Comments on: Frugal Friday: homemade laundry soap

By: Taylor

Taylor — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 21:06:25 +0000

Stinky laundry solutions: don’t use Ivory soap. For some reason, it stales the detergent. We converted to using Zote soap (found at Family Dollar/Dollar General/Mexican market stores all for about $1, large enough to use for 4 batches) and haven’t had the ‘stinky feet’ smell or ‘urine-like’ smell since. Also throw a cup of vinegar w/ a cup of baking soda and run your washer like normal (without clothes) to clean out the gunk buildup. That’ll eliminate the smell too.
Homemade detergent works wonderfully in front-load washers. Front loads require low-suds (suds clog the tubing) and homemade detergent is minimal in the suds department. Also, fun fact: people tend to equate suds & bubbles with cleaning product effectiveness. To get more suds, you use more product. So it’s been just a marketing scheme all along to sell more products since you use more product, you replenish your inventory = more money for the manufacturer. And then it’s a double whammy to charge more for “special” detergent for front-load machines, when in fact it’s probably cheaper to manufacture front-load detergent since they don’t have to add extra suds in the first place.

By: Karen

Karen — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 13:36:42 +0000

I found that an easy way to add a nice/familiar scent to my homemade laundry soap is to ad a small amount (1/4-1/2 Cup) of scented store bought laundry detergent to it. This raises the price only slightly (depending on the brand you use) and gives it that “clean” smell that some people seem to miss.

By: AzNative73

AzNative73 — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 04:33:44 +0000

A lot of great information!!! I live on a well with really hard water. I have bought the main ingredients to make my own laundry soap, and my questions is…can you mix the Oxygen Cleaner and/or the Water Softening Powder to the other ingredients during the initial “stove top” stage if I am wanting to make the liquid?

I have teenagers and don’t know if they would run hot water first to dissolve it, and then change to cold. Lol!

Thank you in advance for any help or advice you can give me!!!

By: jackie

jackie — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 11:03:15 +0000

For those who say they want the smell of fabric softener in their clothing, PLEASE google “fabric softener dangers”. Softeners are simply toxins, made to smell nice with perfumes. I’ve been using vinegar as a softener for months. Leaves my clothes soft, static free, less lint in dryer and the clothes smell fresh.

By: Lara

Lara — Thu, 20 May 2010 02:37:59 +0000

I have been using my homemade detergent for 6 months. I made a 5 gallon bucket, and I still have a quarter of it left. I have not used any store bought detergent since. It is working great. If I notice that my whites are looking a little dingy, I put a couple of drops of Mrs. Stewarts in it and they are back to normal. The key to using the bluing is to not use fabric softener in that load.

I used a couple of bars of Irish Spring, and it really does give the laundry a nice scent. I miss the tide scent, but enjoy the price of my homemade.

For those that cannot find washing soda. It is not baking soda. They are both made by arm & hammer but are chemically different. If you can’t find the actual washing soda, look in the pool supplies for ph plus. Same thing. Or, just take baking soda, put it on a baking sheet and bake it for 30 minutes at 425. This will chemically change it to washing soda.

I store mine in a 5 gallon bucket with a lid from a hardware store, and stir it with a yard stick before each time I refill my detergent bottle. I have a small Mrs. Meyers bottle so it’s easy to shake it up.

I can honestly say that I won’t go back to the store stuff. I make my own fabric softener too. Takes me 5 minutes, tops.

By: theresa

theresa — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 01:55:27 +0000

To get whites white again using blueing. It comes in a tiny bottle and only takes two or three drops per large load. I use Mrs. Stewarts. Amazing stuff, we keep our undies covered at all times, but its nice to have bright white dress shirts for the boys and men.

By: INflea

INflea — Sun, 31 May 2009 02:08:11 +0000

I know this thread is a few months old, but maybe people still check in. I have been using homemade soap for several months, so far it is great. I think the cleaning power is comparable to detergents. I have a messy 3 year old, so her clothes still have stains, but they did with Tide too. I have allergies to every detergent, except Tide so I tried homemade to save money. So far no allergies or other problems. I have tried 5 or 6 recipes, but have not found a liquid one I liked. The texture is always yucky. I am making the one above with glycerin tonight to see if that helps the texture. To address a few people’s comments:

Faith: I too love the smell of Tide. After using homemade soap for months I found some Tide with a little left and did a load with it. It smelled great! You could add essential oils to your homemade soap for more smell. I haven’t tried that since I have a lot of fragrance allergies. Also, the Fels Naptha smells so fresh and clean. It makes my whole basement smell good when I do a load of laundry.

Vicki: I have read on other sites about front loaders getting stinky. It is the machine itself, not necessarily the clothes. The tips I read are to use vinegar in the rinse cycle and to leave the front door open after you take the load out so it can dry. Something about the mechanics of the machine trap water in the seal and make it stinky if it doesn’t air dry.

Susan: I don’t know if enthusiasm wanes b/c people are tired of making their own soap or if the results really changed. I think the vinegar in the rinse cycle is key to preventing buildup. People should consider adding in that step.

I will update on how this liquid recipes compares to others.

By: A Living Fragrance » Blog Archive » Daily Digest for 2009-05-25

A Living Fragrance » Blog Archive » Daily Digest for 2009-05-25 — Tue, 26 May 2009 05:26:55 +0000

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By: We eat cloth eggs | Life In a Shoe

We eat cloth eggs | Life In a Shoe — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 17:09:01 +0000

[...] soda/vinegar, using baking soda/cornstarch/tea trea oil for homemade deoderant, making our own laundry soap, growing a garden, line drying all of our clothes. But it all started with cloth [...]

By: kimc

kimc — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 05:56:45 +0000

Mrs. Klause,
We have extremely hard water here and I’ve never been thrilled with any of the detergents I tried, so I’m not sure my experience will compare to other users, but I have to say I really can’t tell a difference between homemade and store bought – except in price.
Our clothes seem as clean as usual (which is not sparkling in our water, but fresh and free of dirt & food). Not everything comes out, but it never did.
I *am* interested in trying Susan Keister’s recipe above because it sounds like it might really thrill me. I just need to gather the ingredients and get to it eventually!