I am SO excited to share my latest homemade money saving find! It is a recipe for laundry soap that my sis-n-law shared with me (it originally came from the Duggar family blog).
I made my first batch about a month ago and we are really happy with the results! My husband works in construction and on any given day he can be covered in dirt or mud or concrete dust and this detergent has worked wonderfully to clean his messes!
I had to buy a 5 gallon bucket with a lid (you can often find them for free but I did not have time to ask around so I bought one) for about $4.00 at Lowe's, the washing soap, Borax, and Fels-Naptha all came from Wal-Mart (though I did have to visit two locations to find the A&H, not because they didn't carry it but because it was out of stock) and were less than $8.00 for all three.
So the recipe is...
1/2 Cup Borax
1 Cup Arm & Hammer "Super Washing Soda"
(Must be Sodium Carbonate)
1 Bar Fels-Naptha Bar
4 Cups Hot Water
Grate the Fels-Naptha and slowly melt in the water over medium heat on the stove top. Fill the bucket half full of warm water and add the melted soap, Borax, and Washing Soda. Stir until all powder is dissolved, fill the bucket to the top with water, stir, cover, and let sit over night to thicken.
The mixture is very thick and chunky and kind of gelatinous. Stir well and fill a clean container half full of the soap mixture and the rest of the way with water. Shake well before each use.
You can add a drop or two of essential oil to the container but I like the smell of the mixture so I do not add fragrance to mine.
For top-load washers use 5/8 Cup per load (I use the cup that is on my container)
For front-load washers use 1/4 Cup per load
I called everyone in my family and asked them to save an empty laundry soap container and I am going to share with them. The next time I make a bucket, I will only have to purchase the $1.00 bar of Fels-Naptha because the recipe only uses a small amount of the powders. I don't know for sure how many buckets they will make, but it is several. Also they are both really good to dilute in water and clean with.
Here are pictures of each item!
Enjoy!!!
