With the cost of so many things on the rise, my husband and I decided to try making our own laundry detergent and fabric softner. Oh there are a zillion ‘recipes’ on the web for doing this plus I have a book (have had for years just not used ) with formulas for making ones own stuff.
The detergent is a pretty easy process. You will need a 5 gallon bucket with a lid and then you need a box of Arm & Hammer super wash baking soda, a box of Borax, and a bar of soap. Recipe calls for Fels Naptha but any will work. So you grate up the bar of soap and melt it in a big pot on the stove (low heat) with 4 cups of water. Meanwhile you measure out 2 cups of the soda, and a half cup of the borax and set aside. Fill the big bucket half way with hot tap water. When the bar of soap is all melted into the water add it to the big bucket along with the soda and borax, stir it all up well. Then fill the big bucket the rest of the way up with hot tap water, stir again and put the lid on. Let it sit over night. It may gel a bit and thats ok. Pour some of it into a clean used laundry bottle until the bottle is half full, fill it on up with water and shake it up (don’t forget to put the lid on). You can then use this as you normally would use storebought detergent. May need to shake it before each use.
It works well and as this 5 gallon bucket actually makes 10 gallons of detergent it is very inexpensive! I think we spent about 7.00 on the three ingredients we had to buy.
The fabric softner we made used 2 cups of hair conditioner (got the bottle for 94cents) -whatever scent you like, some vinegar and water. Can’t recall the exact measurements for the vinegar but will post it later. Anyhow very cheap to make and works well.
We may be trying more home made formulas and will keep you posted on our results.
Have a happy day!
Found the Fabric Softener!
- 2 cups hair conditioner (any scent you like)
- 3 cups white vinegar
- 6 cups water
Mix it all up slowly and put in a bottle! This was very inexpensive as the conditioner we bought was only 94cents and we already had a gallon jug of white vinegar at home!
We poured the mixture into a plastic pitcher with a good lid and also put some in a clean butter tub (you know the country crock ones – great size) and put in some new sponges which we first cut in half, you can squeeze the excess out of the sponge and throw it in the dryer as you would a dryer sheet. Works great.
Homemade dishwasher detergent tablets
Just tried this out yesterday! recipe worked well and the tablets worked in the dishwasher…. its a win win for this one
Recipe:
2 cups borax
2 cups washing soda(can use regular baking soda if have to-but washing type works better)
1 cup Kosher salt
1/2 cup citric acid (find this where canning supplies are sold)
10-15 drops essential oil-whatever your favorite is (Optional)
approximately 1/2 cup water.
Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl and add the water a little at a time, until the mixture is moist and clumps together. Be careful not to add too much water or the dry ingredients will disslove. Pack the mixture into ice cube trays and allow to dry for at least two hours. Pop out the tablets and store them in jar with a tight fitting lid. Use one in the dishwasher for each load.
Hi everybody!
Today I dealt with a whole case of fresh asparagus my husband brought home, it was an awesome buy I must admit. So…….. made 10 quarts of pickled asparagus and then froze up 12 pkgs (sucked up in vacumn sealer dealie) and am making cream of asparagus soup with the leftover ends. It all looks great and I find it very satisfying to can and preserve foods for later when they may not be available.
Need to get busy in my sewing room next.