Laundry!

Yeah. I yelled it. LAUNDRY! Look, I spend much of my weekends washing clothes, rugs, bedding for people and dogs, washing towels washing washing washing. The thing that was so frustrating was the cost of laundry soaps. I liked my Purex and did not want to change. From time to time I buy it when it is on sale (the liquid concentrated naturals is my favorite). Through all this I knew there had to be better options so I started doing some research and found something that works for me and my family. My husband has eczema and I knew whatever I did would only work if it did not lead to break outs for him. So I am going to post my recipe for laundry soap. (Please note I used to ONLY use liquid and this is a powder so I was not sure at first but now I love it)

Now I know there are other ways of doing this out there but this is how we do it...(also I just sand that like This is how we do it- R&B throw back ha ha)
We mix the entire box of borax and the entire box of arm and hammer super washing soda together. Typically what I do for this process is get out three gallon size freezer bags with good seals on them and evenly distribute between the three. I do this because I keep what laundry soap I am currently using in a basket on my dryer and all of this in one big container is too big. You do what you want too. Maybe a large Tupperware or mason jars are better options for you. Next my husband does the hard work he uses or big cheese grader to grade two bars of Fels Naptha soap. All of these are products that you can find in the laundry soap isle. They are cheaper at WalMart so I would check there first. Then I mix the shredded soap into the three bags seal and shake. I use 1/4 of a cup scoop for normal loads and for heavy things like if I am washing rugs and dog bedding I may double up. Also, my original recipe only used one bar of the Fels Naptha but two works better because for us because I mix it all at one time. I let the water run in the washer to dissolve the powder for a bit before I put laundry in and that really helps. But, I have filled up the washer and then put soap on top and everything still came out very clean.
I am sure most of you are not familiar with the bar soap I am talking about here. Fels Naptha has been around a long time and you can even use a bar of it for a pre-treater for stains. Just keep the bar in a Tupperware and when needed you wet the area and rub the bar on it. This soap draws out oil. Also, this soap is a CURE for poison ivy. Maybe not a cure but it is dang near close. Wash with it twice a day on your infected area and it will dry it out fast. Also, when we think we get in it we go ahead and wash and it seems to help keep it away.
So good luck with this. Yes I am well on my way to being the hippie I have always dreamed of...working in my garden, making my soap, next we are planning on raising chickens. But, that is a post for the spring!
Happy Halloween!!!


EDIT: It costs about ten dollars to make this and I can stretch it about 3 months depending on what all I wash and the borax and arm and hammer go on sale just like everything else in the store so I just wait for it to cycle back around. I have bought it at Kroger on sale but Walmart is typically cheaper. Also, for whites I use hydrogen peroxide instead of bleach because it is not as hard on clothes.