laundry soap

[Acre of Blessings]

Here is the SS homemade recipes link..... https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=66537

 

[Vikkisrooster]

I thank you for the info,and finding the other topic!Saved me alot of time!

I've read three pages so far. There is really some interesting recipes.
Vikki

 

[prairiegirl]

I make the same basic recipe using Borax, Washing Soda, but I use Ivory soap. Just works best for us and our skin. It gets the clothes clean, and my Dh can get them dirty. I do use Spray and Wash for bad spots. If I don't have that I use a squirt of Dawn dishsoap or scrub with bar soap.
I've used vinegar in the rinse, too. Thanks for your recipe Acre of Blessings. I might have to try that.

 

[chicks4kids]

I know at my Kroger store they stick the Fels on the highest shelf on one end of the laundry isle and the washing soda and borax on the highest shelf on the opposite end of the laundry isle. Took me quite some time to find it being that it was on the tip top shelf.

 

[savingdogs]

I stumbled onto the laundry soap thread here at BYC about a month ago as I was researching soap making. We were able to purchase the ingredients easily and inexpensively at a local pack-your-own grocery stores here (Winco) and they were even placed right next to one another on the shelf. We made the liquid style recipe listed here with the Fels Naptha soap.

Our wash has been coming out great! We have a HE washer so our washer is running really well with the low sudsing. We are a high allergy family and really like the lack of syrupy scent on the clothes. We still use dryer sheets so that imparts a nice light fragrance. This is saving us tons of money!

This got me into researching to to go further with this idea of making household products at home (some of the research done off of the BYC site), and found a recipe to replace our dishwasher soap products as well. You basicaly mix together the dry ingredients of borax and the Arm and Hammer together again which you already have from making your laundry soap, at a rate of 50/50. In our dishwasher, we use about a half of a tablespoon measure. It works great too and is also really cheap! Another expensive product you don't have to buy. I just mix up a batch and keep it in a cleaned empty mayonaise jar with a measuring spoon to make it easy for my sons to know how much product to use.

When we had a spill on the carpet, I used my "dishwasher" powder mixed with a little warm water to get out the spill. Then I noticed it got some old stains out of my carpet as well. The stuff is great. I also mixed a little vinegar into the water on that batch.

Fels Naptha is also really a cool soap, we have found you can just rub it into laundry stains instead of buying spray n wash or whatever. It also worked really well getting stubborn greasy stuff off my husband's hands (although we don't generally use it as a hand soap). I like the smell it has and the way it makes the laundry smell. It is a very light scent though.

This has also lead me to try using vinegar and water to clean my windows (works okay, not fantastic) and to scrub out my tub with baking soda (plain, just like scrubbing powder). I really liked using the baking soda in my tub. Not only was it cheap and it worked well...but in my next tub bath I was not worried that a little bit of grit might have not gotten 100 percent rinsed. It is nice to take a bath with baking soda thrown in!
We also feel this is better for our septic system.

I did have a dud, there is a recipe to wash your hair in a baking soda mixture and rinse it with a vinegar mixture. While I liked both, they did not perform the same functions as my normal hair products and I will probably just continue to use them occasionally like when I run out of something.

We have been (by necessity) been on an economic kick in this family and it was awfully nice to have something to contribute to the family like this. I wanted to thank all the resourceful people out there who posted their recipes. I used the one posted by someone name Red I think and I'd like to thank her but can't find her post now. In any event, this group is awesome!

I'd still like to learn to make hair gel, lotion, make up, and hair conditioner if anyone out there has ideas for me! Or if they know how I can thank "Red" for her recipe which has saved our family so much money already.