Laundry

Since I wasn't feeling well most of last week, I'm really behind on laundry. That and the fact that kids keep growing and clothes have to be switched out, I'm swamped today. Daniel was nice enough to let me know that I needed to do some laundry today since the darks are overflowing.

I've learned for me that if I can just keep up on laundry, life goes much smoother in our house. I'm kind of funny and I like to fold it as soon as I can out of the dryer, make piles on my bed (so no one else has to see and my helpers don't mess it up), and then have everyone put their clothes away when they get home. Seems to work much smoother for us. When the kids are home, they help fold and switch laundry too.

So, while I'm in the midst of my mountain today, I thought I'd maybe share a little help I learned about a year ago. I learned how to make my own laundry soap. Last year, a wonderful friend gave me the stuff to make it for my birthday. I have to admit that I used to be a Tide only girl, but when finances got tight, that had to go. I was rather skeptical but gave it a shot. I love it! It saves us a "load" of money each year and it really does work well so I thought I'd pass on the recipe. Sorry I can't give you all the supplies to make it like my friend did for me.

Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap

4 cups hot tap water

1 Fels-Naptha soap bar

1 cup Washing soda

1/2 cup Borax

Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.

Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.

Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with sap and then fill rest of the way with water. Shake before each use (will gel) or you can leave as concentrate (I do).

Optional: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil (lavender, rosemary, tea tree, etc.) per 2 gallons. Add once soap has cooled.

Yield: makes 10 gallons

Top load machine: use 5/8 c. per load or 1/2 cup if in concentrate.

Front load machine: use 1/4 c. per load

A few things I learned: I have those really big buckets from laundry soap that is sold at Costco/Sam's Club. That holds half of the recipe. I cut the bar of Fels-Naptha in half, grate each half, and keep one section/half in the bag for next time and then just do half the recipe. This will last me about 2-3 months, and I do A TON of laundry (like 20+ loads a week). I've used it in both our old top load machine and now in our HE front load machine after the other machine died. It works great in both!

I love being more economical, more self reliant, and feeling like we can provide for our family better. It doesn't take a lot of time to make either.

I will say that I could find the Fels-Naptha bars in a grocery aisle in Utah but had no luck here in Texas so I found a place I could buy it online. Shipping was the same for 1 bar as 7 (I think it was around $1/bar) so now I have more than a years supply of that. Make sure you use "washing soda" not baking soda. Washing soda (in a yellow box at our store) and Borax are found on the laundry/cleaning aisle. I think it costs about $2 for the recipe, not too bad for that much soap. :)

Hope someone out there can use this. I know it's helped our family save $$$$.