Wednesday, November 7, 2012

A Few Pins From the Past: Homemade Laundry Detergant ,Fabric Softener & Dishwasher Detergant

A while back I decided to try and make my own laundry detergant and fabric softener.  With 6 kids and 4 animals (not counting the Hamsters!) Laundry is an ongoing adventure that drives me crazy!  It is truly endless, and between XC, Football, Wrestling, Track and PE clothes on top of their everyday attire I end up doing around 4 loads of laundry a day (more on a lot of days! YUCK!) With all the laundry I go through a lot of detergant and softener, and it always seems like I'm running out......which is what led me to actually trying these.  I knew ahead of time I didn't have the patience to stir and boil and everything else needed to make a liquid detergant so I tried a "powder" .


It was easy enough to do, and I even had gotten the kids to help me grate the soap.  It didn't smell bad and my clothes came out clean. I didn't discover a problem with it till later.  It over time clogged my drain.  I wouldn't suggest this is if you have a washer that has a detergant dispenser like most front loaders, unless you wash everything in hot water.  It did look a lot prettier sitting in my laundry room though......

laundry detergant
I do hope to one day try some of the liquid detergant..........if I gain the patience!  Ha!

Now the Fabric Softener is so freaking simple it's ridiculous,  I have made this many times.  I love adding Essential Oils to it so it smells totally fab!  Lavender and Vanilla are my favs.  If you don't like to use liquid softener in your washer you can pour some on a wash cloth (don't soak it, just get it damp) and throw it in with your clothes in the dryer.  I haven't made it in a while though because I can't duplicate Apple Mango Tango, and I just love the smell of that darn stuff!  Both these pins are pretty much the same.  
Source: food.com via Nicole on Pinterest

Don't worry about the vinegar smell when your clothes are dry the smell is gone.

Fabric Softener
I found that CoffeeMate or International Delights coffee creamer bottles work great.  The spouts are perfect for neatly pouring your softener.

The Dishwasher Detergant was simple too.  I made this a few times, then one of the cats knocked my container off the shelf and it busted and I just haven't remembered to buy a new one.  We have hard water and even with a water softener we would get lots of spots, and this worked great on those.  I did not think it worked well on stuck on food though.  This is the one we tried.

And just a note......white vinegar can make an excellent rinse aid.

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