Guest guest Posted May 25, 2007 Report Share Posted May 25, 2007 http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/laundrysoap.htm Making Homemade Laundry Soap By Crystal Miller Making your own laundry soap is very easy! No longer do you need to rely on store bought detergents. With a few ingredients on hand you will be able to make batch after batch of laundry soap. The cost savings by doing this is incredible! What Ingredients Do You Need? You will need 3 basic ingredients; a soap of some sort, washing soda and borax. The Soap: The most typical type of soap to use is Fels Naptha. It is an old-fashioned type of soap usually found in the laundry aisle. The other options for soap are Ivory or another brand called, Zote. Any of these will work. I use my own homemade soap and find it works quite well and I do have this for sale in my Country Store. <http://crystalscountrystore.com/laundryroom.htm> If you use Ivory or your own homemade soap you will need to use the whole bar. Washing Soda: This is not to be confused with baking soda. They are not the same thing. Washing soda is sodium carbonate or soda ash (baking soda is sodium bicarbonate). It is a white powder. Its purpose is to help remove dirt and orders. The brand to look for is Arm & Hammer Washing Soda. Borax: Borax is a naturally occurring mineral: Sodium Borate. It is a white powder. It's purpose is as a laundry whitener and deodorizer. The brand to look for is 20 Mule Team. It comes in a 76 oz. box. You should be able to locate this in the laundry detergent aisle. Again as with the washing soda, if you cannot find it ask you store manager or look online. The Recipe Now that you have assembled all the needed ingredients here is the recipe: Homemade Laundry Soap 1/3 bar Fels Naptha or other type of soap, as listed above 1/2 cup washing soda 1/2 cup borax powder You will also need a small bucket, about 2 gallon size~ Grate the soap and put it in a sauce pan. Add 6 cups water and heat it until the soap melts. Add the washing soda and the borax and stir until it is dissolved. Remove from heat. Pour 4 cups hot water into the bucket. Now add your soap mixture and stir. Now add 1 gallon plus 6 cups of water and stir. Let the soap sit for about 24 hours and it will gel. You use 1/2 cup per load. A few things to note about the soap. The finished soap will not be a solid gel. It will be more of a watery gel that has been accurately described as an " egg noodle soup " look. The soap is a low sudsing soap. So if you don't see suds, that is ok. Suds are not what does the cleaning, it is the ingredients in the soap. Optional: If you want your soap to have some sort of scent you can scent this with 1/2 to 1 oz. of essential oil or fragrance oil of your choice. My favorite scent is orange essential oil. But is it Really Less Expensive? Is the laundry soap a cost saver? How do the numbers on this add up? Well I am a person who likes to know what I am spending and if my efforts save me in one way or another. This is one of the areas that I wanted to know if I was actually saving money. We do a lot of laundry and I make double batches of this soap and knowing that the time spent doing this was a savings for my family was important to me. Here are my calculations: The cost of making the above recipe of laundry soap was .71 cents. With this 2 gallon size recipe you will have enough to do 64 loads of laundry. That translates to about .01 cent a load. How Did I Figure This Out? Here is the breakdown of my costs and how I came up with those numbers (I am using the prices I paid for these items and you may find your price varies some based on what you pay): Fels Naptha: $1.12 for a 5.5 oz bar. The recipes says use a 1/3 of a bar. I calculated 2 oz. just to make the math a little easier. The cost of the Fels Naptha per batch is: ..40 cents Washing Soda: $2.23 for a 55 oz. box. This came to .17 cents per batch. I calculated how much per oz (2.23 divided by 55) and then weighed a half cup of washing soda (4.2oz.) and multiplied my per oz. price by 4.2 cents. Borax: $3.27 for a 76 oz. box. This came to ..14 cents per batch. Did the same calculations as above, however a 1/2 cup of borax weighs 3.5 oz. For the final numbers I have .40 + .17 + .14 = .71 for 2 gallons of laundry detergent. Two gallons translates to 64- 1/2 cup portions and .71 divided by 64 = .01109, etc... or about .01 cent a load! Happy Laundry Soap Making!!! Homemade Laundry Soap Questions (UPDATE as of 2007) I am going to attempt to give a few answers here to the most often asked questions on this