HOMEMADE LAUNDRY DETERGENT

Several people have recently asked what recipe I use for our laundry detergent. As I neither understand nor care about the science behind it all, I went for the suggestion of Natalie, a friend who both understands and cares. I'm going to just copy what she wrote on a forum last year. She posted this on a forum where her username is "Geek". Be assured that I'm not calling her names. It's what she calls herself.

Oh, and a little lingo - dh = dear husband, SL = Sonlight, KWIM = know what I mean, FTR = for the record.

Ready? Here you go!



The Reader's Digest Condensed Version of Geek's lazy method for homemade laundry soap

Originally Posted by Geek

An OCD math nerd who got tired of grating the soap and inhaling the soap dust as an asthmatic, boiling it on the stove, bribing her dh to pour the heavy liquid into the jinormous bucket (I made 3-4 batches at a time), transferring the whole lot to old liquid laundry detergent bottles, shaking and shaking the bottles because the !*&% stuff was so thick and hard to get out...So I quit.

Now I:
1) Plop a bar of Fels-Naptha into a pitcher of hot tap water and let it dissolve as much as it can (saturated solution). Use 1-4 oz per load. (An old Oxy-Clean scoop is good for this.) As the liquid level goes down, add a little more water and stir well, allowing it to dissolve again to the water's saturation point.

2) Mix washing soda and Borax together in equal proportions. Use 1/2 - 2TBSP per load unless dealing with extra stinky stuff or very hard water. Voila.

My general proportions rule of thumb:
(An old Oxy-Clean scoop is good for this. Otherwise remember that 1/4 c. = 2 fluid oz.)

small loads -- 1 oz liquid Fels, 1/2 T. Borax/washing soda mix
medium loads -- 2 oz Fels, 1T. powder mix
large loads -- 3 oz Fels, 1-1/2 T. powder mix
ex-large loads -- 4 oz Fels, 2 T. powder mix

Notes:
--As with all detergents and homemade soaps, I do adjust up if a load is especially dirty. Do what you normally do. If I'm dealing with stinky things, I do not increase the soap but I do increase the Borax/washing soda powder.

--I like Oxy-Clean powder and add a small amount to whites or especially stained kids' clothes.

--I think that Goo-Be-Gone and similar products are the best way to get out grease spots. (Even old ones.) FTR, I have yet to find any detergent or homemade mix that will get grease out all on its own.

--I do keep an old toothbrush and use the liquid Fels as a spot pretreatment, and yes if I find I'm pretreating a lot of kids' clothing because of an especially messy dinner, then I can reduce the amount of soap I put in the washer. (Just use your common sense on this one.)

--I never need to double rinse because this stuff rinses well without leaving clothing stiff and in need of lots of fabric softener

--I do use dryer sheets with certain loads (when I remember them ), but I use only 1/3 sheet (Thanks Mamamoz!)

--If your water is especially hard you *might* need more of the Borax/washing soda mixture. I dunno. Experiment. Be brave people.

And one final BIG NOTE about the liquid soap, since this part seems to give people the most trouble:

I think the part that's giving people trouble is the "saturated solution". People are worrying that there isn't enough soap in the water. But if the soap is dissolved as much as it will dissolve without adding more water, then the solution is saturated and you're good.

When you need to add more hot water to the pitcher because the soap level has dwindled, be sure you stir it well a couple of times over the next day or so. As long as your liquid Fels is of egg-white consistency (or snotlike, whichever adjective you prefer, LOL) you're good, especially if your vigorous stirring causes some small floaters that don't dissolve. Think saturated solution. The bar will NOT dissolve completely until after you've recovered it with hot water several times (unless you're using a gallon sized bucket or something.)

It won't melt all the way down for quite a while, especially not in the beginning; you'd need at least a gallon of water to do that. I f you stir it well over the next couple of days, you'll find that you've got a pretty slimy liquid with a very swelled-up piece of Fels floating in it. The bar will get *bigger* than it was originally, as it dissolves and the remaining bar soaks up water and swells. This made an interesting science experiment for my kids, leading to discussions about the density of the Fels Naptha and how it could possibly expand as it simultaneously dissolved AND soaked up water to bloat it.

If you're using a 2qt pitcher, the liquid level doesn't have to stay at 2 qts. I wait until the level has dropped quite a bit or almost gone and then I add a bunch more hot water. Once a bar gets really small I just throw in another new bar alongside it, then cover it with hot tap water. I'm aiming for a saturated solution, kwim? I want it to dissolve to where the water won't hold anymore.

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I am glad so many people are interested in trying things this way! It's funny, though, how something so simple can take so many words to explain. I never realized I'd get so many questions, LOL! I have a theory: SLers are an analytical bunch.

Once you get the hang of it, it will save you time and will save your lungs. (Well, mine at least. As an asthmatic I don't do well with the soap dust.) You will never have to boil water and grate soap again, nor will you have to give your homemade stuff a good hearty shake anymore.

It truly is a lazy method. Dirt cheap, too. (And it removes motor oil, though it did take several washings to get out nearly a whole quart which dh spilled on a favorite coat and pair of jeans. And I did have to add extra washing soda to get that mess out. But it all came out, including the odor. I don't think my precious Tide would have done that. I'd have had to use so much the foam would have never come out. )




Ok, now it's Bethany again. I use Natalie's medium load proportions for all my large loads. I originally did the large load proportions, but realized everything came out clean when I experimented with using the medium proportions. So, I chose to not use unnecessary detergent.

Here's what I do. I turn the water on. My Borax and washing soda are in a tupperware with a tablespoon in it. I measure one scoop into the machine. My Fels and water are in an old milk jug (I cut the Fels into strips that are just narrow enough to fit into the mouth of the milk jug) with a 1/4 cup measuring cup next to it. I fill it half full and dump it in the machine. Then I use the measuring cup to give the water a couple swirls, which mixes the detergent in more quickly and gets my measuring cup rinsed off. Then I toss in the laundry.

I get my Fels, washing soda, and Borax in the laundry detergent aisle of the grocery store. I've seen them at WinCo and Fred Meyer, though I'm sure other stores have them too.

I hope that helps those of you who wanted to give it a try. If you have questions, then I'll try to answer them. If they're too complicated, then I'll have Natalie pop in to help out.