Anyway, for those of you that would like to be a little daring....try one of these recipes. The 3 main ingredients are Borax, Super Washing Soda, and Fels Naptha laundry bar soap. These two recipes are identical in the ingredients used, they just use a couple of different methods and amounts.
Duggar Family website or The Family Homestead
This is a project your children might like to help you do!!!
Happy soap making!!!
If you have any questions, feel free to ask me!
Updated 1/22/10: I think it is important to use a good laundry soap like FelsNaptha. This soap is designed to pre-treat stains. I remember my mother having a bar of it in the laundry room when I was growing up. When used as part of this recipe, it works well. Pin It
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My mom makes her own laundry soap and loves it, too! I'll have to ask her if this is the same recipe she uses. Do you feel like it works well in our hard water? I was hesitant to try it when my mom mentioned it because her water is so much softer than mine. :)
ReplyDeleteWell, we have soft water at our house, but I did some research for you. Borax and Super Washing Soda are both laundry boosters. According to Borax's website, http://www.20muleteamlaundry.com/about, it naturally softens hard water. With that being said, it seems like it should work well in hard water. Give it a try and let me know what you think! :)
ReplyDeleteI have been making the "family homestead" recipe for the last year and I think it works great. I add different essential oils like peppermint and lavender, and I keep a container of "oxyclean" nearby for those dirtier loads. I like the Dugger's suggestion of a cup of vinegar for the rinse cycle- it seems like there is no end for the uses of vinegar! It is one of my staples in my cleaning arsenal. Thanks for the post-
ReplyDeleteWe make our own detergent as well. I found my recipe a year or so ago at "the Simple Dollar". It has worked quite well for us. (It is pretty much identical to the Duggar family recipe). I have never actually used the Fels-naptha soap yet but I just bought some for my next batch. Previously I have used all sorts of bar soaps that I had been able to get very cheaply or free using sales and coupons.
ReplyDeleteI made this and found that it was not for us. Had to wash my husbands work clothes more than once to get them "fresh" smelling. He is picky about it, so I just stopped making it.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry that the soap wasn't a fit for your family. Thanks for trying it!! :) I like Natasha's idea of using peppermint or lavendar essential oils. With some of my loads, I also add Downy fabric softener. I know that there are disadvantages to using liquid fabric softener, but I dilute it half and half, sometimes even more. It still gives a fresh scent, but really cuts down on the cost. Vinegar is a good idea to use in the rinse cycle too. Which website formula did you use, Anonymous?
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