Playing With Words 365

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Make Your Own Laundry Detergent!

December 20, 2011 by Katie Filed Under: Family Life, Money Saving Ideas Leave a Comment

I know, I know…most of my posts involve children’s activities but once in a while I will slip in some totally random posts because that’s how I roll.

And….you can actually use the following as a learning activity!! Think Measuring, mixing, following directions….

Make Your Own Laundry Detergent

Yup, you read that correctly. I make my own laundry detergent. I started doing it a few months ago, and I doubt we will ever go back to using regular detergent. I got the idea from some friends of mine when we were discussing the little things we do to save money. And believe me, making your own detergent will save you a TON.

What you will need:

  • Arm & Hammer Washing Soda (NOT Baking Soda!! They are different!)
  • Borax 20 Mule Team
  • Ivory Bar Soap or Fels Naptha Bar Soap (I use Ivory)
  • 1 cup measuring cup
  • Cheese Grater
  • Plastic Storage Container
  • Food processor or Blender (optional)

 

 

 

 

Directions

  • Grate one bar of soap so it looks like grated cheese
  • Put grated soap in the food processor/blender on GRATE for about 10 seconds.
  • Add one cup of washing soda, one cup of borax, and blend for about 10 seconds.

Yeah um…that’s IT. Simple, right?? Now, you don’t have to use a food processor/blender…you can mix it by hand. However a friend of mine suggested the food processor and it works GREAT. Then place it in a plastic container and get this, you only need ONE TABLESPOON per load! that’s IT!

I did 6x the recipe to fill our container above. The cost for that full container above is approx $5.50 and should do well over 200-250 loads of laundry (I double wash my diapers…more below). Last time I did 4x the recipe and it lasted 3 months.

I did have issues finding the washing soda in my area…I went to Target, Walmart and CVS. I ended up ordering several boxes from Alice dot com and plan to do the same in the future- $2.99 a 55oz box. I got the Ivory Soap (10 pack) at Target for around $4-5 dollars, and the Borax for around $3-4 for the 4 lb box. So far, I have made a total of 10x the recipe and I have used one whole box of Washing Soda, plus I think two cups of another box, 10 bars of Ivory, and around 3/4 of the box of Borax.

And also….if you use cloth diapers…I have used this on my cloth diapers with NO ISSUES. I have heard of people using the Fels Naptha soap on Cloth and having issues (stink) but we have used it with no build up at all and no stink! 😀 Now, I do “double” wash them, meaning I do a prewash WITH soap, and then a regular wash with soap, using about 3/4 of a tablespoon each time. They come out FRESH!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My daughter did in fact help me make this…she loves helping. She helped pour and push the on/off button on the food processor, and we practices counting to 10 each time we blended 😀 My son Ev tried to help too…you know by taking a nice big bite out of a bar of soap…fun times! 😉

Also, if you prefer liquid detergent, there are recipes for that also….just check out pinterest. I know it uses the same ingredients but made differently. However I prefer the powder.

Do you make your own laundry detergent? What about dish washing detergent? I have a recipe on my Pinterest board that I have wanted to try but haven’t yet…

Cheers!

About Katie

Katie is a licensed, credentialed and certified pediatric speech-language pathologist and mom to four (8, 6, 3 and 6 months). Her passion for educating, inspiring and empowering parents of children with all abilities led her to start her blog playing with words 365 where she shares information about speech & language development & intervention strategies, parenting, photography and a little about her family life too. Katie has been working in the field of speech pathology for 12 years and is certified in The Hanen Centre’s It Takes Two to Talk ® and Target Word ® programs and holds a certificate in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). In addition to blogging and being a mommy, Katie works part time in her small private practice in the San Francisco Bay Area. You can follow her on Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter.

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