The article, http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/109349/do-it-yourself-laundry-detergent, details everything you need, but Google searching also turned up an abundance of recipes and excellent advice on the subject of do-it-yourself detergent making.
One of my favorite reads was on The Simple Dollar. Blogger and author Trent Hamm has (among other great tips) a simply awesome how-to article on the subject: http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/04/09/making-your-own-laundry-detergent-a-detailed-visual-guide/
As it turned out, all the ingredients I needed were to be found cheaply at my local grocery store (its so local, I walk there) and the recipe I chose just called for:
- 1/3 bar of Fels Naptha (which was on sale at the time, yesh!)
- 1/2 cup of Borax
- 1/2 cup of washing soda
- 2 gallons of water
- 1/2 cup of white distilled vinegar (for preventing residue in the machine)
- 3 tablespoons of glycerine (for softening fabrics)
- a few drops of orange essential oil (a fresh, lovely scent)
Crazy easy right?
Still, Im giddy with my small victory over mass produced, over priced, polluting commercial detergents and their huge plastic, landfill fodder packaging.
As far as the money part goes, figuring in your ingredients, most recipes save you about $0.15 cents per load versus common supermarket detergents.
Tide & Co - I feel bad for you man, I really do - but the secret's out!
By the way, if you're lucky enough to come across a three gallon bucket - I got mine from the Habitat for Humanity re-sale shop (it held vegetarian chicken pellets originally, lol) get several. They're the bomb.
I wonder if one day I'll take D.I.Y. detergent a step further by using my own bar of laundry soap instead of Naptha... :-)
Such a nice idea. Thanks Thriftcraft.
ReplyDeleteI think I'll try it myself right away!
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ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting my newborn blog, Manisha!
ReplyDeleteYou asked about the detergent recipe and a new high efficiency front loading washer - my machine is a front loader, but not that kind, its old and low efficiency :-( But Ive read some posts on other sites where people have asked the same question. One comment I read said be sure to stir up the lumps before adding the detergent to the machine. My first batch of detergent did come out lumpy but very soft small lumps. I think it vary from batch to batch and between recipes. So Im going to say that it is suitable for use, with the disclaimer that after the detergent has set up, if it is clumpy, stir it well before adding it to the machine. Please let me know if you make it and how it turns out for you! Im going to be making another batch here in a few days if you'd like we can do it together :-)