Thursday, February 3, 2011

How I Make My Own Laundry Detergent

First off...here's my laundry room...


Ha!  I wish!  Just had to make myself laugh this morning!

Ok, now...

I'm actually a little bit hesitant to write this post, because I don't want anyone to think that I am all Little House on The Prairie-ish, because I am sooo not...but I'm putting it out there for all to see...I make my own laundry detergent, and have been doing so for about a year now!

So here's how it started...

I had always hated how often I ran out of laundry detergent, and knowing that if I didn't make a run to the store (which I am also not a big fan of), that I would start getting behind on laundry...fast.


One day, I happened upon this post written by my bloggy friend Jennifer.  She described how she makes her own laundry detergent, in LARGE quantities...and for CHEAP!  

I decided to give it a try, figuring that if it was too much trouble, or if it didn't get my clothes as clean as I was used to, that I would not have invested much, and I could just run to Kroger (AGAIN) to buy more of my usual detergent.

I'm SO happy to say however, that I never had to run to Kroger for detergent, and I don't plan on doing so again!  In the last year, I have only had to buy more supplies once...ONCE!  This detergent is cheap people...really cheap, and it gets my family's clothes just as clean as other detergents did.

The only bits of advice that I would add to Jennifer's post, are that I use this grater from Pampered Chef to grate the soap,


and then when I transfer the detergent from the large tub, into the container that I actually use on a daily basis, I discovered that using this little pitcher, also from Pampered Chef, makes things even easier.




The detergent separates (kind of like gravy), and so before pouring it, I stir it a bit.  By keeping it in this pitcher, I just give it a little pump or two each time, and it is ready to go!

(And just in case you are wondering...no, I have no whatsoever association with Pampered Chef!)  :)

I still keep my Spray-N-Wash and fabric softener on hand, as I always have, but I don't see myself going back to the store for laundry detergent any time soon!

Writing the Waves,
Christi

2 comments:

mer@lifeat7000feet said...Best Blogger Tips

Nice to meet you, Mrs. Ingalls. (Insert sheepish grin here.)

I've tried making detergent before and I think it's okay BUT my husband likes his clothes to SMELL clean...especially his workout clothes. So I end up buying regular detergent, but I do keep stuff on hand to make mine...especially for times I don't want to go to the store for just laundry detergent.

I love the pitcher tip....hate the way that stuff seperates. My other tip is to just grate all the soap at once (i use my food processor w/the grating blade) and store it in a tupperware container. (My recipe only calls for 1/3 bar of soap.)

Thanks for sharing!

Christi @ Writing the Waves said...Best Blogger Tips

Meredith, love the bulk grating idea! Also, I am also BIG into wanting the clothes to smell clean. I use Downy Lavender liquid fabric softener...leaves our clothes smelling sooo good! :)

 
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