laundry detergent as I get way too many emails on this for me to answer individually anymore._ If you don't see your question answered here I suggest you visit my forum <http://homemakershomestead.com/smf/index.php> and see if you can find the answers there. One question I often get is whether or not you can use the laundry soap in HE (High Efficiency) machines. First, what I share on this site is from my own personal experience. I don't have an HE machine so I don't have any personal experience to share with you on this. I have had many ladies with HE machines email me or mention on my boards that they have HE machines and they use this soap and they don't have problems. The consistency of the soap is another common question. I have answered but will attempt to be more clear. It will be a liquid gel.. or a liquid with bits of gel in it or as some ladies have described it: Egg Noodle Soup consistency. If it is more or less gelled it still works.. if it did not gel at all, next time add more soap. Some ladies have said they add the whole bar of Fels Naptha.. play around with the recipe until you get the results you desire. I occasionally get emails from ladies telling that the soap did not clean badly soiled or smelly clothes well.. I find the soap works fine for every day dirt and grime.. if I have extra dirty clothes then I will often add a scoop of Oxyclean to the load Some ladies have found that they like a little extra cleaning boost to the recipe so they double the amount of borax and washing soda.. this only very mildly effects the cost and may help if you feel you need that. Radiating UNCONDITIONAL LOVE & Truth To ALL who share our circle, our universe, our love, our trust. May I always be found worthy. Gratitude & Thankfulness to All of Us aSoaringHawk Look at everything as though you were seeing it either for the first or last time. Then your time on earth will be filled with joy & glory. Thank you for YOU! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 25, 2007 Report Share Posted May 25, 2007 Yes, i've been doing it for about a year now using Borax, Zote (you can get it in any Hispanic grocers for as low as 59 cents a bar) and Arm & Hammer Washing Soda (call A & H and they send you a coupon for, i think it was either a free box or 1 dollar off)~ Many store clerks are unaware of A & H Washing Soda, "Smiths Foods" carry it here in Nevada and you'll find elderly women saying that they haven't seen Borax since they were a child, when you are in line with it:) Hempress ---- Soaring Hawk 05/25/07 06:52:00 aSoaringHawk Making Homemade Laundry Soap http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/laundrysoap.htm Making Homemade Laundry SoapBy Crystal Miller Making your own laundry soap is very easy! No longer do you need to rely on store bought detergents. With a few ingredients on hand you will be able to make batch after batch of laundry soap. The cost savings by doing this is incredible! What Ingredients Do You Need? You will need 3 basic ingredients; a soap of some sort, washing soda and borax. The Soap: The most typical type of soap to use is Fels Naptha. It is an old-fashioned type of soap usually found in the laundry aisle. The other options for soap are Ivory or another brand called, Zote. Any of these will work. I use my own homemade soap and find it works quite well and I do have this for sale in my Country Store.<http://crystalscountrystore.com/laundryroom.htm> If you use Ivory or your own homemade soap you will need to use the whole bar. Washing Soda: This is not to be confused with baking soda. They are not the same thing. Washing soda is sodium carbonate or soda ash (baking soda is sodium bicarbonate). It is a white powder. Its purpose is to help remove dirt and orders. The brand to look for is Arm & Hammer Washing Soda. Borax: Borax is a naturally occurring mineral: Sodium Borate. It is a white powder. It's purpose is as a laundry whitener and deodorizer. The brand to look for is 20 Mule Team. It comes in a 76 oz. box. You should be able to locate this in the laundry detergent aisle. Again as with the washing soda, if you cannot find it ask you store manager or look online. The Recipe Now that you have assembled all the needed ingredients here is the recipe: Homemade Laundry Soap 1/3 bar Fels Naptha or other type of soap, as listed above 1/2 cup washing soda 1/2 cup borax powder You will also need a small bucket, about 2 gallon size~ Grate the soap and put it in a sauce pan. Add 6 cups water and heat it until the soap melts. Add the washing soda and the borax and stir