Sunday, April 2, 2017

Second on the 2nd-Laundry Making Supplies

   I am joining Elizabeth for Second on the 2nd  where we  share a past post on the 2nd of each Month.

      This post goes way back to 2008. Back then the economy had crashed and we were pretty poor from it, so I was looking at ways to save us money. 
    I had discovered some recipes for making my own laundry making supplies. 
    I was buying at the time the more expensive liquid detergents that were allergy free-from those strong fragrances.  I have loved the process of making the soaps, the large savings, and mostly Not the recycling and expense of all those plastic bottles from store bought-- that I have continued to make my own soap still today. 
    I make a double batch and it fits into a 5 gallon bucket up to the top. I like the dry detergent recipe for tough laundry jobs and for soaking first.
   I do buy the bleach now as it just works better if not drying the laundry out on the line, and although the fabric softener recipe worked I now use vinegar in the rinse cycle.




Updates on My Laundry Making Supplies Jul 11, '08 10:40 AM
for everyone    copied from my older blog  here




I wanted to share with you which recipes I have made so far-and how I like them.

For the liquid detergent I chose this one, as it looked more concentrated and I also added in glycerin

1 quart boiling water

2 cups bar soap-finely grated-this is important (this time I used Kirks pure castile soap)

2 cups Borax

2 cups Washing soda

2 tablespoons glycerin

instructions

add finely grated bar soap to the boiling water and stir until soap is melted. You can keep on low heat until soap is melted-this is very important at this step to make sure All the soap is totally melted-as it won't melt later-ask me why I know-lol
     Note: do not use fels napha bar soap for this recipe-if you go on their site this soap was never intended for this purpose-but rather to use as spot remover on clothes-this soap is really harsh if you have sensitive skin.

pour the soap water into a large clean pail-I chose a 5 gallon bucket-perfect- and then add in the borax, washing soda and stir well until all is dissolved.

add 2 gallons of water -use very hot tap water-and stir until well mixed, at this point I also added in the glycerin.

cover the pail and use 1/4 cup for each load of laundry. stir the soap each time you use it as it will gel.

(I thought I would like this recipe better to add to saved laundry soap bottles and use that way, but after seeing what it does, I am going to keep it in the bucket so I can stir well before using, I will decide after this batch if this is the way to go and the soap stays clean)

I used this for the first time on a load of towels, and I also used my fabric softener that had lavender essential oil added. They just came out of the dryer-and very nice-just a hint of lavender, soft, and so clean.

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For the dry detergent I used this recipe.

1 cup grated bar soap I used kirks pure castile soap, this would be a good recipe for using the fels napha soap for very very soild clothes-like a mechanics clothes, or for dirty throw rugs-it is too hars a soap for general laundry use.

1/2 cup washing soda

1/2 cup borax

Stir all together and put in air tight container. use 1 tablespoon for light soiled load and 1 tablespoons for heavy soiled loads.

and for tips they suggested:

liquid detergent can be used to pretreat stains-(soak in a bucket of your homemade liquid detergent)

ivory soap, or any bar soap of your choosing can be used-finely grate all soap

essential oils can be added to soap for a bit of fragrance if you choose.



I really like this soap for heavily soiled clothes along with my fabric softener. I have done a couple loads now and really really like this one.

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Bleach substitute

1 cup hydrogen peroxide

1/4 cup lemon juice

12 cups water

store in a labeled plastic jug. add 2 cups per load

they suggest to hang your clothes to a dry on a clothesline. first of all saves energy, prolongs the life of your clothes and will keep whites brighter. line drying in the sun also kills bacteria.

This one worked so so on a load of whites. I may experiment with this as a soak first on dirty white socks, and I think the line drying makes the lemon juice work better afterwards

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Fabric Softener

You need a very large pot as the mixture will foam up at first

add 1 cup of baking soad to the pot

add 1 cup of water-don't need to mix yet

slowly add 6 cups of distilled white vinegar. this will cause the chemical reaction with the baking soda and the mixture will fiz up. Let fiz and do its thing for a few minutes.

now add 6 more cups of water to the mixture. this will stop the fizzing process. stir to properly mix all the ingredients.

store in saved fabric softener bottles-may add some essential oils of your choice. 10 to 15 drops at first and see if you like the results first.

Add 1 cup to the final rinse



I really really like this alot and know I will continue to make this one for sure. I split this in half with 2 bottles and left one with no essential oils, and put 12 drops of lavender essential oil in the second-I love it

I also wanted to mention again, in case you did not catch my updated updated blog from a couple days ago-that the best thing I really like about all this is the huge reduction in lint. Our Nikita causes soooo much lint in the wash-and the vinegar I think took care of this-really amazing to me.

You can also just use straight vinegar for the rinse water-which I now do.

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8 comments:

  1. Great post - I have copied down the recipes, I will give them a try when I have more time. I hate the artificial smells of the washing powder here! Thanks for sharing, and happy 2nd on the 2nd. Enjoy your Sunday, hugs, Valerie

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  2. What an incredible post, Kathy. I have all the ingredients I need for making the fabric softener and the bleach substitute. I always hang my clothes on the line in summer, actually beginning as soon as it's warm enough the laundry doesn't freeze on the line (don't ask how I know that). I have used tea tree oil in my machine because I don't have to use as much detergent and it gives a nice clean scent, too.

    Thanks beyond belief for these wonderful recipes and thanks for joining with your Second Look on the 2nd.

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    1. Hi Elizabeth, I hope you like the recipes. I really really miss not hanging my clothes on the line-I really enjoyed that-especially here in the woods- a few years back a storm took down some of my line and I just never got it fixed-I need to do that as I really loved hanging laundry on the line tea trea oil would be a good disenfectant too-

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  3. Wow, I applaud your commitment to thriftiness and what's more natural. I'd like to think I'm the same, but I'm not. Convenience wins out at this point in my life. I used to make some of my own things. My kids remember with amusement how they had to eat my homemade natural granola and blender peanut butter (with wheat germ and honey). I shelled peanuts by hand(!), but I could not do that now. Give me convenience!

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  4. Wow Kathy! I really found this interesting! The conditioner especially appeals to me! A great second look! Chrisx

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  5. Interesting post Kathy. I've never tried to make my own detergent, but we've been through those periods of tough times too. Hope all is well. Hugs-Erika

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    1. Hi Erika, thanks for stopping by. I was glad I ran into this soap recipe as I still love using it-does a good job and a 5 gallon pail lasts a long time.
      Happy Sunday Hugs Kathy

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  6. I got these recipes from you years ago and have been using them ever since. I love the savings and the clothes do come so clean.

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