Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Save some money!!! Make your own laundry detergent and SAVE!!

What better way to find more money to spend on food storage than to save some money? Here is a recipe for homemade laundry soap that costs very little to make and will save you lots of money. This is an economical and fun alternative to store-bought laundry soap.This costs just pennies per load of laundry. It is easy to make, lasts a long time and WILL save you lots of money in the long run. This is a low-sudsing, biodegradable, environmentally safe alternative. It cleans well and the clothes are softer, even without fabric softener added. Give it a try! To get started you need the ingredients below, a 5-gallon bucket to make the liquid in, an inexpensive cheese grater and a wooden spoon or paint stirrer to mix with.


The Ingredients:

Liquid Laundry Detergent
4 c. Hot water
1 Fels-naptha Soap Bar
1 c. Washing soda
½ c. borax
1 -5 gallon bucket with a lid
Grate bar of soap and add to a large sauce pan with the hot water. Stir continuously on low heat until soap dissolves and is melted. Fill the 5 gallon bucket ½ full of warm water, add washing soda and borax and melted soap. Stir with a large spoon or stick (Paint stirring stick works great) until all powder is dissolved. Fill the bucket to the top with more hot water. Stir, cover with lid and set overnight to thicken. You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil for each 2 gallons of liquid if you want. For a top loading washing machine use ¼ c. per load. You will get 180 loads out of 5 gallons For a front loading machine use 1/8 c. per load and you get 640 loads out of 5 gallons. This costs just pennies a load and cleans better than popular commercial brands.

Powdered Laundry Soap
2/3 bar grated Fels Naptha Soap
1 cup washing soda
1 cup 20 mule team borax
Mix and store in airtight container or bag.
**light or small loads, use 1 tablespoon
**normal loads, use 2 tablespoons
**heavy loads, use 3 tablespoons
Tip: The above recipes will NOT make suds in your washer, so don’t be alarmed. Fels Naptha Soap is a pure soap and typically makes little or no suds, in the water. This makes it perfect for the new washers, as well as, traditional washers. You will also notice the need to either reduce your laundry softener, or in most cases you can even eliminate the use of softener completely.

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