until it is dissolved. Remove from heat. Pour 4 cups hot water into the bucket. Now add your soap mixture and stir. Now add 1 gallon plus 6 cups of water and stir. Let the soap sit for about 24 hours and it will gel. You use 1/2 cup per load. A few things to note about the soap.The finished soap will not be a solid gel. It will be more of a watery gel that has been accurately described as an "egg noodle soup" look. The soap is a low sudsing soap. So if you don't see suds, that is ok. Suds are not what does the cleaning, it is the ingredients in the soap. Optional: If you want your soap to have some sort of scent you can scent this with 1/2 to 1 oz. of essential oil or fragrance oil of your choice. My favorite scent is orange essential oil. But is it Really Less Expensive?Is the laundry soap a cost saver? How do the numbers on this add up? Well I am a person who likes to know what I am spending and if my efforts save me in one way or another. This is one of the areas that I wanted to know if I was actually saving money. We do a lot of laundry and I make double batches of this soap and knowing that the time spent doing this was a savings for my family was important to me. Here are my calculations:The cost of making the above recipe of laundry soap was .71 cents. With this 2 gallon size recipe you will have enough to do 64 loads of laundry. That translates to about .01 cent a load. How Did I Figure This Out?Here is the breakdown of my costs and how I came up with those numbers (I am using the prices I paid for these items and you may find your price varies some based on what you pay): Fels Naptha: $1.12 for a 5.5 oz bar. The recipes says use a 1/3 of a bar. I calculated 2 oz. just to make the math a little easier. The cost of the Fels Naptha per batch is: .40 cents Washing Soda: $2.23 for a 55 oz. box. This came to .17 cents per batch. I calculated how much per oz (2.23 divided by 55) and then weighed a half cup of washing soda (4.2oz.) and multiplied my per oz. price by 4.2 cents. Borax: $3.27 for a 76 oz. box. This came to .14 cents per batch. Did the same calculations as above, however a 1/2 cup of borax weighs 3.5 oz. For the final numbers I have .40 + .17 + .14 = .71 for 2 gallons of laundry detergent. Two gallons translates to 64- 1/2 cup portions and .71 divided by 64 = .01109, etc... or about .01 cent a load! Happy Laundry Soap Making!!! Homemade Laundry Soap Questions (UPDATE as of 2007)I am going to attempt to give a few answers here to the most often asked questions on this laundry detergent as I get way too many emails on this for me to answer individually anymore._ If you don't see your question answered here I suggest you visit my forum <http://homemakershomestead.com/smf/index.php> and see if you can find the answers there. One question I often get is whether or not you can use the laundry soap in HE (High Efficiency) machines. First, what I share on this site is from my own personal experience. I don't have an HE machine so I don't have any personal experience to share with you on this. I have had many ladies with HE machines email me or mention on my boards that they have HE machines and they use this soap and they don't have problems. The consistency of the soap is another common question. I have answered but will attempt to be more clear. It will be a liquid gel.. or a liquid with bits of gel in it or as some ladies have described it: Egg Noodle Soup consistency. If it is more or less gelled it still works.. if it did not gel at all, next time add more soap. Some ladies have said they add the whole bar of Fels Naptha.. play around with the recipe until you get the results you desire. I occasionally get emails from ladies telling that the soap did not clean badly soiled or smelly clothes well.. I find the soap works fine for every day dirt and grime.. if I have extra dirty clothes then I will often add a scoop of Oxyclean to the load Some ladies have found that they like a little extra cleaning boost to the recipe so they double the amount of borax and washing soda.. this only very mildly effects the cost and may help if you feel you need that. Radiating UNCONDITIONAL LOVE & Truth To ALL who share our circle, our universe, our love, our trust. May I always be found worthy. Gratitude & Thankfulness to All of Us aSoaringHawk Look at everything as though you were seeing it either for the first or last time. Then your time on earth will be filled with joy & glory. Thank you for YOU! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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