Ok, I have heard a lot about making your own laundry soap and I also know of a few people who do it. And I have to admit I am kinda a skeptic about the whole process, you see I really like my clothes and own a lot of colorful pieces. And the thought of a d.i.y version dimming my brights just didn't sit well with me. However I am willing to try most things at least once in my life. Plus this batch I found on Pinterest with all the ingredients only cost me roughly 20 bucks and states that it'll cover about 504 loads. That is about a years worth or more of washing in our tiny household. So sure, I will try it out.
First off I recommend purchasing the ingredients at Wal-Mart, they seem to know what people are planning to do with a bar of Fels-Naptha, all the ingredients for this batch are surrounded by it. Before I went to the store I was a little skeptical about finding Fels-Naptha as I had never heard of it. However Wal-Mart had it and if you can't find it Ivory soap is supposed to work well too.
Ingredients
1 box of super washing soda 3lb. 7 oz.
1 box of Borax 4lb. 12oz.
1 box of pure Baking Soda 4lb.
3 bars of Fels-Naptha 5.5oz. or you can use Ivory soap
1 container of Oxy-Clean 1.3lb.
* I opted out of this because I think my dryer sheets smell lovely but Purex Crystals 28oz. for scent.
First off I recommend purchasing the ingredients at Wal-Mart, they seem to know what people are planning to do with a bar of Fels-Naptha, all the ingredients for this batch are surrounded by it. Before I went to the store I was a little skeptical about finding Fels-Naptha as I had never heard of it. However Wal-Mart had it and if you can't find it Ivory soap is supposed to work well too.
Ingredients
1 box of super washing soda 3lb. 7 oz.
1 box of Borax 4lb. 12oz.
1 box of pure Baking Soda 4lb.
3 bars of Fels-Naptha 5.5oz. or you can use Ivory soap
1 container of Oxy-Clean 1.3lb.
* I opted out of this because I think my dryer sheets smell lovely but Purex Crystals 28oz. for scent.
Oh and don't forget the borax like I did. Got done grating my Fels-Naptha and realized I had forgotten it. I even took this lovely photo and it didn't dawn on me that something was missing. Had to head back to the store the next day.
*The first step is to grate you Fels-Naptha, I used a cheese grater but you can make this process a whole lot quicker and easier by using a food processor.
*Next grab a medium to large garbage bag, one that won't have any holes in it and pour each of the ingredients inside like so.
*Next grab a medium to large garbage bag, one that won't have any holes in it and pour each of the ingredients inside like so.
*Mix all ingredients well, if you have the option unlike myself throw some child labor in.
Then add it all to a container of your choice! Bow is optional :)
Keep in mind that this is about 18lbs. worth of detergent so make sure you have a container big enough on hand.
And now that your laundry soap is done you can began using it as soon as possible! I didn't really need to do a load at the time but couldn't wait to try this stuff out.
Now keep in mind that you only need 1-2 tablespoons of this stuff per load. It is super concentrated so if you use anymore you may end up with a suds room. As fun as that sounds it wouldn't be fun to clean up.. or would it..
It's now been about a month since I originally made this and we haven't had any problems yet. My brights are still bright and my whites are still white, I use bleach too. The scent is somewhat muted after washing but I use dryer sheets to fix that. And now I don't have to worry about buying laundry soap for about 9-12 months! So this Pinterest project was well worth it!
Keep in mind that this is about 18lbs. worth of detergent so make sure you have a container big enough on hand.
And now that your laundry soap is done you can began using it as soon as possible! I didn't really need to do a load at the time but couldn't wait to try this stuff out.
Now keep in mind that you only need 1-2 tablespoons of this stuff per load. It is super concentrated so if you use anymore you may end up with a suds room. As fun as that sounds it wouldn't be fun to clean up.. or would it..
It's now been about a month since I originally made this and we haven't had any problems yet. My brights are still bright and my whites are still white, I use bleach too. The scent is somewhat muted after washing but I use dryer sheets to fix that. And now I don't have to worry about buying laundry soap for about 9-12 months! So this Pinterest project was well worth it!