Laundry is one of those chores you must make peace with, because it is not going away!
And through the years, I have learned, ignoring it, does not make it go away either...which means there is only one way to proceed. Accept the chore for what it is (always there!) and do your best to produce clean laundry that everyone will appreciate!
Why? Well we simply do no have the space for lots and lots of clothes in our tiny home. I probably do three loads of laundry a week. Sheets from the weekly change of bedding. A dark load including all our jeans. And a light load for whites and our towels (which are beige). This is for two people. Also we have a HE washer, which I have learned to use, after several years and thousands of loads of laundry in the older style of washer that had a full tub of water.
It is my opinion and my opinion only when I say that,
HE washers do not get clothes as clean as the old fashion washers did. So our loads are most likely 3/4 of what I used to put into a standard washer in previous years. Which for our small family works out OK. Using the correct amount of laundry soap for this style of washer had a learning curve for me as well. I had been using a homemade powdered laundry soap for years and years, but all of a sudden, our clothes were not as clean and I needed to figure out why.
Why, turned out to be a collection of many things.
First with this powder you must use very warm water. Or it will not melt. Needless to go into too much detail, except to say, if it doesn't melt, it will not clean the clothes. And I knew I had issues when powdered soap ingredients were left behind in my washed laundry. And one other consideration became cost. As with everything else, the ingredient prices kept goin up. Which I was willing to over look for awhile, as we are only two folks making dirty laundry. But I could clearly see that a family might find it hard to cover the cost of the powdered formula, after awhile.
Liquid laundry soap had never been my choice, before!
Not for the last 50+ years! Even when I was about seven and used to help my mom do laundry in our old wringer washing machine. It has always been powdered laundry soap. Needless to say, I was reluctant to try this recipe, but I came about when my own laundry simply was not clean enough...but there was a catch! The amount of cleaning available in the original recipe did not seem like it would be enough, so I ran an experiment.
The original recipe was made in a 5gallon bucket as written,
and a second batch in a 2-1/2gallon bucket for us. Since my daughter's family goes through more soap than we do, I figured we would reach the end of the buckets at about the same time, and we did. The only difference is that I used half the water in our batch, effectively doubling the cleaning power. After awhile I asked my daughter what she thought about the laundry soap and her reply was, "for really soiled clothes (the baby's muddy play clothes, etc.) I have to use more, to get them clean." Which pretty much matched what I thought would happen. Where as our clothes were clean with each load, and trust me, it is not only the baby who gets muddy out of doors!
When it was time to make soap again, I knew what I had to do.
Reformulate the recipe for the 5gallon bucket in the same concentration as my little 2-1/2gallon bucket. So I did! You won't see me suggesting you put your laundry soap in a pretty liquid dispenser. Because honestly it will not dispense as a liquid. This mixture gels overnight, and once stirred it is still too thick to dispense. One reason I named it Rough and Ready Laundry Soap! I use a 1/4 c plastic measure cup as my scoop. I drop it in the washing machine and put the cup on top of the lid, for the next load of laundry. If you do not have room for a bucket of laundry soap in your laundry room, you may certainly put a week's worth in a covered container close to your washer. Come on, let's make Rough and Ready Laundry Soap.
Some additional thoughts on this recipe:
I have used just about every bar of laundry soap out there. Use your favorite, in our house we use a bar that is fragrance free or if the fragrance is natural.
I have hand grated soap and used a food processor. I suggest that you have a dedicated food processor for grating soap, to prevent flavor contamination with food. We have an old one picked up for next to nothing at a thrift store. Tip, for certain models the bowls can no longer be purchased. However that crazed bowl is just fine for soap grating!
The same with the cooking pot, The one I use is dedicated for soap making and was purchased for a couple of dollars at a thrift store, It is not pretty, but doesn't need to be...
And just like my original powdered laundry soap, all of the products in this recipe are septic tank safe.
Ingredients needed for this process:
- laundry bar soap
- washing soda
- borax
You will also need:
- large stockpot
- grater or food processor
- measuring cups
- long handled spoon
- 5gallon bucket with lid
Now we are ready to begin!
Rough and Ready Laundry Soap
by the seat of my pants, with help from various videos
This makes a five gallon bucket of laundry soap, see below for small batch recipe.
2 bars of laundry soap
2 c washing soda
1 c borax
Grate the two bars of laundry soap. Hand grating can be difficult, but it works. My preferred method is using the food processor.
Place the grated soap into the stockpot, add 4 cups of hot water. Melt the soap over a low flame until melted.
Place the 5gallon bucket on the floor. Fill half way up with hot tap water. Stir in the washing soda and the borax. Stir until dissolved.
Carefully add the melted bar soap. Fill the bucket up with additional hot tap water to within one inch of the top. Stir well.
Place the lid on top of the bucket, no need to seal.
The next day: the mixture will have turned into a gel.
Stir well and begin using for your laundry. Star with 1/4 cup, and go from there. With a particular dirty spot, I will dip my fingers into the soap and paint the spot with the soap before putting the dirty laundry into the hamper.
Nothing to look at for beauty, but here are our dedicated pieces of equipment.
Rough and Ready Laundry Soap
This makes 2-1/2 gallon bucket of laundry soap
1 bar laundry soap
1 c washing soda
1/2 c borax
The instructions are the same, for each batch.
You may also enjoy: 
#wholefoodingredients
#scratchmadefoodforyourfamily
#DIYHomemadeHousehold
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This is quite ambitious to make your own laundry soap. I know that it is something I will never do. I hate doing laundry to begin with and am happy to have a ready made soap.
ReplyDeleteJudee I have always had sensitive skin, leaving me with few choices in the marketplace. But this "recipe" is more combining than anything else. Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate it.
DeleteInteresting to hear about your adventures with laundry soap. All your made from scratch food and bits and pieces is so impressive.
ReplyDeleteWhen in student houses we used to make our own laundry soap - I think it was similar to this but I found all my white t shirts got grey pretty quickly. And when you say you need warm water, I assume you mean in the washing machine - I only use cold in my washing machine because I only have a cold hose attached to the taps - I once really needed a warmer wash but it was a hassle to attach another hose and didn't last long.
I find it hard to imagine making space for two pieces of equipment and a bucket of the soap in my little unit and am surprised you do in your RV. I cannot work out if you have a lot more room or just don't have as much clutter as us?
Johanna, while my 5thwheel originally came with a washer and dryer, those were no longer in the unit when we purchased it. That area was turned into my pantry storage, here in our tiny house, What I do have is a portion of the storage shop that has my washer and dryer along with a canning stove. Privative but very functional!
ReplyDeleteThis is really interesting Melynda. This is really good to know.
ReplyDeleteThanks bunches for sharing with Sweet Tea & Friends this month.
Paula, the best part, is that it works! Thank you for stopping by, I appreciate it.
ReplyDelete