Home Made Laundry Detergent & More

I'm about to run out of Shout: looked on the internet and found this for homemade Oxy-clean:

Ingredients
•1 cup hot water
•1/2 cup baking soda
•1/2 cup hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)

Make this recipe as you need it. Do not save any for later use. Any leftover would lose its' potency over time.

Mix ingredients. Add clothes and soak for 20 minutes to overnight. Rinse; wash as usual. Makes 2 cups.

If possible, try to test an area of the clothing in case any discoloration occurs.

I read on another website to be cautious with Khaki colored clothes with this recipe. The H2O2 causes discoloration.

You could skip the soak time and just add H2O2 and baking soda to wash.

WOW! That little wash machine is really neat and soapwart is something I'm interested in also. Thanks ladies.

Just thought i would add my resp. Mine is a gell like concentrated soap. You use 1 table spoon per " normal" sized load.


1 bar of soap
1 cup washing soda
1 cup borax

Grade bar of soap and put into a pot with 6 cups of water on med. heat. Stir untill melted.

Add washing soda and borax stir over heat untill well dissolved.

Pour mixture into a large plastic box ( one with a tight fiting lid) or jars.

Add in 1 cup of hot water and stir.

Add in 2 1/2 cups of cool water and stir.

I donot use a box instead i do the following:

Pour into wide mouth jars ( use the white plastic lids to close thelids). let cool for a hour or so. I than use a stick blender to whip/ mix the soap. i do this untill it does not seperate. When i make this i make 6 batches at a time ( about 6 months worth for a family of 6). I store in a cool place. i use plain old vinegar in a softner ball for softner. This low sudsing soap.

Joy

Farmer Valerie...I was looking at essential oils on ebay today...some decent prices in case you can talk hubby into letting you order. Many of the sellers have buy 3 get a 4th free AND free shipping. Just thought you might like to know.

I decided to try this laundry soap idea...one of my laundry OCD things is the laundry has to smell good...so I was hoping if I close the lid and don't see it not be sudsy then maybe with the essential oils if it smells good when I take it out of the dryer I can deal. LOL We'll see. It's so much fun trying to outsmart my OCD.

Do any of you have knowledge or experience with soap nuts from Asia or the smaller cousins soap berries from our South West. My soapwart starts are growing so slow yet. Think they got frost bit after they first came up and are taking their time mending unless all the activity is below ground.

Thanks Jen, I'll look into it. We did get one at a local health food store, but I did not read the label, it was a concentrate, not an oil, so it takes a lot more to get a scent, maybe that's why it was less expensive. We can get the oils for $3-$5 locally, not bad, but things are still tight. It's summer though and hubby has already commented that he would like more scent in his clothes, so we shall see.

I read the other day that yukka root soaps up too, I may try that one next year too.

Gosh you just brought back a memory from elementary school. I remember studying the SW Indians and that they used Yucca for soap. Wow, that was a long time ago.


Kay

Just found a great resource link on using soapnuts around the house AND in the garden.

http://www.buysoapnuts.com/howtouse.html

I just found out tonight that you can make liquid soap with birch leaves! This is fantastic, because where I live, there are birch trees everywhere (and they're free). Just put some young leaves in a bag, add some hot water and then some cold water, and shake really well. Here's a video that describes it a little bit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mz6ToiWmOHQ

This is an awesome thread!

Neat idea-I'll check it out as soon as my coffee is done.

I just love this thread. Making my own soaps/detergents could save boatloads of money and help envrionment too.



In looking for info on the 'Birch tree" as far as the soap, I found this page.

I don't think I have any birch trees, but, I have Maple trees, which I'll check out in the morning!

