Friday, November 18, 2011

Homemade Laundry Cream

I have been wanting to try some homemade laundry detergents for quite awhile now.
I found this recipe at A Quiver Full of Blessings and was out of laundry detergent,
 so it was time!

Homemade Laundry Cream Ingredients:
  • 6 Cups of water
  • 2 Cups of Borax
  • 2 Cups of Washing Soda
  • 2 bars of Fels-Naptha soap
Grate both bars of soap and pour into boiling water. Once the soap is dissolved, add in the Borax and the Washing Soda. Cook for about 3 minutes and then pour into clean mason jars.
I would recommend using a funnel for this part. *wink*
My counters got a little soapy until I got smart and funneled up.

Homemade Laundry Cream Let the soap mixture sit for 8 or so hours. You can’t see in this photo, but there is a liquid on the bottom and the top part is all crusty.

Homemade Laundry CreamHere you can see the crustiness.

After it has sat for the 8 hours or so, put the soap (one jar at a time) into a blender to make it into the “cream” consistency that we are going for. I could just tell you that this part was so simple, but since lying is against my religion I will tell you the truth.
It was messy.

I first put it in my blender and nothing got blended. It just sat there mocking me.
My husband thinks I don’t know how to use a blender…I just think every blender we have owned is defective and out to get me.

Then I took it out and tried using a hand mixer.
That got it more broken up, but not so much the “creamy” I was going for.

After that I pulled out the Magic Bullet and finally got the results that I wanted!
I just had to do it in small increments.

NOTE:While blending you will need to add more water to get it to cream.
Just eyeball it.

Homemade Laundry CreamHere is my finished detergent. Notice that there is more than in the photos above?
That’s what happens when you add a little more water and blend it up.

Homemade Laundry Cream Notice the lovely butter-like creamy consistency? Uh-huh!

Homemade Laundry Cream
Okay, so now let’s talk about the soap:

I love it! I have a front loading HE washer and it works GREAT! I have been using this for 2 weeks now and use 1 Tablespoon per load. I have a family of four,so we do tons of laundry, and I just finished the SMALL jar of soap. I set my soap dispenser to the “liquid soap” mode.

My husband had a pomegranate explode on his favorite t-shirt and this stuff got it right out, no pre treating needed. I was shocked! If you have ever tried to get that juice out of your clothes, you know what I am talking about.

When this is gone I am planning to try a liquid version and then a powder one to see which one I like best. I will keep y’all posted!
~Amy~
Linking up with some of these blogs:
Fingerprints on the Fridge, Making The World Cuter, Dittle Dattle, Mad Skills Monday, Skip to my Lou, Craft O Maniac, Delicate Construction, Ask Anna, New Nostalgia, House of Grace, Sassy Sites, Not Just a Housewife, Today's Creative Blog, My Craftie Life, Sew Much Ado, Seven Thirty-Three, Someday Crafts, A Diamond in the Stuff, My Girlish Whims, Somewhat Simple, Momnivores Dilemma, Paisley Passions, Fun to Craft, Make it, Wear it, Gluesticks, House of Hepworths, What Allie's Making Now, Finding Fabulous, A Little Knick Knack, Mommas Kinda Crafty, Its a Hodgepodge Life, Inspiring Creations, Be Different Act Normal, Wildflowers and Whimsy, Tatertots and Jello, The Idea Room, My Repurposed Life, Sew Many Ways, I Heart Naptime, Thirty Handmade Days, Under the Table and Dreaming, Creative Itch, Oops I Craft My Pants, Addicted 2 Decorating

20 comments:

Jenna said...

Nice work Amy! Do you know how it compares cost wise to store bought stuff? I'm interested to hear about the other versions!

Andi said...

I make the powdered version with ivory soap and I LOVE it! Never heard of a laundry cream, very cool!

sstone said...

Lol, this actually looks kind of yummy.:) I make a liquid version, and I"m very happy with it. I just wish it had a stronger scent. I think the main scents from storebought detergents are probably more fabric softener though, than the actual soap. Good luck with your other experiments.:)
Shiloh
everydaygameplan.net

Shay said...

Thanks for this! I have been wanting to make laundry soap for a while. Shay :) http://raisingdieter.blogspot.com/

Unknown said...

