That's NOT good!

Thanks for the tip. I made the powdered detergent (easy peasy) and did one load. The clothes feel extra soft. I also made the liquid, but haven't tried it yet. Our Publix had all 3 ingredients.

Hi Lisa,
I comment to DH all the time how soft the clothes are. I hang everything out on the balcony and the towels are so soft. Where usually they would be stiff, they and the shirts, etc are very soft.
I know some people are having trouble finding everything, so hopefully Publix is a chain and people can get what they need.

Just this one thing, about letting the stuff dry on the clothes, we have to watch out for. Or letting it sit for days.

oh, jas, the stuff had set up, by the time I got back to it, after your reply email. I have it in a couple of buckets now, for storing. Didn't get around to doing a load of laundry, and tomorrow it's supposed to rain. Since I line dry my laundry, I guess I won't test it out till Sunday or Monday.

Moni

I am ready to make my second 5 gallon of laundry liquid soap. I have given it to all 3 of my daughters and they all like it. So far the only place I can find my ingredients has been Meijer and the washing soda and Borax at Marsh, but didn't find the Fels Naptha there. Thanks Jasdip!

Sue

Advice heeded! Thanks, jasdip...sorry you had to experience this boo-boo, but I guess everything new has a learning curve attached ;^)

I've given the liquid detergent to a few friends and my DS and his GF. Everyone comments on how soft the clothes feel and how clean they smell. We're all noticing that there is really no scent at all when they come out of the washer, just a very refreshing "non-scent" about them.

I made it also. I also used it as a pre-treater on my son's jeans, where he had kneeled down in the shop he works in and the knees of his jeans were full of a greasy residue. It didn't discolor them or bleach them out (I washed them right away). They came out cleaner than clean! I love this stuff. I have given the recipe to a couple of people and they love it too. I made mine a week ago and am getting ready to make another 5 gallon bucket. I have 5 people in my home that love it...and the fresh, clean scent. So much so, that everyone has washed everything (ok...that might be a slight exaggeration) they own. It gets 5 stars at our house.

I'm so glad my post didn't deter anyone from using it.

Moni, I'm sure you'll like/love it as much as everyone else. Another person who loves it is StoneyBaloney, who used it on her husband's work jeans that had tree sap and stains on them. Let us know how you make out.

Sue's been using it as she said and has her daughters using it as well. Several of my friends here use it regularly.

So perhaps the Borax is a bleaching agent, I don't know, but I still use it for stains but won't let it sit for days. There is no bleaching in the berber carpet where the cats like horking, so I firmly believe it's still save to use.

I collect empty laundry and fabric softener jugs out of the recyling bins and laundry rooms to pass on to people who need them. When I rinse the containers out, the smells are horrible to me. Some of the fabric softeners are gross!! Even the Arm and Hammer laundry detergent has a horrid smell.
I would hate to walk around smelling like that. Yep, the smell of this stuff can't be beat. Nothing is better than "clean."

Jasdip, I also can't stand the way that laundry detergent, fabric softener and most soap smell. I don't understand why people want to smell like that! Anyway, I haven't made my first bucket yet. I have all the stuff but we still have some laundry detergent to finish up first. I can't wait to try it, though! Maybe I'll go ahead and make a batch. It should keep!

Okay! I made my first batch of laundry detergent. I can't wait to try it tomorrow. I used the Fels Naptha soap because I couldn't find any other. It's sitting on the counter now until the last stage tomorrow.

Which do you prefer? Liquid or powder? The powder seems much easier to prepare.

I wonder how much you use in a load, if you make the powder? And I have a front loader.... wonder if it should be liquified before using? It does seem like it would be easier make & to store.

I made the liquid & have washed one load & was well pleased with it. Pretreated greasy gunk on 2 oven mitts (dh cooking) came out really well!

I may make the powder next time, but it will be a long time before I use up all the liquid detergent.

clue me in please. I missed the powder recipe

Moni

The recipe says you use 2 tablespoons of the dry.

I have everything but like Bigbaby still have some of my powder left but unlike Bigbaby I'm going to wait till I'm out to make mine.... heh.. maybe.

