Here is a neat post over at Food Storage Moms all about home-made laundry detergent. They even have videos and they break down the cost of making a five gallon bucket full! It is amazingly cheap so head on over there and be surprised I am still using my soap recipe and it is working great. Our clothes are clean and smell very nice after about 5 months of doing it.
You only need three ingredients. Borax, washing soda, and Fels Naptha soap. You can make it in one or more batches. I do 5 at a time because we wash allot of laundry. This really is thrifty, and when you look at organic laundry detergent it is even better cost wise. This laundry detergent doesn't make my son, who is very sensitive and has eczema, break out.
I just mentioned your laundry soap to my wife. I like this idea. I also like the picture in your post...
ReplyDeleteI'm curious how yours smells good. I made my own laundry soap this spring with the same 3 ingredients, but our clothes did not smell good! I even added essential oils to help. What is your secret? I got tired of re washing smelly clothes (and I don't mean the ones that sat too long lol!) so I bought laundry soap at Costco and it of course smells great. Would love some tips if you have any! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteJen,
DeleteWhile it doesn't make my clothes smell because it has no chemical scents I have never had a problem with smelly clothes, they always smell fresh and clean. I would say maybe you need to use more? I do extra large loads because we have a family of six, also my clothes get very soiled because our kids play outside allot. So I use more than it says, about twice as much. Also I sometimes add a degreaser to really soiled clothes like socks or pants. I use Palmolive dish soap because I am allergic to Dawn. About a tablespoon per really dirty load. And I use bleach on my whites.
So I would recommend that for awhile you try using more of the detergent and also adding a tablespoon of Dawn dish soap or Palmolive to every load to degrease it. Oils from our bodies and from food can build up on clothes, and also bleach your whites. Also using warm water is very important because it helps with the cleaning action. Oh I almost forgot that I also add about a cup of oxyclean per batch of the homemade laundry detergent.
You may also just be used to very strong chemical fragrances, it takes awhile to get used to non fragranced clothes. After using natural cleaners and no air fresheners in my house for 10 years I now am very sensitive to synthetic scents. I can still smell fabric softener on clothes I have bought used after washing them up to three times! Think of what kind of chemicals must be used to get you that strong lasting smell!
I hope this helps!