Forays into domestication
There's always things I see posted up and think "hey, that might be fun to try!" A lot of them are cost-cutting ventures, and some of them I decide are more work than the are worth (hello, regular bread making). I'm giving some things a whirl, though, since I can. This weekend's experiment: Homemade laundry soap.
It is laundry day, and I needed more detergent, which made it a good day to take the plunge and try making my own. Total cost was about $15, it made 15 lbs of laundry soap. It half-fills a 5 gallon bucket, and I only need to use a tablespoon or two for a full load of laundry. This should be roughly 500 loads of laundry.
Year's supply of laundry soap, check!
It was a bit of a pain grating up three bars of Fels Naptha (a laundry soap), but it got done in the end, and the experiment has progressed. I've done one load thus far and it seems like it works. There's no particularly strong smell to the clothes, but I think this recipe is designed for sensitive skinned people. I'm doing whites next, so we'll see if it does better than my other detergent did. Which was kind of dingy. But I can possibly blame that on the black sock that snuck into the load last time. Black socks are sneaky socks.
I'm not always good at this adult thing.
Laundry soap recipe:
1 box (4lbs) Borax
1 box (3lbs) Washing Soda
1 box (1lb) Baking Soda
1 bucket (6lbs) Oxygen Cleaner
3 bars Fels Naptha, grated
Mixed together in a large bucket, lined in a plastic bag. (It made the mixing easier) I've read that you can use Ivory soap, Fels Naptha, or soap flakes for this recipe. I grated it with a cheese grater. (yes, that took a while)
It is laundry day, and I needed more detergent, which made it a good day to take the plunge and try making my own. Total cost was about $15, it made 15 lbs of laundry soap. It half-fills a 5 gallon bucket, and I only need to use a tablespoon or two for a full load of laundry. This should be roughly 500 loads of laundry.
Year's supply of laundry soap, check!
It was a bit of a pain grating up three bars of Fels Naptha (a laundry soap), but it got done in the end, and the experiment has progressed. I've done one load thus far and it seems like it works. There's no particularly strong smell to the clothes, but I think this recipe is designed for sensitive skinned people. I'm doing whites next, so we'll see if it does better than my other detergent did. Which was kind of dingy. But I can possibly blame that on the black sock that snuck into the load last time. Black socks are sneaky socks.
I'm not always good at this adult thing.
Laundry soap recipe:
1 box (4lbs) Borax
1 box (3lbs) Washing Soda
1 box (1lb) Baking Soda
1 bucket (6lbs) Oxygen Cleaner
3 bars Fels Naptha, grated
Mixed together in a large bucket, lined in a plastic bag. (It made the mixing easier) I've read that you can use Ivory soap, Fels Naptha, or soap flakes for this recipe. I grated it with a cheese grater. (yes, that took a while)