The Laundry Soap Recipe! I know you've missed it

[LaLa]

Making your own laundry detergent:

grate a half bar of soap (I like to use a vegetable based soap)
put it in a pan with just enough water to cover it.
On low heat, until it melts

In a gallon bucket (ice cream pails work nicely!)
Fill with Hot water, mix in 1 Cup of Washing Soda (or baking soda, but baking soda won't give you the Gel like consistancy)
Mix well

Then add soap, stir, let sit overnight and viola!

I've tried this both ways, adding the soap first vs adding the soda first, and I like the gel I get from adding soda first. Play with it and let me know what you like! Also, different bar soaps make for a different consistancy.
My favorites so far have been Bean Tree Lavender and Earth Friendly Baby Lavender

[Corriander]

You are so sweet to post this again! I have been waiting for the the box of Tide to get used up so I can try this out.

[TripkeHughes]

washing soda

what is washing soda and where can I find it? I have been waiting to try this out. Thank you.

[LaLa]

I got arm and hammer washing soda at the grocery store. It was in the laundry detergent section. It was kind of hard to find. They didn't carry it at targer or the co-op. I found it at econo foods

[Sierra]

Thanks Lala

Lala, I just want to thank you for emailing me the recipe while the boards were down!! It took us a little bit of time to go out to a grocery chain to get the washing soda and the 3 gallon bucket with a lid to keep it in, but we finally made the soap the other night. We made the full batch rather than the half batch (is there an advantage to just doing half?), and when we run out of the commercial laundry soap we've been using (in about a day), we're gonna get started with this stuff! I can't wait!

BTW, I normally shop at a health food/co-op type store (from which we ordered the Earth Friendly Baby Soap) and a local, neighborhood like grocery store, but the washing soda is found in almost all chain grocery stores, I've found. In our area of the country, those are: Safeway, Albertsons, King Soopers, Fred Meyer (?I don't know if they carry it?), etc. It wasn't hard to find once I realized that I had to go to a bigger grocery store vs. my corner store. Also, as for what washing soda is, it is similar in composition to baking soda (but with more carbons?), but it does better with the water for washing, if I understand correctly. I believe it is also used in making tye die.

Sierra

[Lena]

Lala, the recipe I've been using calls for borax in addition to washing soda.

1 bar of soap, grated,
1/2 cup washing soda
1/2 cup borax
2 gal of water

But I remember reading on your Sleepingbean site not to use borax for washing cloth diapers-- is that right? DO you know something about borax that I am missing?

[LaLa]

I have read that borax, like bleach, breaks down the diaper fibers, shortening teh life of your dipes, but I wouldn't think that applies to using it as an ingredient in your homemade soap! That is probably more so for excessive use, but that is only my guess.



If it works and you like it, keep on using it!

[elnachick]

thanks for posting the recipe once more - I made my first batch about a month ago, I used a bar of Dr. Bronner's peppermint (not the liquid, the bar soap), washing soda, and had to use two old gallon sized pickle jars to mix it up in, but it worked - added soap to water before soda. Others in the household were skeptical but everyone's using it, no babes yet so I don't have the diaper test, but my partner's boxers are a pretty good test of its effectiveness - what a great feeling to be able to do something so simple on my own, no more expensive laundry soap for me! Next time we are trying the lemon bar of Dr. B's, to check out that fragrance. Peppermint smells minty while washing, but clothes just smell fresh when done, not minty. btw, we have very hard water and this works well.

[Ceili]

washing soda

If you are having trouble finding washing soda locally, you can buy it at http://grocery.com/

I looked all over in town and couldn't find it.

[Elphaba]

can you use liquid soap or must it be a bar? i just bought a giant bottle of dr. bronners and want to use it for everything.

[LaLa]

I don't know about the liquid soap. Try it and let us know!

[MamaDub]

I also love this recipe, it gets clothes clean and very soft. My only problem is that the wonderful smell almost completely disappears after the clothes come out of the dryer. I used a lemon verbena soap that I got at Trader Joe's and the wet clothes smell great. How can I keep that smell after the dryer? I don't use dryer sheets but I'm looking for an alternative. Are there any, for reducing static at least? I'm kind of tired of the sparks that fly off my kids blankets.

[LaLa]

Idealally, you should not smell a soap after it has been rinsed off. If you can, then there was too much fragrance. If you like an added smell on your linens, I would suggest a linen spray of floral water. You can make this if you have fresh aromatic flowers, or you can purchase it for little money at TJMax/Marshalls type stores.

[LaLa]

Just tried it with liquid bronners, and it never got gel like AT ALL. Just liquid. I'm still using it. In theory, it should work the same. Just different form.

[TripkeHughes]

We are running low on laundry soap so I made my list of ingredients and went on a search. So far I can't find the washing soda but I'm going back out again tomorrow. I am picturing it coming in a box like baking soda, hope that is right. We'll see

[Dancinmom]

my only question is once you have made it, how much do you use per load?

[LaLa]

I have a big ladel in my bucket, adn I use a ladel full per load (not quite a cup).

?

[Chanley]

I have issues with this.

Perhaps it is the container. I have a glass gallon size pickle jar. What I get is a thick ring of white chunks on top and when I mix it with the ladle, i get what appears to be curdled milk in water. Does this make sense???


Perhaps I should post some pics of this.

I hear you all talking about gel and I am not getting this but I WANT GEL!!! Not curdled milk.


any suggestions?

[elnachick]

ours is more like grits...

Chanley, we've made 3 batches to date, all using Dr. Bronner's bar soap and washing soda, adding the melted soap to the water b/4 the soda. The consistency of ours is about like slightly runny grits, when it is mixed up, but it still seems to work great. What I've found so far is that two things impact how it turns out - I need to stir the melting soap occasionally so it doesn't gell/glob together, and have the patience for it to melt (takes a long time, over an hour), second, hanging in there to stir and stir in the soda to get it as dissolved as I can, with only a very few tiny chunks visible. Also, using HOT water seems to help. My first batch was in gallon pickle jars, too. I have yet to achieve a good "gel" myself, but we're using the "grits" and it seems to do a great job!

edited to correct the spelling of "pickle"

[Mommy22B]

HELP!!!!!!

I tried it using just some Dial soap...The soap is globbed up into little chunks. and it has all risen to the top. ??? Did I do something wrong? Do i need some special kind of soap??? Is it okay to use it with the soap globs?