Every once in a while, I love to share something I've done that is sort-of out of the ordinary.
Well, today I put on an apron and spent a large portion of my day in my kitchen.
Even though I love these kinds of days, there are definitely very "out of the ordinary" for me!
Since it's summer break and things are a bit slower in our worlds, one of my teacher friends (Vicki) and I decided to try our hand at a couple new recipes........
This first recipe is NOT edible, so please don't consider it as a dinner idea.
About a month ago, another friend (Dana) was telling me about making homemade laundry detergent and how much money it was going to save her every year. She also talked about how clean her clothes were when she used it, and how it seemed to bring out the fragrance of her fabric softener more powerfully. A couple of weeks later, she brought me some detergent to try; and I loved it! So I bought the ingredients and decided to give it a try myself!
Here's all you need to make over four gallons of laundry detergent!
Doing a load of laundry ends up only costing a few pennies!
And all four ingredients can be found at WalMart near the laundry detergent aisle!
The first step is grating an entire bar of Fels-naptha soap.
After grating the soap, melt it in a pan on low heat along with four cups of water.
Stir frequently.
Once the soap is melted, add one cup of baking soda, one cup of Borax, and two cups of washing soda.
Stir until dissolved.
Pour this mixture into a five-gallon bucket, add three gallons of water, and stir.
The detergent needs to sit overnight and then be stirred again in the morning.
You can then pour it into however many different containers it takes to store it all.
Dana uses old 2-liters and old detergent bottles.
We'll be using those kinds of containers in the morning to store ours (after our mixture sits overnight).
For front-loading machines, you will use 1/2 cup of detergent for each load.
For top-loading machines, you will use 1 cup for each load.
(Be sure to always shake your detergent bottles before pouring as some of the ingredients seem to separate with time.)
Happy washing!
My next post will include our second recipe attempt!
It is edible!
2 Comments:
I've made laundry detergent for years. We use Ivory Soap instead of Fels Naptha though. FN wasn't always available but Ivory was. I cut the recipe back and put it in a hinged, lidded "tub" I found at the store so it could be made and stored in the same container. I just kept a wooden spoon in the container to stir before use, and a measuring cup scoop just stayed in the tub too. My sister makes a powdered version but I don't have her recipe. We've made dishwasher detergent, too.
I want your dishwasher detergent recipe!! Please!!!! Love you!!
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