Make Your Own Fabric Softener Crystals. Are you a fan of fabric softener crystals like Purex but not a fan of the price?? Try making your own! Yesterday as I was doing laundry I noticed I was almost out of my homemade laundry detergent. Since I am going to be gone for 4 days this week, I didn’t want to give the hubster any excuses for not doing laundry while I’m gone (I could just hear it now, “Honey, there was no laundry detergent! I COULDN’T do laundry!”) I had all the ingredients on hand for my powdered laundry detergent recipe except for the Purex Crystals, so I just left it out. The nice thing about making your own? All you need is: Epsom saltessential oil(s) of your choice Start with 10 drops of essential oil per 1 cup of Epsom salt (you can add more for a stronger scent if you prefer). I decided to start with 4 cups of Epsom salt and added 20 drops of lavender and 20 drops of lemon. Give the salt a quick stir to distribute the oils and you’re ready to go!
Be sure to check out the One Good Thing By Jillee FORUM! How to Make your own Laundry Soap. Last December my friend Celina blogged about making her own laundry soap. I decided that I would try it out once my current supply ran out. I did a lot of research online to find as much information as I could about making my own laundry soap. What I found was that pretty much all the recipes are essentially the same, some people use more or less of each ingredient, and that bath soap does not clean as well as laundry soap. I also learned that this is great for High Efficiency washers because it makes little to no suds (FYI the suds in store bought laundry detergent are for looks only and don't actually have anything to do with cleaning.) In the end I went with Celina's recipe because a) she's my friend so I believe her when she says something works and b) because I believe her, her recipe is considered tried and true, c) it seemed pretty easy and d)Celina already did the price breakdown which saved me a lot of mental math work.
Here's what you need: Check me out! Update: DIY Dryer Sheets. Mom's Super Laundry Sauce | Whipped Laundry Soap | Make your own Laundry Detergent. The following Content was Provided by www.Budget101.com "Digging yourself out of debt, when all you have is a spoon" Here is an amazingly simple Do It Yourself detergent that doesn't leave any residue on clothing, gets nearly every stain known to man out the first time around and smells clean and fresh- oh and did I mention that it costs about $1.76 for 128 loads of laundry?
Since our teen son started working at a fast food restaurant, this has become our most-loved detergent recipe. His clothing was so saturated with heavy french fry and onion ring grease scent that even washing them in TIDE didn't take out the horrendous smell. I whipped up a half gallon of this detergent and washed his clothes while he was at school- he thought I'd gotten a new shirt from his boss at work! By the way, One Single tablespoon of soap does a whole load of wash! Mom's Super Laundry Sauce Recipe adapted from Whipped Laundry Concentrate 1 bar Fels Naptha (Yes, the ENTIRE Bar!) Top Loading Machine Directions. Top 3 DIY Lavender Laundry Essentials! DIY: Hillbilly Washing Machine « refashionista. This is a great method for off-the-grid low-tech clothes washing or, in my case, diaper washing as part of the Second Annual Flats and Handwashing Challenge. The total cost to make this washer was around $6, and about 10 minutes.
The amount of time it takes to operate depends entirely on the quantity of clothing and the type of material being washed. Denim, for example, will take more effort than t-shirts. The first thing you need to do is obtain a suitable bucket. The place where I work often has empty 18.9L (5 US gallon) detergent buckets, so I popped over to pick one up. Total cost to me? $0 These buckets are great because the cover already has a small lidded opening in the cover — you will want to use it with the cover on to avoid splashing. The other thing you need is a traditional-style toilet plunger. The plunger, and the plunging action employed through good old elbow grease, act as the agitator in your washing machine.
The next step is putting it through a trial run. Like this: Miracle Laundry Whitening Solution. It’s been quite awhile since I’ve posted ANYTHING about laundry! I’m going through withdrawals! :-) I’m one of those strange people who likes laundry. And one of the things I like MOST about it…is the sense of accomplishment when something dirty comes out CLEAN. I guess I also like the “challenge” aspect of it as well. Turning dirty, dingy, grimy and stained into white, bright, fresh and clean. Yep, I find that very appealing. :-) So when I came across this “recipe” for whitening whites in the comments section of a post at Homemade Mamas, I knew I had to try it. Katie JoMar commented: HOT HOT HOT water1 cup of laundry detergent1 cup powdered dish washer detergent1 cup bleach1/2 cup borax After filling the washing machine with HOT water….I also dumped in a large-sized pot of water I had brought to a boil on the stove.
