Your ideal laundry room + homemade soap q's

[marrymeflyfree]

We're redoing our smallish laundry room soon, and I want to be very thoughtful about it. I envision a space that is supremely efficient and practical, smartly contains everything I need to care for our clothes and linens, and looks good to boot. Sorry for the huge load of questions...I'm just kind of brainstorming the planning here. What's your dream laundry room like? What's your favorite laundry item? (Mine is my beloved sweater brick.) What, besides a maid or less of it, does or would make your laundry chores easier?

Do you loooooove your washer and dryer? Why or why not? (We are debating replacing our older machines.)

I'm also very intrigued with the idea of making my own laundry soap, but don't yet know a great deal about it. How do you make your's? How long does one batch last? Is it as effective (or better?) than the store-bought alternatives? Is it cheaper? Also, I use felted wool dryer balls in lieu of fabric softener...love it, but I could do without the static. What, if anything, do you to deter that?

Thanks - and once again, sorry for all of the questions!

[amber913]

My laundry soap is combine equal parts washing soda and borax. Then combine this mixture, equally, with grated soap. Use 2T./load. Works just fine for me.

You can also use 1/2c. vinegar as fabric softener.

Have fun designing your laundry room!

[Tangled Hill]

Vinegar works wonders as a fabric softener. I pour mine in a Downy ball and toss it in at the start. I vinegar!

I just bought my favorite laundry item last week - a steam iron from 1948. It's beautiful - stainless steel with a black handle. Uber-cool. And heavy! Now, I'm searching Etsy for a fabulous ironing board cover for my antique board.

[hillymum]

I use Charlies soap so no help to you on the laundry powder question. As to the laundry room I love my large capacity front loaders!! they are the reason why I only do about 7 loads of laundry a week with 3 kids and two messy dogs. I would love to have a large flat surface to fold/sort laundry on but thats not going to happen in this house. I would love a pull down drying rack suspended from the ceiling but that too isn't going to happen.