is easy and you don't have to cook it like some others.

1/3 baking Soda
1/3 borax
1/3 soap flakes (she actually just buys bars of soap and grates them-extra work but cheaper)

You can make as much or little of it as you need and she only uses 1 heaping Tablespoon per load in a front loading washer, 2T on really dirty loads-probably double that for a top loader.

I have used it and it cleans just fine. I needed to pre-treat my son's stains a little bit more but totally worth it for the savings. My clothes have been just fine.
Good Luck

A friend of mine just sent this to me a few days ago. So, here it is. I have yet to try it...but, I am going to. Best of Luck!

K.

Homemade Laundry Detergent

I don't want to come off as an extremist, but this laundry detergent is going to save me about $35.00 per month with a family of 7, so I am happy! I made the two gallon recipe and divided it among four 1/2 gallon size juice bottles. It needs to be shaken really well, or you can make it in a five gallon bucket and stir it really well to remove lumps.

Five Gallon Recipe:

1 bar grated Fels Naptha soap

1 cup Arm and Hammer washing soda (NOT baking soda)

1 cup 20 Mule Team Borax

Put grated Fels Naptha in saucepan and cover with water. Heat on low until dissolved. Fill bucket with hot water and add soap. Stir to combine. Add 1 cup washing soda and 1 cup borax and mix well. As it cools, it will thicken. If mixture becomes too thick, add hot water to thin it to desired consistency. May be used immediately. Mix well before each use. Use 1/2(normal) to 1 cup per load (heavy). I use 1/4 cup in my HE front loading washer.

Two Gallon Recipe:
1/2 bar Fels Naptha Soap, grated

1/3 cup Arm and Hammer Washing Soda ( NOT baking soda)

1/3 cup 20 Mule Team Borax

Mix Fels Naptha soap in a saucepan with 3 pints hot water and heat on low until dissolved. Stir in Washing Soda and Borax. Stir until thickened, and remove from heat. Separate the mixture into 2 - 1 gallon jugs. Fill to top with hot water and shake vigerously. Set aside for 24 hours, or until mixture thickens. You may add additional HOT water if the mixture becomes too thick. Use same amounts as above.

Cost Analysis! (the fun stuff)

I found all the ingredients at both Winco and Fred Meyer

at Winco:
Felsnaptha - $1.12
Washing Soda - $2.70 (one box is about 6 cups)
Borax - $3.78 (one box is about 12 cups)

Fred Meyer was a little bit more

To make one 5 gallon batch costs: $1.88
1/4 cup per load means 5 gallons will do 320 loads of laundry
Each load cost $0.005875 (just a little more than half a cent!

For my family I figure I will need to make detergent every other month
(don't do the math on the number of loads you wash it is depressing!)
Based on that a years supply of detergent would be
6 Bars of Felsmaptha soap - $6.72
1 box of Washing Soda - $2.70
1 box of Borax (I really only need 1/2 box) - $3.78
For a grand total of : $13.10

Even if you don't love this detergent you could by the ingredients for a year supply and just keep it and the recipe for when you HAD to use it.

Hi M.

This is a great website I use for environmentally friendly natural cleaning formulas http://lorettawallace.net/clean_green

checkout www.mommysavers.com. There are several threads there about it. Plus lots of good money saving tips, coupon links, etc. I love that place!

I have heard good things about the homemade soap. Planning to try it once my stash of soap is gone. I think you can get the washing soda at Home Depot and sometimes in bulk at places like Costco. And for sure at your local cleaning supply store.

I was introduced to a fabulous detergent 3 years ago when I got a new washer at Sears. It used to come in big buckets, but is now in a large cardboard box... 25 lbs of "he", stain fighting detergent for about $24. It lasts my family over a year. That's my husband and I then my 2 stepsons... half-time. Go to Sears and get it in the hardware department... by the paint.

I've been using that recipe for about 6 months and it does the trick! I have found that it helps to soak my toddler's stains in some oxy-clean first, but I don't see how that's much different than any other soap.
Don't substitute, though...I tried baking soda instead of washing soda and Ivory instead of Fels Naptha the first time and it came out lumpy and didn't clean very well. Once I finally found those two items, the soap is perfect!
I finally found the washing soda at Smith's Grocery out here in Las Vegas, but only certain locations have it...you'll have to look and ask around...maybe call some stores first. Once I found it I stocked up!
It's easy to make, I stores well in a plastic bucket from Home Depot, and each batch lasts me a few months. My husband even made a batch when I was suffering from morning sickness... ;)
Good luck and happy saving! :)

Sorry...couldn't see responses w/o leaving a comment and I wanted to see what info you rec'd

Hi M.,

I'm curious too! Arm & hammer makes the Washing Soda, but so far I have only seen it online. They say DO NOT use Baking Soda- washing soda only. Don't know why. If you can get the washing soda, it looks to be quite a money saver!

Be blessed,

K.