Where the Bruised Cucumber meets the Sippy Cup!

A Loud Mama with a loud family, living imperfect lives glorified through God and breaking free of the bondage of politically correct Religion. We do things differently around the Viking Homestead, and hope that, by sharing our lives, we can help others feel more comfortable with their differences as well.


02 March, 2012

Homemade Laundry Care

Because I can't cook when making laundry soap...just sayin'! :)
If you do an internet search for homemade laundry items, you will find a multitude of methods and recipes for ditching the commercially available detergents, stain removers and fabric softeners and, all for good reason.  Homemade laundry care items are easy on your budget and your clothes.  Also, you know exactly what is going into them so you can adjust what goes into them based on allergies or needs.  I got interested in homemade laundry detergent while trying to save money when Little Valkyrie was about 4 and we were starting out in a new house.  Of course, the money situation improved, and back to buying it from the store like 'normal' people.  Then I got pregnant with Little Viking and was planning on using cloth diapers.  At that point, I decided that, for the money it would save me I would go back to homemade laundry detergent.  Especially since I KNEW it would be free from optical brighteners and scents that could gunk up my cloth diapers.  I've been using homemade laundry detergent ever since.  I've since branched out into stain treatment and fabric softeners.  Following are the recipes I use for my family.  Of course, feel free to experiement and figure out what works for you and yours!

Laundry Detergent:
  • 1 Cup Borax
  • 1 Cup Washing Soda
  • 5.5-6 oz Bar Soap (and brand you prefer, grated)
  • Liquid Castile Soap
Heat 2 quarts water in a large pot until simmering.  Add the grated soap and stir until melted.  In a 5 gallon bucket, pour in the melted soap, borax and washing soda.  Stir well.  Then add 4-4.5 gallons of VERY hot water to the bucket and continue stirring.  I will also usually add about 1/2-1 cup of castille soap for extra cleaning power.  Once the detergent is mixed thoroughly, let it sit overnight.  It will thicken(it will resemble a more gelled egg drop soup).  The next day, stir your detergent.  Fill an old liquid detergent container halfway with your homemade laundry detergent and halfway with water.  Use about a cup per load!  You can also use this to pretreat stains.  Or if you like, you can try this recipe:

Stain Treatment
  •  1/4 Cup Borax
  •  1/4 Cup Washing Soda
  •  1 Cup Sal Sud's
  •  4 Cups Warm Water
I make this by mixing the borax and washing soda into the warm water until dissolved, then adding the Sal Sud's.  I LOVE using this treatment on REALLY dirty clothes.  The Sal Sud's will cut through grease and food stains, which is GREAT when you have kiddos running around and a husband that works in an industry that=loads of impossibly dirty clothing.  After its all mixed up, I just put it in a squirt bottle by then washing machine so its ready to go.  Now, for the grand finale:  Fabric Softener.  Here is is.  Go to the store.  Grab a downy ball and a gallon of white vinegar.  Fill the downy ball about 1/4 to 1/2 full with white vinegar and toss it in the laundry!  Easy peasy and your laundry will come out nice and static free.  It also helps to de-stink your clothing as well.  So, hopefully this post will help you to at least save a few bucks if nothing else.  Can't go wrong with something that will help you to put some money back AND will allow you to have a little more control over what is being used in your home.

2 comments:

  1. Do you like the liquid detergent better than the dried? I've made the dried, using tto soap and liked it, but felt like it didn't rinse out all the way.

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    1. I prefer the liquid. I to made the dried/powdered detergent at first, but I always had 'clumps' of soap left over. The liquid rinses out very nicely. Hope this helps!

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