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Duggars Laundry soap recipe:

113K views 91 replies 60 participants last post by  nuisance26 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
TIPS FOR LAUNDRY SOAP: We use Fels-Naptha bar soap in the homemade soap recipes, but you can use Ivory, Sunlight, Kirk's Hardwater Castile or Zote bars. Don't use heavily perfumed soaps. We buy Fels-Naptha by the case from our local grocer or online. Washing Soda and Borax can normally be found on the laundry or cleaning aisle. Recipe cost approx. $2.
Amazon.com: Dial Corp. 04303 Fels-Naptha Laundry Bar Soap: Health & Personal Care@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/417g9IgWY0L.@@AMEPARAM@@417g9IgWY0L

Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap- Front or top load machine- best value

4 Cups hot tap water
1 Fels-Naptha soap bar
1 Cup Washing Soda
½ Cup Borax

- Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.

-Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.

-Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water. Shake before each use. (will gel)

-Optional: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons. Add once soap has cooled. Ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil.

-Yield: Liquid soap recipe makes 10 gallons.

-Top Load Machine- 5/8 Cup per load (Approx. 180 loads)

-Front Load Machines- ¼ Cup per load (Approx. 640 loads)



Powdered Laundry Detergent- Top load machine

1 Fels-Naptha soap bar
1 Cup Washing Soda
½ Cup Borax

-Grate soap or break into pieces and process in a food processor until powdered. Mix all ingredients. For light load, use 1 Tablespoon. For heavy or heavily soiled load, use 2 Tablespoons. Yields: 3 Cups detergent. (Approx. 40 loads)





Inexpensive Fabric Softener Recipes

Recipe #1
1 Cup White Vinegar
Add vinegar to rinse cycle. Works great. Removes residue and odors. Also helps to keep washing machine and hoses fresh and clean too.

Recipe #2

1 Container of Name Brand Fabric Softener
4 Inexpensive sponges, cut in half

Pour entire container of softener into a 5 gallon bucket. Fill empty softener container with water twice. (2 parts water to 1 part softener) Add sponges to softener/water mixture. When ready to use wring out extra mixture from one sponge and add to the dryer as you would a dryer sheet.
 
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#28 ·
-Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water. Shake before each use. (will gel)



I don't understand that sentence. My soap dispenser is in my washer, so how can I add water and SHAKE? Is it suppose to say laundry soap jug?
 
#33 ·
I am getting ready to try and make my own laundry and dishwashing soap I hope everything goes well I will post my results after I try it with a few loads
 
#35 ·
2 days ago I made the Duggars Laundry soap and have done 5 loads of laundry 1 whites and 4 colors, (the clothes were left on the back porch :fuming: while I was in Colorado for my hubby's adopted mothers funeral:weeping:) the kids forgot to let the dogs out or clean the cat boxes so unfortunately for me the animals used the back porch as the potty room so the clothes were really bad, I thought that they would not be able to save them but I made the soap and and washed the clothes :laundry: and they all came out completely clean and smelled great my dh and roommate could not believe how well the clothes came clean and smelled great, I could not believe how well it worked it did better then the Era that I had bought, I have a front loader so I have to buy the expensive HE soap. I used about 1/3 of cup instead of 1/4 because of how dirty the clothes were I am going to try and use the 1/4 cup on the regular laundry. my DH figured out the cost to be 3 loads for a penny which is great I can't believe that something that cost so little to make really works better then the expensive stuff. I am doing a happy dance:fdance: right now. Now I am going to try and make the dish washer soap (my next big expense beside diapers) going to cloth soon, I think the next time I make a batch of the laundry soap I am going to try a different type of bar soap, maybe one I have on hand instead of buying one. Sorry for the long post but I am just so happy I wanted to let everyone know how well it worked and it took me only about 10 minutes to make so time wise it is worth it.(IMO).
 
