Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Today's Lesson

Faculty workroom discussion has been centering on DIY cleaning product recipes.  The price of laundry detergent just seems to keep rising.  Thanks to Pinterest, there are all kinds of recipes to make your own.

Several colleagues have been making their own laundry soap.  It involves shaving a bar (bars?) of soap.  It is a dry soap, rather than liquid.

Of course on Easy Street, I'm always looking for an easy way.  (OK.  So that might have something to do with the blog name, too!)  Shaving soap doesn't fall into the easy category for me.

K has been using the following recipe and passed it on.

(I should tell you that the purchase of the three products probably came to about $8-9.  I figure they will last me for at least a year--maybe two.  That means that, as far as laundry soap, it probably costs me about a penny to do a week's worth of laundry.)

The Liquid Laundry Detergent (Non-Shaving) Soap Recipe:

3 Tablespoons of Borax  (I'm pretty sure the last time I saw this was when Grandma used it.)
3 Tablespoons of Arm and Hammer Washing Soap
2 Tablespoons of Dawn Dish Washing Liquid  (Probably helps with stains and de-greasing)
4 cups of boiling hot water

Stir all of this together and then pour it into a gallon jug.  (I use a 3.5 quart liquid laundry container that I rinsed out. I know, not quite a gallon!)

Top it off with cold water to fill the jug.  Shake it up.

You will need to shake every time before using it. The detergent has the consistency of water.  I add a bottle cap and a half to a load.

I think the biggest challenge was to figure out how to close the Borax and Washing Soap boxes so they wouldn't absorb moisture and clump.  Then I remembered Press and Seal!  Voila! I tore off a short piece and covered the top of the box and over the spout. No moisture and no spills.

That's it.  I think the clothes are cleaner, too. 

When summer rolls around, I may try that shaving soap dry recipe.  They say you mix it up in a 5 gallon bucket, and that it lasts for over a year.  They also say your house smells wonderful while you're mixing it up. 

We'll see.  This liquid recipe is super easy.  And it's cheap, and it works!

6 comments:

joyce said...

Interesting...would never even have thought of trying something like that. (I do have Borax in the house from when I was told it would kill ants when mixed with sugar...not so but the box is still here)

Softie said...

I always wonder when I see these type of recipes if they would be able to be used in HE machines?

A said...

Cool! I stopped using regular detergent from the stores right before Sofia was born. Now we use Charlie's. Its safe for the environment and our cloth diapers. One container lasted about 3 and a half months. A little more expensive than yours... I wonder if your recipe is safe for cloth diapers...

SEB said...

I have been making floor and counter cleaners for a while and would like to make laundry soap. I like this recipe but I wonder how it works on a front loading washer? Do you know anyone using it on a front loader?

cgfeller said...

I do the "shaving" recipe and if I'm doing it...I PROMISE it must not hard! LOL ;) Yesterday I actually had to make a batch (after several months) and I thought I'd try just grinding it up in my magic bullet....worked great...in fact made it an even finer texture than the grated cheese texture...so I "felt" I was able to mix it even better! Works great for us!

cgfeller said...

OKAY one of these days I'll remember that you okay comments before posting them....I ALWAYS do it again thinking I must not have been signed in or something and it didn't go thru!?! UGH!!! SORRY for the numerous somewhat similar (because I can never write it the exact same way twice!) posts!! Delete away!!! :)