Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Laundry Tips!

Hi again! I thought I would continue the cleaning supplies tips with laundry tips since we last discussed vinegar and it's use as a fabric softener. Today I will share the homemade liquid laundry soap recipe I use. There are a few variations of this same recipe out there. This works for us. I love that it saves me from extra trips to the store because I forgot laundry detergent,is so much cheaper and lasts for months! This makes 10 gallons of laundry detergent ( you will make a five gallon bucket which you will then mix half with water when transferring to a detergent bottle) Here's what to do:

4  Cups - hot tap water
1  Fels-Naptha soap bar
1 Cup - Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda
½ Cup Borax

Grate 1 bar Fels-Naptha soap bar
Add to 4 cups hot tap water in pot
Melt over medium heat stirring continually until completely melted
In a 5 gallon bucket fill half way with hot tap water, melted soap,1 cup Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda and 1/2 cup borax
Stir well
Fill the rest with hot tap water and stir well once more
Put lid on tightly and let mixture sit overnight
Remove lid and stir very well
Soap is now ready to use- use a clean empty laundry detergent bottle and fill half with water and half with detergent and shake well
We use the laundry soap cap to measure what we need and it works well for us!

Hope you try this, It is so cheap and lasts a long time!

Here's a bonus tip for the laundry room: tired of buying laundry sheets?
Use the tip about using vinegar as your fabric softener and instead of fabric sheets in the dryer, take a ball of aluminum foil and throw it in the dryer- soft clothes and NO static cling!

Note about laundry soap ingredients: In my area Weis carries all of the ingredients, but I have also found them in other stores.

See ya next tip!