There was no explanation on this particular news article as to why people are stealing laundry detergent, but they assume it's to turn around and sell on the black market. I suppose the economic situation could be a contributing factor. It is some pretty expensive stuff, I must admit. It has a fairly good reputation as far as its cleaning abilities and it smells nice, but to think that folks are stealing it and selling it on the black market...goodness.
Because I worry about some of my readers, and don't want you to turn to the likes of the black market in order to feed your washing machines and launder your clothes, I am going to share with you the recipe we use for homemade laundry detergent. I know what you're thinking, is Sarah really that cheap? Well, yes, it's true, I can be that cheap.
A couple weeks ago, I was walking out with one of the judges I work with and he asked me if I was going to the nursing home to see my grandma. I said yes, I had to because she was needing clothes and we (the family) do her laundry. He asked me if it was because she liked the smell of our laundry soap over the nursing home's. To which I replied, "I doubt it, I make my own." And his response as he was laughing, "I didn't realize you were so cheap." Ha.
That cracked me up. Although it does save grocery money, making your own laundry soap can be a fun family activity too. Thankfully, my kids find it fun and fight over who will get to grate the bar soap. Although usually after a few minutes, Lane is ready to pass it off to big sister. My daughter's BFF loves it when it's time to boil the soap and she's around to help. It does take about 20 minutes from start to finish and you do have to plan for it because you don't want to all of a sudden be without laundry soap, but it has been well worth our time and effort. My in-laws have started using it in their brand new efficiency machine and think that it actually works better and keeps the washer smelling fresher. Hhmm, I don't know about that, I have an older model that is still ticking.
Anyway, we have been making and using our own soap since August. So far, we haven't seen any negative effects. I was afraid that because I only use cold water, it wouldn't dissolve well or might leave streaks of white on black clothing, nope. I have never seen any residue or anything left on the clothes. My whites are not any dingier than they were before (I do still add bleach to my whites). I have a friend who uses the powder homemade soap and likes it, but I have another friend who used it for a while and it clogged up her high-efficiency washer...so I went with the liquid version just to be safe.
I will say that it doesn't have any fabulous fresh mountain scent or anything like that, but I do still use fabric softener sheets in my dryer and get a little fragrance from that. It is my understanding that you can add some scented oils to the liquid soap and it won't hurt a thing (there is a certain kind though) and I know that my friend "Beth" does this, but I just go with the boring soap smell.
So the following is the recipe that I found on the Internet to make liquid laundry detergent. All of these ingredients are found at Rural King or Walmart and can be purchased for less than $10. I still have the original boxes of Borax and Soda from August and will be able to make at least another two or three batches. Lately I have been making double matches because I have made believers out of some family members and I'm nice enough to share :) I did buy a 5-gal bucket from Rural King and use it to make the soap in. Afterwards I pour it into gallon milk jugs. Another tip that I will share is that I go ahead and grate the soap at the same time and just bag it up into thirds so that I don't have to grate it up each time. It does resemble snot when you're done and will gel, but just give it a quick shake and pour it in. Good luck!
Hot Water
½ C Arm & Hammer Washing Soda
½ C Borax
1/3 bar of Fels Naptha bar soap (grated)
- In large pot, heat 3 pints of water. Add the grated bar soap and stir until melted. Then add the washing soda and borax. Stir until powder is dissolved, then remove from heat.
- In a 2-gallon clean pail, pour 1 quart of hot water and add the heated soap mixture. Top pail with cold water and stir well. Let sit overnight.
- Use ½ cup per load, stirring or shaking soap before each use (it may gel or separate).
1 comment:
Oh, I didn't know the powder could clog HE washers. I don't want to start cooking mine, but don't want to mess up our new washer. I have noticed I have to use warm water or it doesn't dissolve. At the old house I washed it on the cold setting (however the water came out pretty warm to begin with) and I didn't have a problem with it dissolving.
Denise
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