How cool! I keep thinking I need to try homemade laundry soap, but I got a great deal online the other day, so I got about 6 months worth of laundry soap for $10, shipped right to my door... so I'll try homemade in another 6 months :)

Theresa said...

Hi,

I make a concentrated version of it also. I use a total of 15 cups of water, & 1 cup Washing Soda & Borax, 1 bar Fels Naptha. After it has cooled in a 1 gallon wide mouth container, I use a Stick Blender to mix it. I then use 1-2 tablespoons per wash in a regular top load washer. Works great

April said...

I've been wanting to try this too. Glad to hear it works...I think I am going to try the powder version first because it seems like it would be less messy to make...and I'm lazy lol! I am almost out of dishwasher detergent so I think I am going to try that recipe this week...did you ever try it??

Theresa said...

I think making the powder would be faster to do, but I am too lazy to put the powder in, & wait for it to dissolve before putting in the clothes. I know the gel/cream version will dissolve right away.

I've tried both powder & liquid version of Dishwasher Detergent. I've never really had good luck with either. I started mixing homemade with store version, & I save a little bit that way, but get cleaner dishes. Let me know if you have a recipe that works better for you.

The Mixing Bowl said...

Just ran across this on "Be Different Act Normal". I never heard of this either. I do make my own liquid detergent with similar ingredients and it takes me about 15 minutes. I have been making it for 2 1/2 years after getting the recipe from a friend.
1/3 bar Fels Naptha grated
1/2 c. washing soda
1/2 c. borax
--In a pot with 6 cups water add the grated Fels Naptha and heat it until the soap melts. Then add the borax and washing soda and stir it until it dissolves. Remove from heat and pour in 4 c. hot water into a bucket. Add the soap mixture to the bucket and add 1 gallon and 6 cups water and stir. Put into containers (I use -2- one gallon empty vinegar bottles--a funnel can help). Let sit for 24 hours and it will gel to an egg drop soup consistency. Shake before using. Use 1/2 c. per load--it does not have suds.
--makes 2 gallons--

MrsTerri said...

I've made the liquid version, but not the cream. Sounds interesting (but lots of work). I use the powder version (1 bar fels naptha, 1 cup of borax and washing soda) Lots of times I throw in some oxiclean for good measure. ;-)

I have also made my own laundry bars, and think I will start doing that. I love making homemade soap. I am pretty sensitive to fragrances, and grating the fels naptha sometimes puts my sinuses in a tailspin! When you make your own laundry bar, you can put in some essential oils that you like!

I'll be posting a recipe on my blog in the next week or so about homemade laundry bars...

Have a great weekend!!
Terri
www.beyond-relevance.com

Theresa said...

It's really not hard to make the concentrated gel version. Since you make your own soap, I would imagine you have a Stick blender that you could use to smooth out the gel once it cools. I like not having to store 5 gallons of Detergent. My utility room is very small (6'x 6').

Since you already use & like the powder version, why switch? :)

I also tweak my detergent with Dawn & generic oxyclean.

Unknown said...

Very cool! Going to give it a shot, thanks for inspiring!

Lisa Nelsen-Woods said...

I make the powdered version. For some reason my HE machine likes powdered detergent best.

Anonymous said...

Yay! I'm glad this worked out for you. I love how mine cleans and have been using lesser amounts. Oh, and yes, I think adding the water as you blend definitely helps. When I make this recipe again I'll probably add more.

Athena said...

This is great - please consider linking to the Success U - Wednesday Linkup Party at www.thestuffofsuccess.com

Sherry said...

This is great! I'm always spending tons of money on detergent. Definitely got to give this a try. I'm a new follower, please drop by for a visit when you can.

Jenn Erickson said...

So incredibly cool! I saw your link over at "What Allie's Making Now" and just had to come check it out. I'll definitely give this a try!

Jenn/Rook No. 17

Unknown said...

wow this is a great idea! Thanks for sharing. have a lovely weekend!


Hugs,
Lelanie

Unknown said...

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GammyGeorge said...

I love this cream version. I have been making my own liquid for a couple of years and I add essential oils (usually lavender and/or vanilla) about 20 drops per 5 gallon batch. Think I'll try about half for the cream version and see how that goes.

The most important thing she’d learned over the years was that there was no way to be a perfect mother and a million ways to be a good one."
~Jill Churchill