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#37 ·
Hi

When I went to buy my front loader the salesperson told me I had to buy h/e soap and I said then I wasn't going to buy it because I had too much laundry soap at home. He then checked the book and said I could use 1/2 of regular soap to wash my clothes. I've been doing it for over 4 years and have had no problem. Just thought I'd let you know or any other person reading this if they wanted to know
 
#39 ·
Sorry this may be a dumb question but what is the difference between the borax and washing soda? I always thought borax was washing soda, and the people at the store didn't know what either one was.
 
#40 ·
borax is more like a stain remover while washing soda can be used for cleaning many things I used both when i made the soap but add a little more Borax because I have kids that have lots of stains You can also add some baking soda to help with odors on cloths that is how I understand that difference.
 
#42 ·
I just read though this recipe again preparing for a new batch of homemade laundry detergent and I wanted to try this recipe, anyway, this might be a stupid question and maybe I'm just reading it wrong but how can the liquid soap recipe that is made in a 5 gallon bukcket yield 10 gallons?
 
#44 ·
Okay, so the one recipe makes 2 5 gallon buckets? I must have missed that in the directions.

Thanks,
Polly
 
#46 ·
I tried buying everything and could not find the washing soda and when i found it on line with shipping it was cheaper for me to buy brand name laundry soap. But i did find at the dollar tree laundry soap, i been using that with there fabric softener and dryer sheets and this works great clothes aren't fading and smell nice.
 
#47 ·
-Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water. Shake before each use. (will gel)

This it were to says to fill the jug it just says dispenser after you make it take an old laundry jug fill it half way add water to fill and you now make it into 10 gallons, it was a little confusing I have used the soap right out to the bucket I made it in when I have had really bad dirty smelly cloths you just use like 1/8th a cup a little more depending on how dirty. I found the washing soda at our local chain grocery store. I love this stuff it works great and DH figured that it cost just 1 penny for 3 loads now that's cheap.
 
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#48 ·
We made this at a ladies meeting at church. Everyone loves this detergent.
A few other tips: Many bakeries (especially Wal-Mart and Sams) will give you their empty 5 gallon buckets that icing comes in for free. Just ask.
Also, Lowes will give you the extra long, strong wooden paint stir sticks if you ask. I keep one hanging in the laundry room for this project.
 
#49 ·
time savers for this laundry soap recipe...

first, my arm gave out half way through grating the fels-naptha... so i heated it in the microwave for about 15 to 30 seconds and it was warm and soft. it grated like a dream.

secondly, i decided to make the powdered version (to save on lifting and storage space). when i mixed all the ingredients the grated soap seemed to stay on top. i couldn't picture getting an even mix of the three ingredients. i had mixed it in a large, tall pickle jar. i then attacked it with my hand blender. i blended all sides of the jar. this turned my mixture into an even powdery consistency. it is staying uniformly mixed now. hope that helps!
 
#52 ·
first, my arm gave out half way through grating the fels-naptha... so i heated it in the microwave for about 15 to 30 seconds and it was warm and soft. it grated like a dream.

secondly, i decided to make the powdered version (to save on lifting and storage space). when i mixed all the ingredients the grated soap seemed to stay on top. i couldn't picture getting an even mix of the three ingredients. i had mixed it in a large, tall pickle jar. i then attacked it with my hand blender. i blended all sides of the jar. this turned my mixture into an even powdery consistency. it is staying uniformly mixed now. hope that helps!
That's a good idea about heating it in the microwave. I experienced the same thing with arm giving out while grating the bar Ivory soap I use in place of the fels-naptha. So I just put it through the food processor and that works well for me.
 
#50 ·
~I made some detergent, using this liquid recipe and started using it the first week of April. I was unsure if one Zote bar was equal to a Fels Naptha bar since the FN is a much smaller bar(5.5oz) so I guessed they were equal products bar to bar not ounce to ounce. I made 1/5 a recipe since I only had a one gallon jug to store the jelled concentrate.

