This started as a lark. Something I read about on the Internet. Something for the very frugal, the very poor, or the very "crunchy". But still, I was curious. Would it work? Could I really make laundry detergent in the convenience of my own home with a few simple ingredients?
I certainly didn't NEED laundry detergent. I had recently horded about 4 large bottles of Tide. Still, I bought the ingredients and bided (wait is it bided? bid? well you know what I mean) my time...waiting anxiously to use up all of my Tide. I'll admit some days I used two capfuls per load...but hey, I was anxious to begin my experiment. Finally when the Tide was almost gone I made my first batch of laundry detergent-very loosely following a recipe I found on the Internet. Although I made a few mistakes the first time around, I have been using this homemade detergent for a few months now and I am very satisfied. Try it. It costs pennies a load, reduces landfill waste, and has no phosphates (at least I don't think so). A caveat; I have heard that with some water types (you know-hard and soft etc.) this detergent will not work-so if you have the opposite of whatever type of water we have-maybe you better stick with Tide.
To begin you will need to grate one bar of Fels-Naptha soap. I had never seen this soap before but I easily found it at Kroger (a grocery store). The smaller the "bits" of soap, the easier the next step will be-thus the grating.
Next-Fill a large stock pot about 1/3 full of water. Add the grated soap and heat on medium high until the soap is dissolved.
Stir it every now and then. It doesn't take too long-maybe 15 minutes.
Now you will need to add 2 cups each of Borax and Washing Soda. I have always used Borax so I had some already (it can be found at Target or Walmart). I had never seen Washing Soda before but I found it at Kroger.
When the soap is completely dissolved, take the pot off the heat and SLOWLY add the Borax and Washing Soda. If you add these ingredients too quickly the whole mixture will bubble up and spill all over the stove top. Not like I have ever done that! Stir well until the powder dissolves.
Now if you want to get fancy-add a few drops of food coloring to make it look "real" otherwise the soap will be a snotty yellow color.
Add enough cold water to bring the mixture near the top of the pot (but not so full that you can't lift the pot) and stir well.
Use a funnel to fill old detergent bottles with the detergent mixture. I would divide this recipe between 3 large detergent bottles. Then "top off" each bottle with water and give them a good shake (with the lid on of course). Let the bottles sit over night. The liquid will "gel" but it is a snotty, gooey looking, watery gel.
Use about a capful for each load. You can also add some essential oils if you prefer a "scented" detergent. Oh and it is a good idea to give the bottle shake before you use it.
There are many recipes floating around out there that use varying amounts of soap, Borax and washing soda-but this is a good starter recipe. Go ahead and give it a try-I'll bet Al Gore doesn't make his own detergent-so now you can feel all superior inside-you "green" person-you.
No comments:
Post a Comment