Tuesday, January 4, 2011

A New Year, A New Detergent

A few months ago, I posted about my homemade laundry detergent.  Well, my friend, Hollis, posted a comment about a dry version. 

A month or two ago., I made that version... and I'm never looking back. 

When I researched recipes for detergent, I saw dry versions everywhere.  I opted to make liquid because that's what I'd been using for a long time.  But why?  Do you do this?  Do you question why you do things?  Or how they're done? 

Personally, I started using liquid laundry detergent because when we bought our house in April 2007, the washer and dryer left behind were horrible.  They didn't dissolve the powdered detergent.  I was sufficiently grossed out by finding clumps of detergent among my "clean" clothes so I bought liquid detergent and pretended that my clothes were getting clean. 

When we remodeled our kitchen in 2008, we got a set of Front Loaders (on Black Friday with 0% financing for 12 months).  I heart my washer and dryer... I really do.  It's probably wrong to love appliances as much as I do, but I also love my on-demand hot water heater and my heated tile floors.  Being the wife of a contractor has disadvantages (like an unpainted exterior), but there are some strong advantages too (bells and whistles in the virtually brand new interior of my 100 year old home). 

Anyway, I kept using liquid detergent because that's what I had and I had to buy High Efficiency Detergent.  I can't remember if I even looked into powdered HE detergent.  But a while ago (I lose track of time), I needed more detergent and had no inclination to make the liquid stuff as it is a little labor intensive.  I gave Hollis' friend's powdered version a shot.

Love.  True love.

It's easier to make... less mess, less time.  It works.  My clothes are clean.  It takes up less space than my 2 gallon container.

So goodbye, liquid laundry detergent.  Hello ease.  Hello clean. 

Recipe:  1 bar Fels Naptha, 1 c Washing Soda, 1/2 c Borax

Directions:  Shred Fels Naptha with the grater part of your food processor.  Then, use the blade to turn the Fels from shreds to a fine-ish powder.  Add one cup of Washing Soda and 1/2 cup of Borax.  Mix it up.  Use 1 tablespoon per load.  The end. 

(I use an old sour cream container and an old formula scoop.)

You're welcome.

1 comment:

  1. sa-weet! I'm gonna try this just as soon as I run out of my costco tub, the same Costco tub I had last time I spoke to you about this (it lasts awhile). Yea for less mess, more clean!

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