Homemade Laundry Detergent 101

We've been reading the Little House series of books in our house. We've finished Little House in the Big Woods, Little House on the Prairie and are in the last chapter of Farmer Boy, which is about Laura's future husband, Almanzo. Our boys love these books (we even got to see two Little House towns on our big summer trip; I'll share about that another time soon) and, truth be told, I love them, too.

There is a great deal of the difficult, yet hands-on nature of the lives of the characters that I find incredibly appealing. The Ingalls and the Wilder families had to work hard for everything they enjoyed in life and seemed to take little or nothing for granted. The lives of the mothers in the stories seem exhausting, but so fulfilling.

I love the way that the Ingalls and Wilder families made, caught or grew nearly everything they used in daily existence, like clothing, homes, tools, candles, and even soap.  Reading the books has made me think about going "off the grid" ---this says the "blogger"!--- and living off the land. After a few moments, I recall that I can't really sew, I don't have the stomach to carve up the "dinner" that my hubby hunts, and I can barely keep basil alive for the summer. Alas, I have aspirations to be more thrifty, more conscious of wastefulness, and better at finding simple solutions for household needs.

One way I've done that is by making my some of my own cleaning products of late. Thankfully, I don't have to be like Ma Ingalls and make soap using lye and animal fat. However, I do like the idea that the products I'm using aren't chemical-y (add it to the Mostly Mom lexicon! It's a word now!) and stinky. I like the idea that they do the job without endangering me or my family. I got the recipe from a sorority sister at her adorable and fun blog, Monkeys on the Bed. My FAVORITE product is the Frosting Scrub that replaces Soft Scrub. It works very well and is so gentle on the skin.

After using these products for a while, I decided I'd like to tackle making my own laundry soap. Again, I'm not going Ma Ingalls here, since they used the same soap for just about every job. But from all I'd read, homemade laundry detergent is more economical, more gentle and less sudsy (see previous post) in the washing machine, too!

Making the soap was very easy and I can say that it works very, very well!

Let's make it!

The supplies you'll need are as follows:

Borax, Washing Soda, and a bar of gentle soap (I used Fels Naptha).

I did a little hunting to find out how the powdered ingredients work. The Borax (which has other AMAZING cleaning abilities, read the box!) works by turning some water molecules into the powerful cleaning agent, hydrogen peroxide, and also disinfects and kills germs/pests. The Washing Soda is highly alkaline, so it behaves like a solvent and a non-chlorine bleach. It can also be very helpful for those with hard water. It's chemical name is Sodium Carbonate, which is different from Sodium BiCarbonate, or Baking Soda.

ALL of these products are readily available. I got mine at Cub, our local grocery store. I have also purchased Borax at Target or Wal-Mart. The Borax was $3.99, Washing Soda was $2.59 and the Fels Naptha was $1.89. I will get many, many batches out of the washing soda and Borax as the boxes are quite large.

First, you'll need to use a box grater or food processor to grind up/shave your bar soap.  I cut up the bar of soap, then had my handsome assistant, Littlest Man, feed it carefully into the chute of the food processor under the closest of supervision! The recipe that I detail below is for one batch. We made several batches at once, as I thought it would be easier to do so. We also make a whole heckuvalot of laundry around here.

After Littlest Man and I fed the soap through the food processor using a fine grater disk, I ran it through the regular food processor using the chopper part (I don't know the technical term) so it would be more fine and "chopped up". I'm sure the bar could easily be grated using a box grater in front of, say, and episode of "Barefoot Contessa."

The next steps are easy as can be! Simply measure out the required amounts of Borax and Washing Soda (again, I made a big batch, so pictured amounts are much greater than the recipe below).

Mix the ingredients well, or have your handsome assistant do the work while you finish your nonfat mocha, listen to your favorite tunes and successfully avoid emptying the dishwasher.

 

And that is it! Once you're done, store the detergent in a sealed container. I re-purposed a gallon ice cream container, but I'm on the lookout for a better (and more attractive!) container.  I labeled the top and used it right away! I think the soap works really well. It requires only 1 TB per load, or 2 TB for heavily soiled loads. I have no complaints thus far! I find it dissolves well and gets the job done for a lot less $!

Homemade Laundry Detergent


   1 cup soap flakes  (Ivory, Fels Naptha, or other gentle soap)
   1/2 cup washing soda
   1/2 cup Borax

Mix well and store in a sealed container. Use 1-2 TB per load.


Note, this same recipe can be made as a liquid detergent, as follows.
   1 cup soap flakes *
   1/2 cup washing soda
   1/2 cup 20 Mule Team Borax

Mix the soap flakes in a pan with 3 pints of water over medium heat, until it all dissolves, roughly 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in the washing soda and Borax. Mix until everything thickens, another 3 minutes or so, then remove from heat. Put 1 quart of hot water in a 2 gallon bucket, then add the soap mixture you just made. Mix well.
Now fill the bucket with the mixture with cold water. Stir until well blended. It will thicken and separate as it cools. Stir or shake well before using. Use 1/2 cup for each load, or more for very dirty items.
*Fels Naptha, Ivory, etc.

