Today, I made homemade laundry detergent for the 1st time. I've thought about it in the past, but wondered if it was worth all of the effort. After my recent trip to the laundromat with 16 loads of laundry the other day, I'm trying to find ways to cut back on our budget (including the laundry) AND find ways for the kids to help do their own laundry. I've read that homemade detergent compared to regular is about 1/15th the cost! That makes it worth a try in my book!
The most difficult part of the recipe is grating the soap. I grated the Ivory soap bars with my Pampered chef cheese grater thingee. It doesn't work very well on cheese & wasn't wonderful with soap either, but at least I didn't end up with any bloody knuckles. I tried the blender and found it to be completely worthless. I used the tiny holed grater insert, so the shavings mixed well without being blended. I'm thinking a food processor is in my future, because I could use it a lot with 30 Day cooking also.
Here's the recipe I tried today:
Powdered Laundry Detergent – Recipe #9
http://tipnut.com/10-homem
12 cups Borax
8 cups Baking Soda
8 cups Washing Soda
8 cups Bar soap (grated) - I used Ivory because I had it on hand.
* Mix all ingredients well and store in a sealed tub.
* Use 1/8 cup of powder per full load.
http://tipnut.com/10-homem
12 cups Borax
8 cups Baking Soda
8 cups Washing Soda
8 cups Bar soap (grated) - I used Ivory because I had it on hand.
* Mix all ingredients well and store in a sealed tub.
* Use 1/8 cup of powder per full load.
I'll let you know how it turns out! It certainly *smells* clean. :)
