My friend Corrie gave me a recipe she uses but if you were to do a google search, you'll find many variations on the recipe.
It took some work & elbow grease... but I found the most difficult product. Fels-Naptha!
Just $ .97 at WalMart
Borax $ 3.79
Washing Soda $ 2.99
That's a total of $ 7.75 for about 6 cups of detergent. About 16 tablespoons per cup, 1 Tbsp for a regular load, 2 Tbsp for a heavy load.
That means about 96 loads (regular) means $ .08 per load.
EIGHT CENTS!
Dry Laundry detergent:
1 bar Fels-Naptha Laundry soap
2 cups Washing soda
2 cups Borax
Grate the Fels-Naptha with a cheese grater. I used the small grate side because I wanted the mixture to mix well. Also, when you do the laundry, you only use 1-2 table spoons, its harder to measure when there is big hunks of soap.
Mix all ingredients together.
Voila!
Next time I would try my food processor's grater. It was a lot of work and took over an hour to grate the bar of soap., but I'm happy with this and can't wait to do laundry!
if you grate the soap, and then run it through the food processor with about 1/4-1/2 cup of the washing soda, it pulverizes it. just don't do it without adding the washing soda, that turns into a chunky, gloppy mess (don't ask me how i know).
ReplyDeleteI was actually considering taking the whole thing and putting it into the food processor now. I wish I thought of it before I put ALL the powder together... but I'll think about it. We do 3-5 loads of laundry some weeks so its not like we wont go through it fast. I also think putting the soap and the grater in the freezer might help... The soap was coming off on the grater and not through it but clogging the holes...
ReplyDeleteDon't put the borax in the FP, it's so fine that it kicks up into the air and gets in your nose & eyes when you go to pour it out... and it hurts like a mofo (don't ask me how I know). But if you add all the washing soda to the soap in the FP & hand mix the borax afterwards that should blend it thoroughly enough. As for the soap, freezing it is a great idea, I wish I'd thought of that myself the last two times I struggled with soft soap!
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