I made it myself. :-)
I am channeling Martha Stewart. Tonight I made laundry soap from 3 basic ingredients, all already found in my own home. I am doing this, as our kids both have rashes on sensitive skin areas that are only slowly responding to the medicines the doctor gave them some time ago. I thought that because of the locations, and because they tell me that they itch in other places in general (tho no rash), that maybe the laundry detergents were annoying them, even tho I use a no-dye, no perfume type of detergent. I am reading that maybe they might be other items in detergents that can also cause skin reactions, so why not try something that is as mild as I can get, but still cleans their clothes.
Here's the recipe I used:2 cups Fels Naptha Soap (finely grated - you could also try the other bar soaps listed at the top)
1 cup Washing Soda {aka Soda Ash/sodium carbonate/Na2CO3}
1 cup Borax
Mix well and store in an airtight plastic container.
Use 2 tablespoons per full load.
recipe #4 at http://tipnut.com/10-homemade-laundry-soap-detergent-recipes/
I used my own hand made olive oil (castile) soap as I don't have, and don't want to use Fels Naptha*, borax from my laundry stash, and soda ash (the washing soda) from my dye stash. So it cost me nothing to make this as I already had it all on hand. I will figure out later what it would cost when I have to buy more supplies. I will be using a vinegar rinse as a fabric softener, and to help rinse the soap residue, if any.
It only took me less than 30 minutes to grate the soap, chop it with my handchopper to make it finer, then mix with the two other items in an old plastic container. The new container is properly marked so we will know what it is and how much to use, and is now with the other laundry things on a high shelf away from the kids.
I used it on some of the kids clothes tonight and recently checked, to see that it got out the worst of the grime on that batch, in a cold water wash, too! I put the 2 spoonful into a cup of hot water to mix and soften before pouring that into the cold water bath. I hope this will not only clean the kids clothes, but help their red rashes disappear.
If it doesn't help their rash, then I may just go back to using borax alone, as I read in a medical article that this helped a man with his rashes. I just need cleaner clothes than I saw the borax was able to do alone. Kids are so much harder on their clothes.
* From what I read about Fels Naptha, it is a strong laundry soap made with petrochemicals that might be really good at cleaning clothes, but I am concerned about how it would affect the kids skin. Olive oil soap is about the gentlest I could think of, and we know they aren't allergic to olive oil. The caustic lye is used up in the reaction with water, and I slightly superfat my soap to make sure the lye is all converted. And this batch of soap has been sitting since last winter.
edit: I then found this further down the page of recipes, in the comments area.
"If you’re searching for eco-friendly or more gentle & natural homemade laundry soap I would suggest something like Castile soap. It is perhaps one of the gentlest soaps to date- a fact that makes it the choice of many mothers when choosing a first soap for their babies. It’s made with 100% pure olive oil (which is one way to tell whether or not it’s a true Castile soap) and is naturally very mild. Also look for Dr. Bronner’s All-One Hemp Unscented Baby-Mild Pure Castile Soaps."
Bingo, I score a point for following my gut instinct on choosing the gentlest soap.
Here's the recipe I used:2 cups Fels Naptha Soap (finely grated - you could also try the other bar soaps listed at the top)
1 cup Washing Soda {aka Soda Ash/sodium carbonate/Na2CO3}
1 cup Borax
Mix well and store in an airtight plastic container.
Use 2 tablespoons per full load.
recipe #4 at http://tipnut.com/10-homemade-laundry-soap-detergent-recipes/
I used my own hand made olive oil (castile) soap as I don't have, and don't want to use Fels Naptha*, borax from my laundry stash, and soda ash (the washing soda) from my dye stash. So it cost me nothing to make this as I already had it all on hand. I will figure out later what it would cost when I have to buy more supplies. I will be using a vinegar rinse as a fabric softener, and to help rinse the soap residue, if any.
It only took me less than 30 minutes to grate the soap, chop it with my handchopper to make it finer, then mix with the two other items in an old plastic container. The new container is properly marked so we will know what it is and how much to use, and is now with the other laundry things on a high shelf away from the kids.
I used it on some of the kids clothes tonight and recently checked, to see that it got out the worst of the grime on that batch, in a cold water wash, too! I put the 2 spoonful into a cup of hot water to mix and soften before pouring that into the cold water bath. I hope this will not only clean the kids clothes, but help their red rashes disappear.
If it doesn't help their rash, then I may just go back to using borax alone, as I read in a medical article that this helped a man with his rashes. I just need cleaner clothes than I saw the borax was able to do alone. Kids are so much harder on their clothes.
* From what I read about Fels Naptha, it is a strong laundry soap made with petrochemicals that might be really good at cleaning clothes, but I am concerned about how it would affect the kids skin. Olive oil soap is about the gentlest I could think of, and we know they aren't allergic to olive oil. The caustic lye is used up in the reaction with water, and I slightly superfat my soap to make sure the lye is all converted. And this batch of soap has been sitting since last winter.
edit: I then found this further down the page of recipes, in the comments area.
"If you’re searching for eco-friendly or more gentle & natural homemade laundry soap I would suggest something like Castile soap. It is perhaps one of the gentlest soaps to date- a fact that makes it the choice of many mothers when choosing a first soap for their babies. It’s made with 100% pure olive oil (which is one way to tell whether or not it’s a true Castile soap) and is naturally very mild. Also look for Dr. Bronner’s All-One Hemp Unscented Baby-Mild Pure Castile Soaps."
Bingo, I score a point for following my gut instinct on choosing the gentlest soap.