Self-Sufficient Homemade Recipes

[JennsPeeps]

I've been making my own laundry soap for a while now (3 batches worth!). I'm really noticing that my whites are all looking really dingy. Any ideas?

 

[ntiveheart]

Quote:
vinegar in the rinse water should take care of it

 

[ozark hen]

Liz, I read your post with growing interest. My dh has rubbed Vicks on my feet when I get a really bad cold. He then covers my feet with socks. I thought he was a "a tad

" but now it does work and you just helped me understand the "why" of it. thanks for sharing with us as I love some of your suggestions.

 

[Sugar Sand Farm]

I make my own version of the liquid laundry soap and everyone loves it
I couldn't find washing soda for the longest time I jus t doubled up on the borax
I recently bought some sodium carbonate at the pool store and have been using that.
This is what I use to make the liquid soap
1/2 cup borax
1/3 cup washingsoda
1/2 bar FelsNaptha or Zote
1 cup powdered color safe bleach
6 qts of water
I grate the soap and add the rest to the 6 quarts of water
heat until soap melts.
Cool put 3 quarts into 2 1 gallon milk jug
fill with additional quart of cold water
shake and let sit over night I use 1/2 to 1 cup of soap
I have very hard water and I find this works very well I do not have to use laundry softener. I made the powdered soap and was disapointed in how rough the clothes were.
I also used this soap to clean my carpets. I had two spots where my grandson spilled coke that I could not get out I was amazed that the spot came right out with just alittle pretreating with this soap. (that spot was years old)

 

[addiedunn]

Yesterday I read all 21 pages of this thread and was just tickled to death to find it. I made a shopping list and off I went for the laundry supplies.
Unfortunately, what I DIDN'T read was the clickable links. I should have. First, I went to Wal mart. I found the borax. Next to it on the shelf was the big orange box of A&H with a picture of laundry on the front. But it said baking soda, even though it was sitting there, in its big old box, right there with the laundry stuff. I bought it and went on to the dollar store, where I had no luck finding any of it. Then I went to Kroger and they had all three ingredients. I went ahead and bought the fels naptha and washing soda and went home to find out the difference between washing soda and baking soda. (This is where the clickable links would have saved me a couple bucks since someone posted the difference in the two earlier)

Baking soda is sodium bicarbonate and washing soda is sodium carbonate. You might be able to use baking soda in your wash but you sure can't use washing soda in your baking.

Now I have a BIG box of baking soda...mmmmm, what to do with it?

Also, I noticed people praising Dawn dish liquid. Years ago I had a job in plant maintenance. Tropicals mostly. And we used dawn for a couple of things. If your houseplants have spider mite, put a couple of drops of dawn (for some reason, it has to be the original blue stuff) in a spray bottle, fill with water and spray your plants. This will also work on those pesky gnats that sometimes live in the soil of your houseplants.

 

[addiedunn]

And then I MADE the liquid detergent. OK--everyone talks about it setting up, but mine is really set. Like jello. And its already in the old Tide jugs and it won't come out. Its set like jello...really firm. When I finally coaxed some out with a really long screwdriver (opening too small for a spoon) it blobbed in the washer and sat there, solid. I agitated for a while before I put the clothes in and it still was there, in it's gelatinous state. Can you not use this with cold water? Do any of you have trouble with it leaving film?

 

[Chicken Woman]

Mine is more solid than I would like as well but when I shake it it does come out. I usually start the load on hot add the detergent and then switch to cold. That little bit of hot seems to disolve it fine. If your getting film left on cloths your using to much. I also put about 3 or 4 tablespoons of vinager in the softner compartment so it will be added to the rinse cycle. That will cut any left over residue.

 

[Redfeathers]

I've been making this detergent for months and really do think it does an excellent job. I make the liquid version and use a funnel to pour it into 3 liter pop bottles. I leave the top third empty and once the soap has set into it's jello like form...I add hot water to the top and shake the h*ll out of it.

It mixes up well enough that I can easily pour it. I've never had a problem with film on the clothing and I mostly wash in cold....except my whites and bedding. I think the trick is to leave enough room in the bottle to add the water after it has "set".

 

[Judy]

Quote:
Ammonia straight out of the bottle does the same thing (all I can buy is Parson's sudsing; works fine.) I keep a bottle of ammonia in the garden shed. Also works on fire ant stings, wasp stings, and Portugese Man-of-War stings, that I can vouch for, so I imagine it would work on any poisonous type sting.

Either Adolph's or ammonia work better if you gently rub it into the skin for a minute or two.

Reasoning is that the ammonia or enzyme in Adolph's dissolve the protein in the poison, or so I read somewhere.

 

[Acre of Blessings]

Quote:
This is the reason I went to Food Lion and asked for a bucket out of the deli dept. so I could put my detergent in it. You will need a long metal spoon to keep it stirred, or you can heat it on the stove top in a small pot for a couple minutes.