Homemade Laundry Soap... and Etsy Info

Most of my Local friends know, and those of you who have been to my house know that I like to try and do things that are not harmful to the environment. I've been eyeing the recipes for homemade laundry soap, and decided that before I made it, I wanted to see if I would even like it! So, after purchasing a premade trial batch of it from a vendor at the Marysville Homegrown Festival for $1.50, I've used it up already! I like like like, no LOVE it! So, this morning, I ran out, and for under $10.00, got all the things I needed to make it at home! I made up a batch this morning but made a few changes to the original recipe.

Original Recipe:
12 C. Borax
8 C. Baking Soda
8 C. Washing Soda
8 C. Bar Soap (Fels Naptha, Ivory or Safeguard)

For my version of this, I decided to first, cut the recipe in half. Being that there are only 3 people, 1 dog, and one roommate in our house we didn't need 38 Cups of anything, let alone laundry detergent that only takes 1 tbsp per load! Then, I decided to add OxyClean also since I use it for stains and it always works wonders. I wanted to do a mixture of the soaps it says to use. Fels Naptha is specifically for laundry, so I wanted to keep this and Safeguard is antibacterial... so I knew I wanted that in it also. I did a 50/50 split of the soaps.

Dawn's NEW Recipe
6 C. Borax (I used 12 Mules Borax from Walmart for $3.36 and had some left over)
4 C. Baking Soda (I had this, but you can get it for around $.70/lb bulk)
4 C Washing Soda (Walmart did not have this, but ACE Hardware did)
2 C (1- 5.5oz bar) Fels Naptha Laundry Soap (also, found at ACE Hardware)
2 C (1 1/2 (4 oz.) bars) Safeguard Soap (had it too!)
2 C. Oxygen Cleaner (OxyClean or otherwise, I used Sun Oxygen Cleaner from Walmart at 1.96 for 16 ouches)

This made me more than I planned on, but now I have some little cute things of it packaged up to give to a friend for her daughters cloth diapers and whoever else I feel like giving it too!!

It doesn't bubble, and really does only take 1tbsp on regular loads, and up to 2 or 3 on really dirty loads. From all I've read it's amazing for sensitive or rash prone skin, since there is no fragrance and it doesn't leave any residue on your clothes like commercial laundry soap. It also rinses so clean you don't need fabric softner. I feel so 'vintage' on this one, it makes me laugh. But, in all honesty- I used my hands for most of the mixing, without gloves (since it shouldn't hurt my skin if I'm washing my clothes with it) and after that, just rinsed them well, and they are super soft and have no residue at all on them.

Yesterday, my husband came home from work with what I would guess is called rust water (you know, when rust gets wet?) stains all over his shirt and pants (he made the choice to wear nice clothes to work...) and was begging me to at least TRY and get this stuff out. So, with the Fels Naptha, a Clorox Bleach Pen and soaking with the new homemade laundry soap... it's almost all out now. :-) I can't wait to see how it does on mud and grass stains, since those are more common in our house.

Anywhoo! Onto what I was really going to post about today!

www.dddcort.etsy.com is my store site and I've finally gotten around to posting up some more of my cards, and knitted items will be going up this afternoon. I hope you'll pop over to check them out!

If you chose to make some laundry soap, let me know how you like it and if you would be interested in trying it before making a million loads worth, I am totally willing to mail some to you (since I have LOTS now) and help you try it out and be a little greener as well! I just ask you paypal shipping back to me once I mail it and know the cost. :-)

Enjoy!

Dawn