I imagine the washing soda is the culprit in the fading. It's a pretty strong alkali.. which is basically an acid, so the sitting gave it time to do bad things. Can't wait to use it. Like Viki's family we'll probably wash everything in the house too... lol..

Was it this?

Powdered Detergent

2 cups finely grated soap
1 cup washing soda
1 cup borax

1. Mix well and store in an airtight plastic container.

2. Use 2 tablespoons per full load.

Care2 has more on the wonderous cleaning power of washing soda, and TipNut
has a few more variations on the above recipes. Happy cleaning.

This was posted on another forum:

1 Large Bar Laundry Soap - 79 cents (found in the laundry detergent isle)
1 Box 20 Mule Team Borax - $2.99 per box (cost is 75 cents to use ¼ of the
box)
1 -4 pound bag of generic detergent (or Laundry Soap) - $2.99 per bag (cost
is 75 cents to use ¼ of the bag, if that much)
Food Processor OR Cheese Grater
Large mixing bowl
Measuring Cup

Directions:
In the large mixing bowl, measure 3 cups of generic detergent and 3 cups of
Borax.
Grate the whole bar of soap into small pieces. This sounds hard, but the
soap is very soft and easily grated. Place into the mixing bowl and mix all
ingredients well.

That is it! Now you have some very inexpensive laundry detergent to use.

I personally prefer the liquid because I only do my whites in powder. I usually get soap streaks on the dark clothes when I use powder. A friend of mine uses homemade powder on everything and she doesn't have any streaks of any kind. She uses the one posted.....2 parts grated soap and 1 part soda and borax.

I'm going to make some powdered as well, just because I like the homemade stuff so darned much. Love the liquid. It takes all of 10 minutes to make, so not difficult at all.

I have a huge box of Sunlight powder though, and also 4 jugs of XTRA liquid laundry detergent. I use the homemade liquid all the time, never think of using the purhased stuff.

Allright, I was skeptical that so few ingredients could yield so much detergent until I used it today. I'm on my 5th load of clothes. I began washing clothes today with only 2 loads and, well, after the results we keep finding more and more stuff that had become dingy and dull and we are on our 5th load of laundry! It does smell so fresh and things are super clean. It makes me wonder why, if laundry detergent could be made so inexpensively for such high quality, how much money have I wasted all these years on store-bought laundry soap?!!

It took me a LOT longer than 10 minutes to make the liquid detergent! Probably longer than 10 minutes to just "cook" the grated (I smashed mine in a plastic bag with a hammer) bar soap in hot water @ low to med heat. Mine didn't melt the best, & I found out this is due to our having hard water.

Then the next day I rounded up gallon (or so) jugs & measured my liquid to half fill the jug, then added water to fill up. It was messy, spills etc even using a funnel.

I suppose it's much quicker if you leave it all in the original 5 gallon bucket, but you'll need to remember to dilute it 1/2 & 1/2 when you use it. I preferred to have mine in smaller containers than a 5 gall. bucket.

I think commercial detergent must have a HUGE amount of "filler additives" to them, considering how small the amount of ingredients it takes to make this homemade version.

I just pour my liquid soap into whatever containers I have, like shortening containers with lids, they are plastic. I don't dilute it the second time, but just use 1/4 cup instead of a 1/2 cup that you use when it is diluted. I have a large funnel and set my empty milk jugs in the sink and fill them up. I am going to save my vinegar jugs too to put it in. I hope to make more this week. I didn't have any problem getting my Fels Naptha to melt. I used a stick free pan and a wooden spoon and stirred away until it was melted. Maybe it is because I grated mine on my grater the side I use to make cole slaw. I really like it.

Sue

OOPS! I missed out on the recipe. I think I'd rather use the liquid though since that is what I use now. Tide liquid to be exact. I do not like the smell of any fabric softener and after the washer has quit I run an extra rinse with white vinegar, this softens the clothes as well as removing the Tide smell, and no, my clothes don't smell like vinegar. Would anyone share their recipe for the liquid soap? I'd appreciate it.
Thanks,
Dee in Michigan

Here ya go Dee

Here is a link that might be useful: Homemade laundry detergent thread