Clean All the Clothes!

Saturdays are usually laundry day. I know it works for some to keep up on it throughout the week and do a load a day... not for me. I do about 5-6 (sometimes 7) loads on Saturday. They get clean. Folding is a different story ;)

For almost a year now I've been making my laundry detergent. You may remember my post when I first started making powdered detergent. I thought it would be less work than doing liquid/gel detergent with the process of cooking and cooling and 5 gallon buckets and whatnot. Not true. I have found that the liquid kind is soooo much easier to make than the powdered, at least if you are like me and don't have a food processor. I would spend about an hour grating or chopping the soap super finely. My washer apparently doesn't like powder, either, because I would occasionally find clumps of it throughout the clothes. A new washer and dryer is on my list of things to get in the next five years, but probably not for a while. So I decided to give in and try a liquid version. I tried a Dawn dish soap version I found on One Good Thing by Jillee. It was super easy to make (and cheap) but after just one batch of it I could tell it was cheap. Dish soap was not made for clothes. I could tell it was taking a toll on my laundry. It wore on the fabric and made them seem very dull. So I ditched that kind as well. I had only one option left: liquid.

How did I not know it was so easy?? All of the pins I had found would seem like long, complicated processes. It's not. I read through a bunch and kind of developed my own recipe. I only make about 3-64oz containers at a time instead of 3 gallons or so. Each container lasts us at least over a week, sometimes two, using about 1/2 cup in each load. It gets our clothes clean without damaging them. It's easy, natural, and very cost effective!

Economical breakdown:

Fels Naptha bar soap ($1): 2 batches - $0.50 each batch
Washing soda (55 oz box for $4): 13 batches - $0.30 each batch
Borax (76 oz box for $3): 19 batches - $0.16 each batch
*exact prices may vary ;)

About $1 for a month's worth of laundry soap!

Today was my third batch of liquid, and it definitely is the best that I've tried by far! Here is the recipe that I concocted from reading other various recipes. What I've learned is it's really not so much about the amounts or the process you use; if it works for you, then it works!

Liquid Laundry Detergent:

1/2 bar laundry soap
6ish cups of water
*Dissolve/melt soap in water in largeish pot over mediumish heat while stirring.
1/2 cup Borax
1/2 cup washing soda
*Add after soap has dissolved. If you add before then, I've found that it takes a little longer for the soap to dissolve. Not a big deal if you have more than 15 minutes to throw this together.
*Let cool in pot. It will become gelatinous.
*Once cool, transfer to containers, divided evenly, using a funnel and a measuring cup or whatever.
*Add water to fill containers. Shake it up! Over time, ingredients may separate naturally, just shake before adding to the load.