Sunday, January 4, 2009

Laundry Detergent in the Making

A while back I heard about making my own laundry detergent. So I looked into it. I looked at several sites. Most of them looked about the same with the exception of a few here and there. Basically they were about the same though.

Here is what I did:

1 bar Ivory soap

1/4 cup Arm & Hammer Washing Soda

1/2 cup Borax

I grated the soap and added 6cups of water to heat then added the soap a little at a time. Melted it. Then added washing soda and borax till dissolved. Removed from heat. Poured 4cups hot tap water into bucket. Added soap mixture and stirred. Then added 1gallon plus 6cups of water and stirred. Covered it with lid and let sit for 24hrs.

The end result was.....not what I was expecting. I is just looks like soapy water. No gel at all. hhhhmmmmmm So what happened? Don't know but I have half a bucket of this water to use. hehehe I wonder how long it will take me to finish this so I can try again?

Anyone have any ideas? Suggestions?

3 comments:

Julie said...

I made liquid on saturday..... I think it will be cheaper than the power I have been making. I followed a slightly different recipe and mine did gel, it looks kind of glorpy but works fine:
Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap- Front or top load machinee

4 Cups hot tap water
1 Fels-Naptha soap bar
1 Cup Washing Soda
½ Cup Borax

- Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.

-Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.

-Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water. Shake before each use. (will gel)

-Optional: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons. Add once soap has cooled. Ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil.

-Yield: Liquid soap recipe makes 10 gallons.

-Top Load Machine- 5/8 Cup per load (Approx. 180 loads)

-Front Load Machines- ¼ Cup per load (Approx. 640 loads)

live4evermom said...

Thanks for your recipe Julie. So you got a whole 5 gallon bucket worth of this glorpy stuff? I have about a half 5 gallon bucket.

I couldn't find that Fels-Naptha soap so I used Ivory. Next time I'll try your receipe.

hicksgirl93 said...

I make bar soap for the body...never tried the laundry soap. If I can ever rid my attachment to GAIN, maybe I will try it, hahaha