The post you've been asking me about!

I know I said a few weeks back that I would do a blog about homemade laundry detergent. WELL TODAY IS THE DAY!
But first let me tell you that operation "up on stilts" is quickly starting to look.. no feel like the worst idea I've ever had to date. And if you know me at all, that's saying A LOT! lol I am the queen of bad ideas. Yesterday, it started with me going to the grocery store with my calf high 3 inch heeled boots. If that wasn't enough pain, when I got home; I changed into some 3 1/2 inch orange heels and put away all the groceries, vacuumed the floors and cooked dinner. OMG, I am in so much pain today. I'm wearing the very lowest heel I have in my closet. BUT I'M NOT GIVING UP! Lord have mercy this was such a stupid idea. But, it does solidify my theory of my legs being weak from not wearing heels for years.

I can't believe people read this blog. LOL

ON TO THE HOMEMADE LAUNDRY DETERGENT!

This is so simple that I can't believe I didn't do it sooner!

To begin you start with the 3 ingredients
1 bar Fels-Naptha, Zote, or some people even use the original Ivory soap.
1 1/2 cup of Borax powder
1 1/2 cup Washing soda (NOT BAKING SODA!)
 You can find all these things in the laundry isle usually hidden on the tippy top, or way bottom shelves.

 I was originally going to make the liquid because it's what I already use, but this amount of concentrate make 5 GALLONS! I didn't want to try to move around a 5 gallon bucket, so I made a concentrated powder instead. You can of course dissolve this in hot water and put it in a bucket.

So to start, the instructions say to grate the Fells-Naptha bar, but

I just hoped and prayed for the best and threw it in the food processor. It ground it up to lumpy beads, then I started adding the other powders and it started getting finer and finer.

When it was done, I put it in an old Gain laundry soap box that I've been saving and couldn't wait to give it a try!

 Now the one thing that I had to wrap my head around is that BUBBLES DON'T MEAN CLEAN! This detergent lacks the chemicals that makes suds. This it how it looks.

The best part of this stuff is that you only have to use 1 rounded tablespoon for a normal wash, 2 tablespoons for a extra-large load or really soiled load.
Today, I have washed and dried 4 loads of laundry and they came out GREAT! Very light fresh scent, soft feeling (with my vinegar softener) and I dare say even brighter whites than with the store bought stuff! I still use 1 dryer sheet per load, but that's a BIG cutback from the liquid fabric softener and the 4-5 dryer sheets I was using to get that "soft" feeling. I am ecstatic that I have cut back that many chemicals from my family's daily exposure. I am so freakin' pleased with myself today.
Now that I got so over zealous with the amount of laundry I washed today, I have to go fold all this crap...... In heels. I hope some of you try this and leave me some comments on any improvements or scents that you've added. Until next time!
Sonya

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that the ingredients cost me a little less than $9.00 and I only used 1 1/2 cups of the powdered ingredients. This means the next batch I only have to buy the Fells-Naptha bar for $1.00. If you use 1 tbs. per load it is about 0.40/load!