To reiterate the recipe that can be easily found all over the net:
(Powdered Version)
1/2c. Borax
1c. Washing Soda
1 bar Fells Naptha grated fine
Sparing you the mechanics of the math (because I honestly don't remember how she did it :-p), the proportion comes out to 4t. powdered mix to one quart of the hottest water you can get out of your faucet. Stir til dissolved and let set 8 hours or overnight. Viola! You have a mini batch of home made laundry soap that (at 1/4c.-1/2c. per load depending on load size) is quick to make, convenient (the night before your regular laundry day), space saving and most importantly can be kept out of reach of curious little boys and their bugs, and tipsy toddlers!
And being hormonally forgetful as I am right now Ive actually made a weaker version of 2t. per quart and not really have a whole lot of difference on how well it works. In my 1/2 gallon pickle jar I usually put 5-10t. and have it come out wonderful. Really couldn't handle the snotty look at first when I forgot to stir it before pouring a bit into my quart jar and it just about made me loose it. Am going to try adding some essential oils to it here soon, and am excited about being able to change the scent of the mixture whenever I want, as I wouldn't be stuck with 5 gallons of a smell I or my family couldn't tolerate.
So I hope this helps with those of you that have space issues, or children issues and have been looking for a solution.
Happy washing!
I have looked everywhere and can not find borax or washing soda. Any ideas?
ReplyDeleteI found both at walmart in the laundry isle along with the fels naptha
DeleteI find all 3 side by side on the top shelf of the laundry isle at Fred Meyer.
DeleteI can find it at my local grocery store. Walmart hasn't carried it in a long time. If you do a quick search online, Im sure you will come up with some source. I do know that it is available for a reasonable price at Lehmans.com. In fact they sell a whole "kit" to make it including the bucket.
ReplyDeleteIs there anything i can use in place of Fells Naptha soap? Every time i go out to find it everyone is sold out.
ReplyDeleteI have regular powder laundry detergent, can I use this instead?
Zote--at Kmart.
DeleteI've seen Ivory Soap used, as well as ZOTE soap. The Walmart here in Charleston used to carry ZOTE, but no longer. I know Krogers in town here is the only place I can find it locally as well, and they were out the last time I looked too.
ReplyDeleteIs that 4 tsp. or 4 Tbsp? Thanks for sharing this, I too was trying to figure out where I was going to put a huge amount of liquid soap!
ReplyDeleteThat would be teaspoons. Glad I could help out- sure saves space!
ReplyDeleteGreat idea! Your recipe uses half as much borax as mine and that may be a better way to go. By the way, Dr Bronner's bar soap works fantastic, and it smells wonderful- great for stinky loads like diapers. Any Castile soap would be a fine replacement.
ReplyDeleteI use Octagon bar soap instead of the Fels. Works great and I like the smell, sort of lemongrassy.
ReplyDeleteI live aboard a 27-foot sailboat and there's not a lot of storage space. I grate the soap on a small food grater dedicated to this purpose. The washing soda and borax are stored in plastic containers to keep them nice and dry. Thanks for the smaller recipe! Believe me, 5 gallons of anything takes up too much space, even wine. ;-)
I am so glad you posted this I am also short on space and was hoping someone else had done the math for me ; )
ReplyDeleteAlso you can use homemade soap in place of store bought, I like to use the bits left over from plain castille soap i make...sometimes scented, sometimes not.
If anyone s still looking for bars of soap I found it in a few places here in California, Walmart here is now carrying all the ingredients ( and cheaper than anywhere else).....
ReplyDeleteFloyd's carried the ingredients too but a little more expensive but it is what I bought for a year before Walmart began to carry it recently.
Last but not least Winco and Foods Co carried it a while ago, I am not sure about recently as I shop there once every few months ( bulk section in winco rocks).
I use both fels ( for family clothes) and zote for hubbies work clothes. I do this because I dislike the smell of zote when I put it into the washer and one big bar of zote does the same anout as 3 bars of fels napthsa. I am going to try the ivory soap, someone said to change your bars of soap occasionally, so for a change I am going to try ivory this next time I make a batch. I am still looking for castile soap cause you can use that to make dish soap and the recepi I borrowed from another site supposingly make it awesome....
I use my homemade lavender/olive oil soap and it works fine. I also add a bit more Lavender e.o. for more scent. And......you can make your own washing soda, sodium carbonate, from baking soda (sodium bicarbonate)
ReplyDeleteJust place the amount of baking soda, plus a couple of Tbsp, you need in a cake pan in the oven for one hour at 225*.(the volume decreases while in the oven) Stir 3-4 times and it converts into sodium carbonate !! One less item to purchase !!!
I found borax and wash soda at Pick N Save.
ReplyDeleteHow much of this liquid detergent do you add per load? I have a top loader. I read other websites that said 1/2 - 5/8 cup per load. At that rate this quart {or 1/2 gallon} wouldn't last much longer than a week or two at our house.
ReplyDeleteI use about a 1/2 cup for regular more if it is my husbands soiled work clothes. This works well for us. I might not add so much if I'm using the stain remover that adds more "soap" and the ammonia to the wash, especially if I've treated several pieces heavily.
DeleteDo you have problems with this getting hard in dry form? I tried something similar for dishwasher soap and now I have a solid block that I am going to have to see about cutting into blocks somehow, lol! This recipe had borax,washing soda and citric acid. I used LemiShine instead. Anyway if this gets hard like that I'm not sure I want to make it unless I do it all in liquid form all at once.
ReplyDeleteI don't do up but one bar of the Fels at a time on my fine grater with the borax and washing soda. I keep it in an old pickle jar with a lid. I keep mine in the bathroom, but I've never had any problems with it getting hard in any way. Perhaps it is being exposed to heat or excess moisture? How are you storing it? Maybe we can figure this out for you.
ReplyDeleteSorry for getting back to you so late. I checked here alot at first then forgot I posted till the other day, lol. I stored it in a large cottage cheese container that I had saved. Plastic. And that maybe was the problem. Also I did use the Lemishine (I use it normally to keep the film off of things) because it is also made with citric acid. Maybe not though because I saw where someone else had the same problem and cut it up to use. Believe it or not I couldn't find citric acid around here, they had some other product with the canning supplies that I was not familiar with and instead of waiting and ordering online I used the other.
ReplyDeleteHow much of this would you use in a front loading high efficiency washer?
ReplyDeleteif you live in the Northeast, I found all the ingredients (assuming you are ok with using Ivory soap) at our Market Basket for really cheap!! $3.69 for Borax, $2.69 for washing soda and I bought a super small pack of Ivory for $1.29. This will be my first attempt at making the detergent so thank you so so much for the small batch size!
ReplyDelete