Laundry Blues

I wonder how many of you own or are considering the purchase of a High Efficiency Washing machine.

I love the size of the machine and how many items I can cram in there. It definitely has a large capacity and does a decent job of getting my mountains of laundry clean. It does take a bit longer to complete a load than a regular front loading, old school machine, but does an admirable job for the most part. I do have one major complaint though. I grumble about the way it washes towels, or rather, fails to rinse them fully.

The failure to fully rinse the towels isn't noticeable at first. However, after months of using the high efficiency machine, I noticed that the towels would seem clean after being washed & dried. But AS SOON as they were wet after a shower/bath, the towel would smell moldy and mildew-y. I began washing more frequently (2-3x/week for towels), used more Tide (my previous brand of choice) and even added vinegar, Oxy Clean, you name it! The problem was still happening, and SO gross! If I dried my face on the towel, the smell would transfer. So icky. And odd. The towels would smell Tide and Downy fresh upon departure from the dryer, but stinky as soon as they did their toweling job!

So, I thought I'd do a bit of research. I hunted a bunch on the internet. Sad, but true. I found that a LOT of people had this problem (which was good as I was seriously thinking I was just a bad little washer woman!). Here is a summary of what I found:

1) Simply using HE detergent isn't enough. Even HE detergents instruct the user to use WAY too much detergent, particularly liquid detergents.
2) The HE models use an insufficient amount of water for successful rinsing of heavy or highly absorbent laundry items, resulting in an incomplete rinsing of excess soap from the laundry, particularly the towels.

This discovery made sense! Extra soap + Super Absorbent Towels + Not enough water to rinse = Mildew that would grow/build up over a long period of time!

Basically, the mildew takes a while to really grow, so the smell wasn't obvious right away. And the towels seemed clean at first, but adding dampness made the smell obvious. Ta da! I kept on reading to find out about how to solve the problem and prevent it in the future.

Here is a little of what I learned:
1) The cleaning formula for liquid vs. powdered detergents is not the same. Powdered Tide, from what I read, has a different chemical makeup and can do a better job of cleaning
2) Mildew and Mold like HE washers. Make sure you check the front "lip/seal" of rubber on your machine. I wipe mine often and, about once a month, do a load of just hot water with bleach to kill anything growing. Vinegar works, too. Make sure you leave the door open after washing, too, to let the machine air out.
3) Use LESS! Whether you choose liquid or powdered detergent, most sites I saw recommended using 1/4 to 1/2 of the amount recommended by the manufacturers to get your clothes clean.

Now that I knew what was causing the problem, I read on to find out what to do to fix it. Would I have to buy all new towels? Thank goodness, no! In order to tackle the problem of stinky towels, first I washed the towels over and over and over with no detergent at all. Even though I didn't use detergent, suds kept coming out of the towels, even after 3 washes. I think I ended up washing them 4 or 5 times to completely get rid of the soap build-up inside the towels.

Next, I did decide to switch to a powdered version of Tide HE. I later switched to the Kirkland Brand from Costco. Now I have begun making my own powdered laundry detergent as it is cheaper, less sudsy (which helps with the rinsing because less water is present) and very gentle. More on that another day.

I also read that using too much fabric softener adds to the problem, so I always water mine down a bit and use less.

So there you have it. A laundry mystery debunked. Kind of sad that I'd be so excited about it, but what can I say? I lead a sheltered life. I'll share the recipe I use for laundry detergent another day. It's easy, affordable and fun for the whole family. That last line may be a bit of an exaggeration.

***photos courtesy of Creative Commons on Flickr

Keen on Keens, or How to Wash Your Keens

Keens are fantastic shoes. The Little Men each were given a pair by their grandma this summer. They loved them! They wore them nearly every day of the summer for nearly every activity: from playing in the yard, hiking in Devil's Tower & the Black Hills to going fishing. The shoes held up to every test they were put to this summer.

**notice the Keens in action in the Badlands. The Little Men hiked way up high with no problems!** However, after a summer of rough and tough wear and tear, they stink. Literally. SO gross! I have washed off and rinsed them a few times over the summer, as well as wiped the soles with tea tree oil. It was a temporary fix at best. Our Keens have needed some help, big time!

After looking online at the Keens website, I discovered that they can be washed in the washing machine. Using my own homemade laundry soap (more about that soon!), which is incredibly gentle and contains Borax (which is a god-sent product that kills all kinds of odors!), I threw them in the wash, along with 4 drops of Tea Tree Oil for extra disinfecting.

I actually washed them once, then soaked them in a Borax/Washing Soda bath, then washed them again with a few more drops of Tea Tree Oil. Next, I used the coolest feature of a high efficiency front loading dryer: the drying rack. I set the Keens on the rack and ran the dryer on Air Dry. Please note: The Keens site recommends NOT using the dryer, but with the drying rack it was merely like having the wind blow the Keens dry. They did not get tumbled or heated up in the dryer. Use a regular dryer at your Keens' peril! After an hour on the drying rack, the Keens were as good as new! I am so pleased with how easy it was to return them to a non-smelly state!