Thursday, July 22, 2010

homemade detergent

seriously, this is so fun

i came across this recipe for homemade detergent months ago and printed it out. i remember being in the clutches of spring semester and thinking "i can't wait until the summer when i am only working two jobs and not taking any classes, so i can make homemade detergent!" since we are working towards having no packaged foods in the pantry, i have been trying to buy less packaging in general and finding alternatives to different products.

boil 4 cups of water in a pan and shave a whole bar of soap into it. (i used a bar of ivory soap.) stir it really well and be sure that the soap is entirely dissolved.

soda and borax sitting in a tree

pour three gallons of hot water into a five-gallon bucket. lowe's sells these or you can recycle a paint bucket. add the dissolved soap and water and stir. pour in a cup of washing soda and a half cup of borax.

berlin, the laundry inspector

stir well and let it stand overnight. berlin had to inspect this project to make sure i did it correctly.

homemade detergent

the detergent will turn gelatinous and look like real detergent. i added a few drops of essential geranium oil into the mixture. i have a front-loading washer and used just under a cup of detergent and it didn't get too sudsy at all.

the cost comes out to less than three pennies per load. how awesome is that?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

How much detergent did you use in your front
load machine.

Marilyn said...

I have never made my own laundry detergent, but I do make all my other cleaning products. I think I'll try this!

Sis said...

I am SO doing this...

Gin said...

I love this!! I think I may try it too! Does it keep well? Anyway, I'll keep the recipe and see if I can find a bucket. :)

How ya doin' girlie girl?
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