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not going back to commerical detergent

15K views 62 replies 37 participants last post by  onencgirl 
#1 ·
I made homemade laundry detergent and I am so happy with it that I am not going back to commerical detergent again.
I can already tell that I have saved $$ cause I usually buy detergent every month. Well, 2 months have gone and I still have lots of my homemade laundry detergent. It has gotten out old stains.
I used the following:
1 bar Fels Naptha grated
2 cups of Borax
2 cups of Washing soda.

I use it as a powder. Keep it in a container. I used 2 tablespoons for my top loader washing machine.
I use white vinegar in my rinse cycle.
I am a nurse and get some "weird" stains.....blood, urine, poop, vomit, and anything else when it comes to working in the ER.
My uniforms look great.
 
#36 ·
I am bumping this post because it has almost been a year when I declared no more commercial soap.
I am still making my own soap. I make a lot of it so I don't run out. My clothes are soft, clean and no odors. I have no fading and my clothes don't look dingy or old looking. I will continue to make it. Also, my daughter in college only uses this HM laundry detergent.
I have saved a lot of $$ as I don't need to go down that laundry aisle anymore.
 
#37 ·
I have always used powder and then made it into a liquid right before I did laundry. I finally made a batch of liquid. I am loving it. It is so nice to just do a load of clothes and not worry about making sure the soap is made into a liquid. I bought some bayrum essential oil and I am thinking of adding a few drops to the next batch of laundry soap to make it smell way yummy.
 
#40 ·
I did 4 loads of laundry yesterday with the powder hm soap and i was very pleased with how everthing came out didn't use no bleach in towels and wash rags and they actually looked cleaner then when i use bleach and store bought detergent.My daughter had tried it out on greasy clothes that friend had wore to work and was well pleased with how it got the grease out.I have probably a year supply of store bought but i will alternate between that and hm until i use it all up.
 
#42 ·
Oh & another thing that I thought I'd mention...the biggest difference that I've found between using the powdered vs. the liquid.

The liquid is already dissolved, so it's easier to use, for me, in cold water.

But then again, the powdered is soo much easier to store & use, so using my "running hot water till it's dissolved" technique works just fine for me. It only takes me a couple mins. longer so it's not a big deal really.

What kind of containers are folks using for the powdered? I'm finding that mine can get kinda 'clumpy' before I'm able to use it all up, I make a double batch each time.
Right now I'm keeping mine in a left-over, take-out, plastic, Chinese soup container.
 
#43 ·
So this is my version.

I use an Ivory soap bar-it's cheap and I have a baby and a kid with eczema so scents are not a necessity for me. I make the bar into a powder by-NOT grating it, but MICROWAVING it. Microwaving dries out the bar and makes it puff up into a big cloud. Then I just rub chunks of the puff between my palms and voila! Powder! You cannot do this with bars heavy on the moisturizers. Please note-it does powder very fine. use a mask if the dust bothers you or I powder it in a bag now. Seems to do the trick.

I use:
1 bar Ivory soap, powdered
1 cup Borax
1 cup Washing Soda
1 cup Oxy Clean
1 cup baking soda (I used cloth diapers and found this to be helpful-you can buy a huge bag at Sam's for fairly cheap!)

use 2 Tbs for a reg load.
Obviously, you can double, triple, etc to suit your needs. I usually just make a batch very 6 weeks (family of 5, and with a baby, I tend to wash clothes all day long it seems)

Happy Washing!
 
#46 ·
I've seen this "method" mentioned around Pinterest...the microwaving the Ivory soap bar, that is.
Those pictures amaze me everytime I see one...lol.

Thank-you for sharing your take on it...I love seeing the different variations, especially the addition of the baking soda.
I've been known to add some into my water before but never really thought about just adding some into my mix. I like using it for those stinky kitchen dish towels...oh & socks!:toothy:
 
#45 ·
I stored the dry laundry detergent in a large washed out peanut butter container.

My liquid laundry detergent goes in an old 5 gallon bucket that had paint in it and an old kitty litter bucket. I bought a bunch of cheap landry detergent for the bottles. Once they are empty, I plan on putting the homemade in the bottles to keep in the house and store the buckets in the garage. The bottles will fit on the shelf and they look nicer. The buckets took up "real estate" in my tiny kitchen and looked junky.
 
#48 ·
I tried making the homemade detergent one time, and me & dh broke out in a rash! (We rarely have skin issues) I have an idea it was the Fels-Naptha. Maybe I will try the recipe again, but with Ivory or Zote.

I was also considering making it just to stretch the store bought detergent, by mixing it together.

