Laundry Detergent

I know there are some of you out there wondering what the heck I'm talking about. Isn't this a blog about food? Can you EAT laundry soap? What does laundry soap have to do with cooking?

The Answers to these Questions are "Mostly", "I Wouldn't", and "More Than You Think". First let me say that although most of what I post here is food-related, every so often there will be something that I think is just so great that I want to share it here. And yes, there IS a recipe involved in making your own laundry detergent. I even used my stove. Add these to the fact that it cost me about $5 to make over three gallons of laundry soap, and I figure it's something most of us frugal and fabulous homemakers would like to know about.

I've been using homemade laundry detergent for about 3 months now, and I love it. I use a recipe that I got off the Tipnut website. It has 10 recipes, and I just used the first one I read, though I have increased the volume by 50%. I have also learned a few things in the process. The most important of which is this:

Washing Soda and Baking Soda are NOT the same thing.

The boxes you see above are borax (which you can find in almost any store) and washing soda. As you can see, it is yellow, not orange like Arm & Hammer brand baking soda. It is a little harder to find in the stores. The first time I tried making this over the summer I couldn't find washing soda, so I used baking soda instead. Just so you know... it doesn't work the same. Fortunately for me, a friend had called the Arm & Hammer company to find out where they sold it locally and told me where I could purchase it. If you don't know where to find it, you can call the number off the A&H website to talk to a representative: 1-800-524-1328.

The second (also important) thing I have learned is that when I use homemade detergent my laundry goes "sour" more quickly if I leave it in the washing machine for too long. By too long, I mean longer than a day. Occasionally I will start a load of laundry and just not get back to it for a day or two. In those cases, I check the clothes. If they smell a little musty I run the washer again with either a cup of white vinegar or another dose of detergent to freshen them up.

Laundry Detergent

6 cups water
3 bars soap, grated
3 cups Borax
3 cups Washing Soda
3 gallons water

When you purchase your bar soap, be sure to pick out a scent that you like. That's what your laundry will smell like. I sent The Honey to the store last night and he came home with this glycerin soap made by Dial. After checking to make sure the first ingredient was still "soap", I used it to make my detergent today. I found I prefer working with the glycerin-based soap because it grated so much easier and is clearer than the traditional bar soap so I can tell when it's melted more easily.

Pour the 6 cups of water into a large pot and add the grated soap. Heat over medium-low until the soap is completely dissolved. Be sure to stir frequently and not turn it up too high. It's not just food than can burn onto the bottom of your pot - soap can too! If you have other things taking your attention, feel free to turn off the burner and walk away. It will continue to dissolve while you're not babysitting it.

See how nice and clear the glycerin soap looks like when it's dissolved? If you're not using this type of soap, just gauge it the best you can. You want it as close to completely dissolved as possible.

Pour the soapy water into a large bucket. Add the borax and washing soda and stir until dissolved.

Add 3 more gallons of water and stir. You're done making the detergent!

If you have used washing soda and made it correctly, the top layer of the mixture will gel within a couple of hours. Be sure to stir it before use. The directions I have said to use 1/4 c. of detergent per load, but I get better results when I use 1/2 c. per load.

Another thing I highly recommend is to use an old liquid laundry detergent container for dispensing. Because this makes a large batch, I have no where to store it in my tiny dining room. So after the detergent has started to gel, I give it a good stir and use a plastic cup (yes, my hands are covered in the stuff!) to fill my old ALL container. Then the bucket of detergent goes into the pantry and the small container holds what I need for the time being. It also has a built-in cup measure (the cap!) so I can measure my detergent out with the same ease I enjoyed when I spent $5 on detergent for 32 loads.