Dry Laundry Detergent
I feel like I've been out of touch for a long time. Getting ready for, having, and then recovering the house from my yard sale has been exceedingly time consuming. I'm nearly caught up and will be back to posting regularly, but I wanted to share something I experimented with during this upheaval....DRY homemade laundry detergent.
I LOVE my recipe for liquid laundry detergent. I still MUCH prefer it. But, in a pinch, I mixed up the following recipe and it has done the job just fine. The only drawback is that it doesn't dissolve well in cold water and little pieces of dried soap fall out when I remove the laundry from the washer. It works in an emergency, though!
Dry Laundry Detergent
2 cups Fels Naptha, Castille or Ivory Soap
1 cup Washing Soda
1 cup Borax
Mix well and store in plastic container. Use 2 tablespoons per full load (regular washer, not front loader).
(NOTE: The only soap I had was "Aloe" scented Ivory. It smelled GREAT, but if one is allergic to perfumes, definitely go with the unscented.)
(ANOTHER NOTE: The soap needs to be ground up pretty finely or it will not dissolve. My hand grater has several sizes of holes. Use the smallest that works. Don't use the large "shredder" holes. I speak from experience.)
3 comments:
I have been using the dry recipe and have had the same problem of the soap not dissolving entirely! I have to run hot water into the washer first and swish it around before I switch back to cold water & add the clothes. :( When it's time to make some more I'm going to try your recipe for the liquid!!
I've been using this recipe with the fels naptha soap for over a year now. I grate the soap with my cheese grater's large holes, then run it though my food chopper to grate it very finely. I just put the chopper in the dishwasher afterwards; I figure since it's just soap, it won't hurt to use my food chopper.
I used Jeannie's suggestion and did the hot/cold switch. It solved the problem!
See--there's no one around here IRL that I could get this information from. That's why I love blogs. We can share information with like-minded people even if we don't live near one another!
Thanks Jeannie!
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