Homemade Laundry Soap and Fabric Softener...can you say..ahhhhh...that smells good.......

The past few days I have tried my hand at some home- making skills and I must say, I am very happy how they turned out! My kitchen and garage have smelled so good...like a field of lavender.....soooo nice!


I was very pleased with the results and actually really enjoyed doing laundry today! I would scoop at the gloppy mess and just smile with glee :)

The process was fun and didn't take long at all, especially with some help with the grating and stirring ~smile~ the recipes are below and pictures to give you an idea of what is involved..
The recipes were a combination of friends, internet and my own tweaking (Thanks lena and Kim!) so, feel free to change it if you need to....





















Homemade Laundry Detergent


Just an fyi...I wanted laundry detergent that smells good and works....I was given a few recipes and found some online....I combined them to make the one that I did...so if you would like fragrance, do it the way I did, if you like less, use less essential oil...the scent is still very light though......but I like smell...~smile~


Homemade Laundry Detergent

2 Bars soap or other soap(I added 3, 2 lavendar, 1 dove, next time I will add 3 yardley of london lavendar-you can get this at walgreens)

2 cup washing soda-NOT BAKING SODA(I added 3 cups)This was bought at publix

2 cup borax(I added 3 cups)this was cheaper at Walmart

5 gallon bucket (you might have one laying around, but I bought one form Lowes..they have them at Walmart also)

essential oil (I used 1/4 a bottle of lavendar)


Directions:

Grate the soap in a saucepan(we used a vegetable peeler)

Add 8 cups water and heat til it melts.This will be a low boil...or a simmer....

Add the Washing Soda and the Borax and stir til dissolved. Remove from heat

Pour 4 cups hot water into the bucket

Add soap mixture and stir

Add 3 gallons water

Let sit for 24 hours....It will start to gel, and be a runny gel texture when done.


I use 2 scoops per large/xlarge load. You can use 1/2 that, but I like to use more.


Notes....I found essential oil online for 3.98 for .5 oz shipping would be 3.99, I believe if you buy more, the shipping will be less. In the Health food store, lavender oil is about $10.00 to $12.00 a bottle. This place has many scents, they have downy scents too, like lavendar vanilla :) here is the link-

Smoky Mountain Fragrances


Cost to make 5 gallons of Laundry soap

1/4 bottle of lavendar essential oil 2.50
3 cups borax 1.00
washing soda 2.00
3 bars soap 4.00

total 9.50

640 oz. (8 cents an oz.) loads price
3 scoops(24 oz.) 26 37 cents a load
2 scoop (16 oz) 40 24 cents a load
1 scoop (8 oz.) 80 16 cents a load

________________________________

Liquid Tide 12.99 (26 cents an oz.) 50 ounces in a bottle
One load is usually 3-4 oz. .78-1.04 a load
I use 6-8 oz. 1.50 to 2.00 a load yikes!!!


I think it will save quite a bit of money for us!!

Homemade Fabric Softener

Ingredients
1 cup baking soda (very large box at walmart with the laundry stuff (NOT WASHING SODA)
6 cups distilled white vinegar (also got at Walmart)
8 cups water
1/4 bottle of lavendar essential oil, or any kind you like (optional) I will use a 1/2 next time)
1 Gallon Container

Directions

First add the baking soda to the plastic container

Next add 1 cup of water to start with, shake several times to try and mix together

Slowly add the vinegar, 2 cups at a time, to the bottle as the vinegar and baking soda will start to fizz

Shake after each addition of water, venting the top a few times

Last add the essential oil, let sit about 10 minutes and shake every so often for the next couple hours to get the baking soda mixed in

Add 1 cup in your final rinse cycle for each load but give the bottle a good shake to stir up the essential oil if using

***IT SAYS USE 1 CUP BUT IF USING A DOWNY BALL YOU ONLY USE 1/2 CUP***

Notes.....This smells so good and made my clothes really soft. I did not do a price comparison, but the vinegar was 2.00 for a gallon, and this did 3 batches, Baking soda, 2.79 I think, it has 4 lbs, so oyu will get a lot of softener out of that! Your greatest expense will be the essential oil, please see my other post for a link to get it cheaper online......)

Have fun and let me know how you like it!!