One of the things I have learned from having a child who is asthmatic and subsequently has TONS of allergies is that the fewer fake chemical smells I have in the house, the better off he does.
Alas that meant for me giving up Yankee candles, Glade plug ins and heavily scented soaps and detergents. I have found that by doing this, my asthmatic son does much better, and a bonus? Making my own products is typically cheaper as in this laundry soap, so it is a money saver too!
Alas that meant for me giving up Yankee candles, Glade plug ins and heavily scented soaps and detergents. I have found that by doing this, my asthmatic son does much better, and a bonus? Making my own products is typically cheaper as in this laundry soap, so it is a money saver too!
I have to give credit to a friend who first had super nice smelling laundry detergent. Funny thing was the detergent was not in a store bought container so I asked about it and was advised that she made it herself from the Duggar family recipe and then added lavender oil. And it worked really well! (she also had an HE washing machiene).
Hmmmm. I'm going to have to try that.
So, when I returned home I looked up the Duggar family recipe.
I admit I was still a bit intimidated but, I should not have been. The whole process, start to finish took less than 30 minutes. I became sold at that point and have been making our laundry soap ever since. By using only 3 ingredients to make the laundry detergent, my total out of pocket at Walmart is a whopping $8.97.
I don't use but a fraction of the Borax and Arm and Hammer Washing Soda- those are $3.97 per box and the Fels-Naptha bar is 97 cents). I currently have enough of both of those boxes to make this recipie 7 more times and each recipie makes 10 gallons!
4 Cups - hot tap water
1 Fels-Naptha soap bar* (you can also use Dr. Bronners Bar soap)
1 Cup - Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda**
½ Cup Borax
Following the Duggar recipe I grate my soap to add to a saucepan with water and stir it until it is disolved. (kinda looks like cheese)
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After the soap is melted I add it to a 5 gallon bucket that is half full of hot tap water. Then I add the 1 cup of Arm & Hammer and the 1/2 cup of Borax. I give it all a stir and then add more hot tap water until I get to the top of the 5 gallon bucket.
Now I just had to wait as you let the soap sit overnight to form a more gelled consistency. Then I remove the amount I want to keep available in the laundry room. 1/2 gallon of concentrate and I add 1/2 gallon of water to dilute (a full gallon for the laundry room) Viola!!!
I am not at all kidding, I did the math and the breakdown is 30 cents a gallon or $3.00 for the 5 gallon bucket (just remember that 5 gallon bucket actually makes 10 gallons because you are once again cutting it in half with water when you use it). WIN!
ANOTHER NOTE...when i have synthetic clothing that holds odor (think workout clothes with spandex in them or fleece) I add 1 capful of Dr. Bronner's peppermint soap to a load of laundry in lieu of my normal essential oils...it knocks out any odors and leaves everything smelling minty clean! I would say a capfull is about 1 Tablespoon so a 32 ounce bottle like this will last you a VERY long time!
I am not at all kidding, I did the math and the breakdown is 30 cents a gallon or $3.00 for the 5 gallon bucket (just remember that 5 gallon bucket actually makes 10 gallons because you are once again cutting it in half with water when you use it). WIN!
ANOTHER NOTE...when i have synthetic clothing that holds odor (think workout clothes with spandex in them or fleece) I add 1 capful of Dr. Bronner's peppermint soap to a load of laundry in lieu of my normal essential oils...it knocks out any odors and leaves everything smelling minty clean! I would say a capfull is about 1 Tablespoon so a 32 ounce bottle like this will last you a VERY long time!
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