Another thing to remember is to add the above ingredients to as small a load size as possible. Let soak for as long as you can stand it! A Natural Bleach Alternative. My Homemade Laundry Products Line-Up. I’ve had quite a few questions lately about the different homemade laundry products I use. I have done posts about all of these before…but they are in different places throughout the website.
I’m not going to rehash those original posts (you can click on the links and get all the details), but hopefully this will give you an idea of what I use on a day-to-day basis to replace the over-packaged, over-priced brand names in my laundry room. After more than 6 months using this exclusively (after lots of tweaking!) , I am pleased with what I have come up with FOR MY FAMILY. Stain Pre-treater (“Shout”): This is what I use to pre-treat stains on clothing before I send them through the wash. And Laundry Detergent: My laundry detergent recipe has evolved over time to the point that now I have it down to a science….for me. Stain Remover (“Oxi-Clean”): I like to use this stuff to add an extra PUNCH of cleaning/whitening to my laundry…usually my whites. Giving “Bounce” Dryer Sheets the Bounce!
Make A Year’s Worth of Laundry Soap for $30.00. Regular readers of this blog will know that I am completely sold on the No-Grate Laundry Detergent that I posted back in February of this year. But, like I’ve said many times on this website, I am always open to new ideas! And I really liked this idea that someone posted as a comment awhile back. A YEARS worth of Laundry Soap!?!? That’s an idea that is hard NOT to get behind! Plus, I’ve been curious about the “dry” version of homemade laundry detergent that so many people are fond of. Here is the recipe that Anonymous posted (the text in red are my notes): Anonymous said… I make a dry version which works better for my family. To grate the bars of soap I decided to make it easier on myself and use my ancient Hamilton Beach food processor. My only other tip for this recipe has to do with the “mixing”. Potholes & Pantyhose | Easy Laundry Soap. My month long challenge of slowly ridding our house of nasty chemicals began several weeks ago.
My first item to replace was my face lotion. I created a Recipe for Facial Moisturizer and secondly, I wanted to replace my dishwasher detergent DIY Organic Dishwasher Detergent. This last week, I shared a replacement for face wash with my Cheap, Organic Face Wash recipe. I am concocting my own household replacements with little more than what I have on hand or what I can find at the organic market.
But the replacements must meet or exceed three important expectations for this frugal gal: 1. Photo source unknown If the product I create passes the final test-me using it for over two plus weeks to make sure it does its job-then I’ll be sharing it with you. I’ve seen a million recipes for laundry soap floating around the world wide web (as my mother calls it). I hope you enjoy my Easy Laundry Soap recipe.
What you’ll need to make your very own Easy Laundry Soap (this makes approx. 48 loads): Make Your Own {Reusable} Dryer Sheets. I’ve been using my own homemade “dryer sheets” for about 9 months now and have been very happy with the method. But even though I may be an “old dog”…I can be taught “new tricks”. :-) When I saw this idea from Heather at Living On Love and Cents recently I decided it was worth trying something new. The thing that appealed to me most about this idea was it eliminates the fishing out and squeezing dry step. Which, to be honest, doesn’t really bother me, but then again…it’s not necessarily my favorite thing either. :-) So, here is my updated version of “Homemade Dryer Sheets” for your consideration.
I decided to start with 4 white dishrags I already had on hand in my stash. I happened to have JUST ENOUGH Downy Fabric Softener left in this bottle to make this work. I thoroughly soaked all four dish rags with full strength Downy. Allow the towels to dry THOROUGHLY! Throw one sheet in with a load of clothes. So give it a try and let me know what you think. Fresh Scent Homemade Fabric Softener. If you are a fan of my homemade No-Grate Laundry Soap but miss the “fragrance” aspect of it…have I got an idea for you! Basically it takes the two most basic “fabric softening” substances….baking soda and vinegar….and adds a little scent love. Thanks to Poppy at Poppy’s Money Tree House for the inspiration! Start out with some sort of “scent booster”. I used Purex Crystals because I had some left over from making my “Make A Year’s Worth of Laundry Soap for $30.00” post, but Downy Unstopables or Gain Fireworks could work as well.
Add 1/4 to 1/2 cup of your scent-booster of choice to one cup hot water (from the tap will do) and stir. Let sit while you combine the other ingredients, stirring occasionally. Add 1 cup of baking soda to a large bowl. Baking soda helps to regulate the pH level in the laundry rinse water by keeping it from being too acidic or alkaline. Then VERY SLOWLY add 6 cups of white distilled vinegar. Vinegar naturally softens laundry by removing the soap and residue build-up.