3oz grated Zote(bars are 14oz)
1/5 cup washing soda
1.5 TB borax
6.5 ounces water

I am very, VERY happy with it. It smells great, cleans great and is even cheaper than the loss-leader bottles I used to buy.
I didn't think this recipe would save me money since I was using just 4 bottles of detergent a year that I generally purchased for $1.50-2 each($6-8 yearly cost for about 260 loads).
But after buying my ingredients at Walmart(washing soda $3 box, borax $7 box and Zote $1)and figuring how many batches I could get out of them, I discovered that it costs less than $.01 a load(X 260 loads= $2.60 yearly cost projected) for the homemade detergent. The savings may seem small but other advantages are less shopping, hauling, plastic bottle waste, dyes, perfumes and chemicals.
I highly recommend that people try this recipe!~
 
#90 ·
~I no longer have a gallon jug to use these proportions. I do have two of the standard 75oz jugs they put out now. 75 ounces is .6 of 128 ounces/gallon so here's the way I will make enough concentrate for one jug:
.6 ounces grated Fels Naptha(or 1.8 ounces Zote)
1/8 cup washing soda
1 TB Borax
4 ounces water
Cost? $.30!~
 
#51 ·
Made laundry detergent last weekend. Pathmark carries washing soda. That is where we found it. Got the borax at Whole Foods a few years ago. It was cheap 1 or 2 dollars. I used dove soap because I have allergies and eczema. So far, so good. The recipe I found online said use the soap you have. Making it was fun and not hard at all. I would do it again.
 
#53 ·
never thought about using an Ivory soap bar. Any reason why using Fels Naptha would be that much better?
 
#54 ·
None that I'm aware of. I chose to use the Ivory instead of the Fels Naptha because I have extremely sensitive skin. And I'm very satisfied with the way the Ivory works. I figure as long as it's soap, it probably doesn't matter all that much.....kind of like how there are several different varieties of laundry soaps on the store shelves, kwim?
 
#55 ·
Perfect timing for this since I am almost out of laundry detergent and out of Fels Naptha, but have a good supply of Ivory Soap bars!!
 
#57 ·
Is anyone having an issue with keeping 100% cotton white garments bright? I don't think this soap is to blame as I had this issue when I used Tide as well. Any tips on how to keep white clothes bright?
 
#58 ·
Use bluing. Bright white clothes actually have blue dye in them. The more you wash the clothes, the more you wash the blue dye out. You can buy bluing in the laundry area. I usually have to look for it. It is in a small blue bottle and is usually way up high or way down low. I use a few drops in the softener dispenser. Don't put it directly on the clothes or use a lot because it will stain.
 
#60 ·
I have quite a few laundry jugs but they are full. I've stocked up when I come across a sale. I think I'll keep the empties and then when I have 4 or 5, make a batch of the Duggar detergent. I'll start keeping an eye out for the ingredients. Save money and re-use laundry jugs? Sounds like a good idea to me!
 
#61 ·
Soap or detergent?

To Grainlady or anyone else who knows the answer,

I apologize in advance for being so thick headed. Are Zote and Fels Naptha soap or detergents? I live in a hard water area. I am concerned about the environment, saving money and clean clothes. If these laundry bars are detergent based will they work in cold water with my hard alkaline water supply? Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions.
 
#65 · (Edited)
To Grainlady or anyone else who knows the answer,

I apologize in advance for being so thick headed. Are Zote and Fels Naptha soap or detergents? I live in a hard water area. I am concerned about the environment, saving money and clean clothes. If these laundry bars are detergent based will they work in cold water with my hard alkaline water supply? Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions.
Yes these are petroleum based products, which you might not want to use .

I make my own recipe that works really well , with my own homemade soap or Dr. Bronners soap that has no petroleum base in it . I make a dry laundry soap as well as a liquid one. My clothes smell fresh, come out clean and I love because it has no chemicals in it. If you happen to do the dry laundry soap method, add one cup of salt ( I use sea salt or Real Salt) for hard water. Dr. Bronners soap or homemade is good for the environment, in reference to your question. My kids love the blend of laundry soap I make with either the lavender or peppermint, but you can use the baby soap for no fragrance and add your own essential oil for the smell. Hope that helps!

By the way there is an Fragrance oil that is made to smell like tide, that many soap makers use for their laundry soap.
 
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