Tuesday, March 31, 2009

MYO Laundry detergent



There are so many tutorials for making your own laundry detergent online and I actually use a recipe that I found and did not make my own. I found mine on Wikihow (can you tell I use wikihow a lot?). The tutorial is for a liquid detergent which I have made with a friend and I regularly use the powder version in the video on the same page. So for this reason I will not post another tutorial because that would be redundant. Instead, please check out the tutorials for the wet and dry versions already available at Wikihow. I can vouch for both those recipes since I have used them myself.

The page of tutorials is HERE

Some benefits of home made laundry detergent:
Save $$$. I bought all the washing soda and the Borax at Wal*Mart for about $3 each. Doing about 10 loads of laundry a week one pair of boxes lasts several months. The two I have were bought about 6 months ago and I am about half way through the box. This is with giving some away too.

Save time. It only takes about 10 minutes t0 make, believe it or not. As you make it more and more often you get better and faster. You will get used to having all the tools ready and make less of a mess too. This is faster than going to the store to get some!

Save more money on more cleaning products. The combination of borax and washing soda can be used to clean many things. I use about 1/4 cup of both with 4 gallons of water and use it where I would an all purpose cleanser. I even wash windows with it. The borax has recipes on the side of it for other cleaning uses. This mixture is great for washing the toilet too.

Works in HE washing machines. I have not personally used it in high efficiency washing machines but have been researching this kind of soap online and have seen multiple reports that it works in HE machines. HE washing detergent is more expensive than the regular stuff so this is really something people with HE machines should be doing. 

Clothes doesn't get stinky. Ever notice how sometimes when you forget the laundry in the machine overnight it gets a little stinky and you have to re-wash it? Well this laundry detergent stays fresh even after sitting in the machine for long periods of time. No re-washing!

Easy to alter to your personal needs. Sensitive to soaps? Are your kids sensitive to cleaners and can only use mild baby soap? Use a very mild soap or a baby soap in place of the regular bar of soap called for in the recipe. You can even add a few drops of an essential oil if you like a lavender sent or any other sent in your laundry detergent or any other cleaner you might make with these ingredients.

I really hope everyone does this. It will cut down on your cleaning bills!

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