Post by ogeezer on Jul 26, 2007 10:53:48 GMT -6
Everytime we do the laundry, we are technically recycling dirty clothing and linens into clean ones again. And to save money do this chore, here's a laundry detergent you can make for those tasks, including procedures in its making.
You will need these items:
Food processor
1 bar laundry soap (e.g Fels Naptha or Zote, or Ivory) - Zote found in hispanic grocery stores. We use it b/c its pink and imparts a color to the mixing.
1 Box Borax - found in the laundry aisle
1 box Washing Soda or Oxi Clean and Baking soda - (Washing Soda AKA soda ash AKA sodium carbonate available in some grocery stores made by Arm and Hammer or you may find it art supply stores in the dying section)
OPTIONAL- essential oil of your choice to give mix a fragrance, I didnt use any but that doesn't mean you cannot.
1 Cup Grated Fels Naptha Soap
1/2 Cup Washing Soda*
1/2 Cup Borax
*You can use baking soda & oxi-clean instead of the washing soda, but it will drive up your total cost. Furthermore, if you use the Oxi-clean be aware it contains peroxide which does add a mild bleaching action to the cleaning process, and should be "color safe" though. It is my understanding that baking soda is similar to washing soda but half as alkaline, so using baking soda will give you a gentler blend.
STEP 1 - GRATE YOUR BAR
I used the ultra pink Zote laundry bar because its color permits the mix to stand out in the preparation, but though the recipe called for Fels Naptha (or you could use Ivory).
STEP 2 - ADD OTHER INGREDIENTS
The big shreds of the bar soap might not dissolve as is, so you will need to change to the chopping blade of your processor, and now is the time to add the powder to the bowl of the food processor and blend it till it is fine.
USING THE HOMEMADE DETERGENT
When doing the wash, for light load, use 1 Tablespoon. For heavy or heavily soiled load, use 2 Tablespoons of the mix.
Clothes came out great! After using all our homemade detergent, we did a cost analysis to see if we were saving any money. Our cost of supplies to make the detergent cost us $8.09, and we got 76 scoops from a batch, so it came out to roughly 10-1/2 cents per scoop to recycle our dirty laundry to cleanliness again.
You will need these items:
Food processor
1 bar laundry soap (e.g Fels Naptha or Zote, or Ivory) - Zote found in hispanic grocery stores. We use it b/c its pink and imparts a color to the mixing.
1 Box Borax - found in the laundry aisle
1 box Washing Soda or Oxi Clean and Baking soda - (Washing Soda AKA soda ash AKA sodium carbonate available in some grocery stores made by Arm and Hammer or you may find it art supply stores in the dying section)
OPTIONAL- essential oil of your choice to give mix a fragrance, I didnt use any but that doesn't mean you cannot.
1 Cup Grated Fels Naptha Soap
1/2 Cup Washing Soda*
1/2 Cup Borax
*You can use baking soda & oxi-clean instead of the washing soda, but it will drive up your total cost. Furthermore, if you use the Oxi-clean be aware it contains peroxide which does add a mild bleaching action to the cleaning process, and should be "color safe" though. It is my understanding that baking soda is similar to washing soda but half as alkaline, so using baking soda will give you a gentler blend.
STEP 1 - GRATE YOUR BAR
I used the ultra pink Zote laundry bar because its color permits the mix to stand out in the preparation, but though the recipe called for Fels Naptha (or you could use Ivory).
STEP 2 - ADD OTHER INGREDIENTS
The big shreds of the bar soap might not dissolve as is, so you will need to change to the chopping blade of your processor, and now is the time to add the powder to the bowl of the food processor and blend it till it is fine.
USING THE HOMEMADE DETERGENT
When doing the wash, for light load, use 1 Tablespoon. For heavy or heavily soiled load, use 2 Tablespoons of the mix.
Clothes came out great! After using all our homemade detergent, we did a cost analysis to see if we were saving any money. Our cost of supplies to make the detergent cost us $8.09, and we got 76 scoops from a batch, so it came out to roughly 10-1/2 cents per scoop to recycle our dirty laundry to cleanliness again.