Jo

http://www.answers.com/topic/saponin

About all the soap talkers in youtube and elsewhere list saponins as the reason for whatever specified plant being a soap substitute. So I have been looking into saponins this evening which usually lists most plants and nuts or fruits that will perform. Here are a few more links that give useful information both pro and con. There seem to be tons of saponins that vary in composition and effects. If you also look into natural herbal shampoos you will see several familiar plants also employed in those products. The bottom article is mostly about the various kinds of soap nuts.
http://www.phytochemicals.info/phytochemicals/saponins.php
http://www.herbs2000.com/h_menu/saponins.htm
http://www.personalcaremagazine.com/Story.aspx?Story=6599
http://www.personalcaremagazine.com/Story.aspx?Story=4828

FarmerValerie wrote:Since we are talking saving money, and being prepared too, here is neat little washer I have had my eye on for 14 years.
http://beprepared.com/product.asp_Q_pn_E_MC%20W100_A_name_E_Wonder%20Washer
It only runs about $45.00, I would love to filter my rain water and wash clothes with it one day, I'm told rainwater is the best water there is for everything.

I've been watching this little washer on Amazon for a while, it's finally down to $40 bucks today!

Good luck with your washer!!

In July I made the liquid laundry soap that Farmer Valerie linked to at the beginning of this thread Liquid Laundry Soap recipe.

There are 3 adults in my household and we probably do 5 full loads of laundry a week, sometimes more. I have 3 gallons of the stuff remaining. It works quite well and I am quite pleased. It has saved me quite a bit of money. I will be making more soon.

BTW, the latest issue of Mother Earth News (Dec.'11-Jan.'12) has recipes for 13 homemade cleaning supplies (page 79). Even one for grout cleaner! Well worth the price of an individual copy of "Mother" even if you don't have a subscription.

Oh, and another article in this issue, p. 54, reviews the 10 best vegetable seed companies, as voted in by M.E.N. readers. Five of my favorites are listed, along with several mentioned by SQF members as being THEIR favorites. Seems we are a discriminating bunch! Nonna

Hey, if you've already got Borax at your house, be sure to make some flubber with the kiddos. We finally tried it last week and the girls loved it. I can post the recipe if anyone is interested.

Now that my flu is gone, I am planning on making soap today - got 7 lbs of fat from one of the local poultry processors and am going to give it a try. Never used poultry fat for soap, but it is supposed to make a very mild, gentle soap which is exactly what my crabby allergic skin needs!
GG

I'd love to see the recipe for flubber

Thank you!

Hey all, just thought I'd pop in on this for a sec. I'm still just lurking right now, I feel like I've got PTSD. We had family issues back in Oct. and I'm still working through them, and starting any seeds right now is out until we get the chickens and goats contained. Who knew a goat could jump that high to get over a fence???

Anyway, one batch of this usually lasts us 6 months average (except from July-Sept, then we do more washing). We have REALLY awful water so I have started adding 1 bottle of inexpensive detergent (mostly for scent) + 1 bottle of water (just fill that detergent container) to my mix. I also use the water we bring in for cooking and drinking to make my laundry detergent. I finally did get some essential oils (I am making my own body scrubs) so that may take care of the scent thing, but I could actually do with out the scent, it's just others in my family who think clothes need to smell to be clean. My thinking is as long as it does not stink it's clean. Also my daughter and I have issues with scents so I prefer a lighter scent, or none.

I just made another batch of detergent recently, we were low not out, just had the time and did not want to have to quickly make an emergency batch. I've also noticed our clothes last longer using the home made detergents.

Nice to see you, FV! I look forward to ducking your cow patties again!

Don't know how much I'll be on, or even posting, but thanks for the welcome back. I have missed all of you, and I really do need to get outside and dig in the dirt, but I'll be honest, I just want to sit and twiddle my thumbs right now. BUT, I do know how to put my big girl panties on and deal with it, I'm just tired. Thanks again!

Who knew a goat could jump that high to get over a fence???

Well with those lovely creatures being in the deer family They have that ability

And now as for the home made laundry soap, no lie (no pun intended, but it made me laugh) I was just thinking of it the other day and thought of you again I have had only cold water to my washer since getting it, well I now have hot water going to it and powder soap is so much cheaper (without the hot water the powder soap does not dissolve) , I thought I will look again into maybe making some. We will see, I have a tendency to put too many irons in the fire (said real southern like) . Right now the focus is on feeding the family with what I can grow.

Glad to know you are lurking
Ha-v-v