So I asked and you all said you wanted me to post about my household cleaners that I make to clean me and my home clean in a frugal & herbalishous fashion!!!!
This first installment is going to be on Laundry.
I have members of my family that have very sensitive skin and store bought detergent was a problem, I was also running a house of 9 so TONS of laundry and it was so expensive. I was perusing craigslist and saw an add for homemade detergent for $10 for five gallons well holy smokes I as pretty sure I had hit the jackpot!!!
So I ordered some right away, it was ok, it worked not super well, and it came in a five gallon bucket - really that was just annoying and it wasn't very consistent, it was what appeared to me to be just water mixed with soap powder stuffs, it still left that same powder residue on my clothes that powdered detergent does - NO BUENO!
So it tried a few more recipes, and after doctoring things up eventually came up with one I love that's easy peasy.
Get ready to save some money if you are still using straight up store bought, (until I got used to the consistency I used to mix 1 gallon store bought with two gallons of mine, equaling something like $14 for three FULL gallons of Great detergent, but now and am used to it and I just use mine and everything still comes out just as clean... ) This comes out to less then a dollar per Gallon if you use Fels naptha, If say you bought Dr bronners bar soap or other homemade soap it will cost about $1 a gallon yes it's about .06 a load.
Laundry Detergent:
½ cup bar soap grated (I have used Fels Naptha, but it’s still store bought soap with potential cruddy stuffs in it, now I use my own bar soap that I make so that I know exactly what’s in it.)
½ cup washing soda
½ cup borax powder
~You will also need a small bucket, about 2 gallon size~
Two one gallon jugs to put your detergent in, or a bucket with a lid. ( I use old liquid detergent containers they work great!)
Put about 6 cups of water on to boil, add the grated soap, and washing soda and borax to the water, Stir continually this mixer will begin to foam, just keep stirring by the time the soap and powders dissolve I pour this in to the bucket of one gallon HOT water and then Stir until well mixed it starts to thicken just a little, I then add 10 Cups of cold water, stir vigorously.
Pour in to one gallon jugs if you like or leave in the bucket if it has a lid. It will gel up as it cools so I always shake well before using and you use about ½ cups per load.
After it cools I add Essential oils depending on what’s going on at the time in my family, for normal every day I add 5-10mls of Lavender and the same of Tea tree oil to each gallon, If it’s cold & flu season I add 5-10mls of eucalyptus to each gallon as well. Another option would be to add a Thieves oil blend 10-15mls to it for that extra cleaning factor.
**Side Notes about the soap**
~The finished soap will not be a smooth gel. It looks kinda like egg flower soup, its water and gelly clumps.
~The soap is low sudsing soap. Which means it’s totally ok to use in Frontload waters that require low sudsing soap, and really it’s not the bubbles that clean your clothes that is only true of washing skin ;)
Color-Safe Bleach:
This bleach is for delicate colors and synthetic fabrics. It reduces yellowing in silks and woolens.
2 cups hydrogen peroxide
14 cups water
Mix ingredients and store in a plastic one-gallon container. Soak items to be cleaned in this solution for 10 to 30 minutes.
Leave a comment