Dirty Laundry

“Now they show you how detergents take out bloodstains, a pretty violent image there. I think if you've got a T-shirt with a bloodstain all over it, maybe laundry isn't your biggest problem.Maybe you should get rid of the body before you do the wash.” ~Jerry Seinfeld


I made my own laundry detergent. I know, I know... wipe that confused look off your face and let me explain a few reasons why. (then I will show you how I did it!)

I am a little obsessed (that word might be a TAD strong, but not by much) with a wonderful family by the name of Duggar. If you haven't heard, they are the family with 18 kids, and one on the way. They have a TLC tv show called "18 kids and counting" . It's on my DVR. Poor Cameron is so patient with me. He sits there every week and watches this crazy family do crazy things. I think he's starting to enjoy it, but he will never admit to it! About a year ago, I posted a recipe that I learned from the Duggars that involved ice cream sandwiches. I have made this dessert for many, many people and they all love it! It's super easy too. Well, one of the things I admire most about this family is the fact that they are totally 100% debt free. That's awesome considering the size of their family, and the quality and size of their home! They have a lot of tricks to cutting costs, and one of them is making their own laundry detergent. You can imagine how much laundry they have to do for 20 people! That just sends chills down my spine just thinking of it! I saw them make the laundry soap on one episode long ago and it has been in the back of my mind ever since. Then one day while browsing their website, I came across their recipe for the laundry soap. They mentioned that it cost them about 5 dollars to make, and lasts their family of 20 6 months or so!

Whoa.
I don't know about you, but I get a little depressed when I have to fork out 15 bucks for a stupid 48 load bottle of Tide.

I was skeptical. They looked like they had clean clothes on tv, but how did they smell? Maybe they were a stinky family. I did some more research. Come to find out, a LOT of people do this! Who knew? (not me, obviously) People were saying how well it worked. One girl in 7th grade made this stuff for a science project and compared it to Tide. She put beet juice, grass stains and dirt on two white shirts and washed them in both detergents. The homemade one worked better! Hmm. Is it worth 5 of my hard-earned dollars to try? You bet it is. I'm cheap. I like to home-make things. This is right up my ally.

Here is how I did it, just in case you are as cheap as me.
This only took 10 minutes or so to make, and it actually smells pretty good. It smells soapy. I read that you can add 10-15 drops of essential oils to it too. I might do that next time.

I went to my friendly neighborhood Winco to buy these three items: Borax, Washing Soda, and Fels-Naptha bar soap. These were all in the laundry detergent isle. The Borax and washing soda were just a couple of dollars per box, and I only use a cup and a half of a cup, so these will last me a long time. The Fels-Naptha was a dollar. I will have to buy this when I make another batch because I use the whole bar.

You have to start out by grating the bar of soap. I have a handy-dandy salad shooter. It took me 10 seconds to grate it into a sauce pan. It looked like cheese.

See? Mmmm.. cheese. Too bad it smells like soap!

Now you add hot water. Just enough to cover it will do. Now put it on low-medium low heat and stir it until it melts. Make sure there are no chunks.

This is what it looks like when it's melted. Smooth and foamy.

Now. Get a 5 gallon bucket with a lid. Add 1 cup of the washing soda to the bucket, and 1/2 cup of the borax. Add the hot liquid to that and stir until it's dissolved. Then add hot tap water until the bucket is full. Mine was a few inches below the top because I didn't want to spill it when I carried it. Stir it well and cover it. Now let this sit overnight until it turns into a goopy gelatinous goo. Put it in empty detergent bottles, or a clean milk jug. For front loading washers, add 1/2 cup to your wash. For top loaders, 1 cup.

Wasn't that easy? It was a good day. (not a good hair day though)