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Homemade Laundry Soap

Good morning HoNeys! A couple of days ago on my Facebook Fan Page I mentioned that I was making my own laundry detergent. I was interested in doing this for a number of reasons, but the top two being we’re ALWAYS washing cloth diapers, and I was diagnosed with Atopic dermatitis.  One of my crunchy mama friends from Crafty Earth Mama happened to post about making her own laundry detergent late last month, and I became extremely interested as it only used four ingredients. Borax, Super Washing Soda, Baking Soda and Castille Soap.

I did look for variations on-line to see how much they changed and the only thing that I saw that was consistent was the lack of Borax and the change up of the kind of soap that they used. For example, instead of Castille Soap (which I found in a local grocery store here in Chicago, called Jewel) I’ve seen the use of Fels Naptha (a laundry bar soap)

 and Zote (another laundry bar soap)

The recipe that Crafty Mama used was 1 cup Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda (make sure that this is NOT baking soda, as you will skew your mixture – we use baking soda in the mixture, but not this much) 1/2 cup of Baking Soda, 1/2 cup of Borax, 1/4 cup of liquid castille soap (she used Dr. Bronner’s) and 2 cups of hot water.

I changed my mixture up by using flakes of bar LAUNDRY soap instead of the liquid castille soap. And that’s the only difference in my soap mixture.

You mix all of the dry ingredients together, and then add the liquid and wait.

I will say, that almost immediately, I got scared because I thought that I did it wrong. She stated that everything would end up looking like moist crystals, and mine looked like soapy water! YIKES! However, after a couple of minutes and allowing the water to settle, it did become a crystal like mixture and I breathed a sigh of relief.

I store my laundry detergent in a large mason jar, and so far I’ve only washed the baby clothes with it. I’m pleased, but I do think that I will add a couple of drops of an essential oil just for scent when I wash my laundry. Yes, I need a “little” scent with my laundry, however, as far as the baby clothes – it’s absolutely perfect!

If you do try this, link up and let me know!

~Make It A Fantastic Day!

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Quick Laundry Detergent Update | Houseful of Nicholes

Tuesday 15th of November 2011

[...] week, you may remember me posting about our homemade laundry detergent that I made and happen to love immensely. Well, now I have another reason to love it, and [...]

SHONDA

Tuesday 15th of November 2011

Hmm, I'm going to try this! Thanks for the recipe!

Natasha

Tuesday 15th of November 2011

You're welcome Shonda! I do have a revamp that has posted today too! Thanks for stopping by.

Rachelle

Monday 14th of November 2011

Is it safe for he washing machines?

Natasha

Monday 14th of November 2011

Yes it is. And the only reason I know this is because of Pinterest. LOL!

CraftyEarthMama

Tuesday 8th of November 2011

I'm so glad it worked out for you! I don't think I will ever buy washing soap again. This stuff is just so clean and simple. Plus, it just feels awesome making our own :)

Aisha G of Hartlyn Kids

Monday 7th of November 2011

Are you going to start making homemade water and air????

The Houseful

Tuesday 8th of November 2011

If I could find a way - if I could find a way. LOL! This makes the clothes smell SO much FRESHER though. Not bogged down with a lot of perfume, and it's okay for my skin. I LOVE IT!

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