I recently started to make my own laundry detergent (I'll put the recipe at the end, Diz)....I cannot blame my issues on homemade products as this has been a thorn in my side for years. And I realize once the stains are set in, they will not come out...so, we'll just buy MORE new t-shirts.
How can I stop this before it starts? I'll tell ya, if this is my biggest worry in life....I'm okay with that, but this has been bugging me for a long time.
I was going to post pictures, but I thought that might be pushing the envelope a little too far. Maybe, if I find a solution, I'll show a before and after pic.
Homemade Laundry Soap
1/3 bar Fels Naptha
1 cup Washing Soda
1 cup Borax powder
Grate soap and put in saucepan
add 6 cups water and heat until soap melts
add washing soda and borax, stir until dissolved
remove from heat
pour 4 cups HOT water into a bucket
add soap mixture, stir
add 1 gallon + 6 cups water, stir
let soap sit for about 24 hours to gel
1/3 bar Fels Naptha
1 cup Washing Soda
1 cup Borax powder
Grate soap and put in saucepan
add 6 cups water and heat until soap melts
add washing soda and borax, stir until dissolved
remove from heat
pour 4 cups HOT water into a bucket
add soap mixture, stir
add 1 gallon + 6 cups water, stir
let soap sit for about 24 hours to gel
*a few notes....I found the bar soap and Borax immediately in the laundry aisle of Giant Eagle. No store near me carried Arm&Hammer Washing Soda (if I asked, GE could order it for me), but we ordered 2 boxes on Ebay. Even after it sits for a day, it is not totally gelled. It's more like a soup with foam on top. I stir it everytime I use it. It is a low sudsing formula, and safe for HE models. Use 1/2 cup for a full load
*one batch equals 2 gallons and you can add 1 ounce of essential oil to scent.
*it smells very strongly of soap, but has no longering smell after the dryer...nothing, not a scent! I added grapefruit oil to my most recent batch. It smells wonderfull in the bucket and on wet clothes, but is gone after the dryer. So, I'll add more to the mix next time.
*yes, it really cleans the clothes (I still use a stain fighter on spots, but I did that with store bought detergent, too) and Jay did the math (thanks, Honey!)...the huge container from Sam's broke down to about $.14/load, this is about $.01/load. Not bad, huh?
*one batch equals 2 gallons and you can add 1 ounce of essential oil to scent.
*it smells very strongly of soap, but has no longering smell after the dryer...nothing, not a scent! I added grapefruit oil to my most recent batch. It smells wonderfull in the bucket and on wet clothes, but is gone after the dryer. So, I'll add more to the mix next time.
*yes, it really cleans the clothes (I still use a stain fighter on spots, but I did that with store bought detergent, too) and Jay did the math (thanks, Honey!)...the huge container from Sam's broke down to about $.14/load, this is about $.01/load. Not bad, huh?
4 comments:
I heard OxyClean is supposed to be great for white. Bleach actually makes the yellowing worse. Also- I read that you're supposed to wash whites EVERY SINGLE TIME you wear them. I doubt that Jay is reusing his undershirts, but sometimes people try to get a couple uses out of dress shirts, and while that's fine for darks, oils tend to build up on whites and get stained. I saved a couple of articles on the topic, I can bring them tonight and see if we can't make some stain fighting magic.
Oh- and P.S. does anyone remember that detergent commercial about "body soil" with a guy jumping into a bed filled with gross buggy germ stuff? I throw up just thinking about it. You're welcome.
When I used the Oxy Clean powder and bleach in the same load, EVERY stain came out bright yellow!!!
I, too, use the Oxy Clean in every load and use the spray version for stains. With Purex detergent.
Could you try using Oxy Clean, but w/out the Clorox if Clorox does indeed make those types of stains worse?
I'm not a laundry expert, though. At my house it's a good week if I get the laundry somewhat caught up on. "Doing the laundry" can often be confused with blogging...as it's the code name we have for me blogging...or using Facebook now.
I like the just buy new undershirts method. :)
I've just kinda accepted the fact that eventually I'll just get new undershirts, cause they ain't coming clean.
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