Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Laundry Soap

I finally did it. I have been wanting to do it for so long. I have friends who have done it and are singing it's praises! So....I did it! I made my own laundry soap.

I followed the recipe found HERE! The only thing I did different was use Kirk's Castile soap. Someone told me to stay away from Fels Naptha as it is a carcinogen. Kirk's is all natural. Hubby struggles with some skin sensitivities so I thought Kirk's would work better for us.

The detergent is supposed to turn into a glob (very illustrious word, don't ya think?). Mine did not. After 24 hours it was still very liquidy. After talking to several friends who make their own detergent, they all thought I should go ahead and use it because it had what it needed in it. Instead of using 3/4 c., I have been using 1 c. After a couple of weeks I have noticed it is turning globbier and globbier than it had been. (I know...globbier is not a word! But it works here.)

I think when I make it next time, I will just make the powdered version and not cook the soap down.

A great idea I got from another friend is to take a bottle of Downy and mix it in a bucket of water. Cut some cheap sponges in half and throw those in the bucket. When you put your clothes in the dryer, ring out the excess liquid from one sponge and throw it in the dryer too. This will replace your fabric softener/softener sheets. I want to try this too!

By doing these two simple things, we are saving a bunch of money on cleaning items! How great is that?

1 comment:

the back door said...

i've been wanting to try the soap for so long but haven't gotten brave enough! but i have the done the downy thing. it works well - now i just use the dryer balls. they are prickly balls:)