Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Gone Green...

Well, not completely.  
Maybe just a light shade of "green."

Hopefully by now you know how much I love to save money,  whether it's redoing furniture or making my own body scrub. 
Also, some of you may be familiar with my sister Kelly's story and how she had heart surgery last year.  Smells and perfumes have always bothered her and it seemed to worsen after the surgery.  Weird huh?  So my BIL looked into making their own laundry detergent.

My sweet mother came over this weekend and brought me the whole kit and kaboodle to make my own detergent, complete with the 5 gallon bucket and all the supplies.  I wanted to share this with you because I am totally amazed at the cost comparison. And with four boys in the house, I do a lot of laundry...

So the ingredients first...
1 Bar Fels- Naptha Soap
1/2 bar Zote**
2 cups Borax
2 cups Washing Soda

 Now don't worry.  All of these things my mom found at Wal-mart or Kroger  I've pictured them here because they are unusual.  
 *****Since I've written this post, Zote now makes flakes so you don't have to grate the bar.  I used 1 1/2 cups of the flakes.

 






So...the cost.  Ready?  About $3 per recipe!!!
This recipe makes about 3 gallons of detergent.  You use 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup of liquid for each load.  Needless to say, this bucket is going to last a while!



I will include the recipe at the end of this post.  There are a ton of other recipes online but I know this one works because my mom and sister already use it.  Pretty cool, huh?  Saving a ton of money, making it your own using gentle produts, and helping the environment with no plastic waste.   Get the kids involved too!

If you make this, please let me know how you like it!

Have a great week!
Kerrie


Laundry Detergent Recipe

4 cups water
1 Bar Fels-Naptha, grated
1/2 bar Zote, grated
2 cups Borax
2 cups Washing Soda

In a pot on the stove add 4 cups water and grated soaps.  Melt on low heat, stirring occasionally.  Fill your bucket with 2 1/2 gallons of water.  Reserve 3 cups of this water on the counter.

When soap is almost melted in pot, strain out liquid into bucket.  Dump what is in the strainer back into the pot along with your 3 cups of reserved water.  Continue to simmer and stir until dissolved.
Turn the fire off and add your Borax and Washing Soda.
Stir until mixed.
Dump remaining soap into bucket.
Let ingredients sit over night, stirring occasionally to break up lumps.  My middle son helped me by sticking his hands in there and squeezing the lumps to separate.  He seemed to have fun!

For easier everyday use, you may add some of your detergent to a used and empty detergent bucket.