I'm currently trying a 'cheap' brand detergent instead of a pricier brand. Any opinions on how these stack up? I think what I bought is Xtra. We used to use Tide or Gain.
 
#53 ·
I use Dr Bronners in mine or my homemade organic soap. Love the homemade dry mix I make. :)
 
#51 ·
Interesting thread.

Had thought about making homemade detergent but I don't have the room to store (only have a laundry closet) and I live alone and only do about 4 loads per week. Don't want to invest in making soap and not like it or not have it work and for how much saved for a single person over the course of the year?

I do use a cheaper brand like Purex or Sun or something like that. I do use the Sun Oxyclean. I get good results with these and they are SO MUCH CHEAPER than Tide.

Any thoughts on if this is smart for me to do moneywise? I really don't want to invest in making soap if it's not going to save me that much.

Thanks.
 
#55 ·
Well as for not wanting to invest in spending the extra money to try it out...I can completely understand this.

But I thought that I would mention that both the Borax & Washing Soda can just be added to your regular laundry detergent to 'boost' it's washing abilities.
Also I believe that Borax can also be used to clean other areas around your house, other than just laundry.

As for the Fels-Naptha or Zote, both of these bars can be used for stain treatments directly on the fabrics.
I've read that alot of people just keep a bar of these for that particular reason.

So in other words if you buy the items and make a small batch & then realize that you don't care for it, you can always use up the ingredients for other applications. Just another thought to consider.:ponder:
 
#52 ·
I started to make my own again but I switched to Zote. Fels naptha was making our sensitive areas burn! I find that Zote gets the clothes much cleaner. I use a whole bar and one cup each of the borax and washing soda. I fill one laundry soap bottle and then pour my excess into rinsed out cat litter jugs for storage. That way when I start to get low on soap, I have a clean bucket to make more. I have also added some essential and fragrance oils and I find that fragrance oils leave more scent than essentials do.
 
#56 ·
#59 ·
I did this for a while and noticed that my clothes were smelly. It seems to work better if you are using hot water as opposed to cold. Since, I use mostly cold water on my laundry except for my sheets and towels, I use the cheapest brand I can find in the largest amount and I use the homemade laundry soap as a "booster." It works great together. No smelly laundry and everything is very clean.
 
#60 ·
I've been making my own laundry soap for years. The formula is 1 bar grated Fels Naptha 1 cup Borax and 1 cup washing soda. Never had a problem with odors in my laundry, even the dh's gym clothes come out clean and I only wash in cold water. If you do 2 cups of the borax and washing soda it may be too diluted. You also need to allow for proper agitation and don't overfill the washer. This formula is non sudsing so the clothes need to have room to move around. When my college aged son overfills the washer, his clothes don't come out clean.
 
#61 ·
I used to make the liquid but the last couple of times I have made powder. I have tried different fabric softener options and have now started buying the purex crystals in Lavender. I make up a large batch of detergent as in 5 bars of fels napta, a box of borax, a box of washing soda, and a large bottle of purex crystals. It is supposed to be enough for a year, but my husband gets so dirty at work I have to add more than 2 Tbsp. for his work clothes--about 1/2 cup. Anyway, I am more than pleased. It cost me about 21.00 to make about 6 + months worth. I don't think that is two bad considering the price of most detergents.
 
#62 ·
This thread is interesting. I actually bought stuff to make the homemade detergent a few years ago but never did. I had read several of the same reviews.... it works well at first then laundry gets smelly and not clean. After reading this though maybe it was because they put to much laundry in the machine at once. I also read it could mess up your front loader and since I had a new one I didn't want to chance it.( I won't get another front loader, It is no better than my top loader was)

I recently bought a 4 gallon bucket of Charlies powdered laundry soap for 114.99, no shipping and no tax. It does 1250 loads so will last the 2 of us around 3 1/2 years. I love charlies and I usually use the 1 tbs recommended( our clothes don't get really dirty ). Also, you do not need fabric softner ( not that I used it anyways ) I was surprised after a few months of using it my clothes and towels really did feel soft. According to charlies that is because traditional detergents do not rinse all the way out and leave a buildup. After using charlies for awhile all the buildup is gone and you have soft, clean clothes.

If you want to try charlies I recommend getting the small size ( around 10 dollars ) to see if you like it. That is what I did.
 
#63 ·
I love, love, love Charlie's soap. I've used it for years. I did try homemade but nothing works like Charlie's. You are right that no softener is needed. I order mine from Amazon and it's delivered right to my door. I get the smaller size, it lasts my dd and myself a long time. I spend app. $25 a year on this. Not bad for a years worth of laundry soap. For stains I use Oxydol.
 
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