Monday, July 8, 2013

I HATE laundry!!!


This is my laundry basket almost always. And I guarantee that a lot of the kids clothes are clean. The girls love to play dress up and they always promise to hang their clothes back up or put them away. I always fall for it and they always end up in my hamper to be rewashed. Needless to say I'm never caught up and we were spending a small fortune on laundry soap and softener. So in an effort to save money I decided to make my own. I started with a liquid recipe, but found that it was a lot of effort and I'm all about easy peezie. But I do keep it on hand for spot treatments. I pretreat any grass stains, mud, food, etc. It works great and is a fraction of the cost of shout or other stain removers. However it does take up more space in the laundry room or becomes a great step stool for my son to stand on and get into things that he shouldn't. Here's the recipe:

1 Fels Naphtha Laundry Bar, grated
1 cup Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda
1 cup Borax
Hot water

Bring 4 cups of water to a boil and add grated soap. Reduce heat to low and simmer until all soap is melted. Be sure to stir continually. Next fill a 5 gallon bucket half way with more hot tap water from the sink. Gently pour soap water into the bucket. Add remaining ingredients and stir until all is dissolved. Fill the bucket up with more hot water, stir again, cover and let sit overnight or 8 hrs to thicken and cool. 
This recipe makes 10 gallons of laundry soap. I transfer the concentrated soap into a smaller 2 gallon bucket and add warm to dilute if using as my detergent or if using as a spot treatment I leave as is. For top load washers use about 3/4 a cup or for front load washers use about a 1/4 cup. 

Because time is an issue for me I have started using the dry version of this recipe. It takes up less space in my laundry room and works very well. So far I've been very happy with the end results. Of course you can play with the recipes and make them your own! Here's the dry recipe I use:

1 Fels Naptha Laundry Bar, grated
1 cup Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda
1 cup Borax

I use my food processed for this and it works amazingly! Just make sure you mix all the ingredients completely and I like mine to be very fine in texture. Use a tablespoon per load or 2 tablespoons if really dirty (always at my house). 

Now lets talk fabric softener. I have to admit I was a little skeptical at first but I decided to brave it and it turns out that it works great. I don't even use bleach anymore (don't mix bleach & vinegar). So here's the recipe: 

3 cups White Vinegar
1 15 oz bottle of hair conditioner, any brand (I use whatever is on sale)
6 cups hot tap water
100% essential oil of your choice

Mix all ingredients together and use a 1/4 cup per load. Depending on the essential oil, I use about 20-30 drops. Just do the smell test if the vinegar bothers you. 

Vinegar neutralizes odors, helps colors from bleeding/fading, and is a natural softener. Who knew vinegar would become a staple in my home! 

Good luck and let me know what you think!! 

Xoxo
Lindsay

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