Make Your Own...Homemade Laundry Detergent

I hate shopping. Plain and simple. So when I can come up with ways to shorten or eliminate my need to shop, I am very happy. This summer I started making my own laundry detergent again. It had been years since I had last done this. I don't know why I ever quit. Convenience I suppose. This is the recipe I have been using and liking very well. I gleaned ideas from tipnut.com. Note: I have very hard well water that is softened and a hubby that get very greasy, dirty and sweaty and THIS WORKS!!

Liquid Laundry Detergent

1 cup washing soda (NOT baking soda)
1 cup borax
1 cup oxyclean
2/3 bar of Fels Naptha soap, grated

In a large pot, heat 3 quarts of water. Add the grated Fels Naptha and stir until melted. Add the washing soda and borax. Stir until the powders are dissolved. Turn off heat. Add the oxyclean, stir until dissolved. The oxyclean will make this mix very foamy and expand - that is why I turn off the heat first!

In a large, clean pail (I use a 3-5 gallon bucket that has a lid) pour 2 quart of hot water. Add the heat soap mixture. Add about 3 quarts of cold water and stir well. (sometimes I add more or less water, I just kinda eye-ball it to see how it looks. Sorry!)

The soap will continue to look very foamy (at least it does for me). You will have to stir this well each time you use it. Once stirred, it is more gel-like.

I use 1/2c per load (I only run large loads). Use more or less depending on you water quality and how dirty your laundry is.

The ingredients:




The Fels Naptha and my grater:


Melting the Fels Naptha:


The mix getting foamy after adding the oxyclean:


Pouring the mix into the bucket. See how much foam forms for me!:


This is how thick the top gets after is sits a few days. You have to stir it well!


I have not figured out the cost of this detergent yet. I can't imagine it costs ANYWHERE near what you'd pay for Tide or similar detergents! So far it seems that this amount of detergent will last me about 75 loads. Give or take a few (I am not the best at remembering how long things last). One thing I will note is that I do pour about a 1/4 cup of pinesol into my washer per large load. It helps get rid of the perspiration odors. I also never use fabric softener - I use white vinegar. It does not make your clothes stink!

Please visit the tipnut site, there are so many comments and suggestions for the different kinds of water and washers you may have. It helped me greatly! Homemade Laundry Detergent tips.

Garden Progress

July has nearly blown by us already! One more week and it will be August, where has the summer gone to? Soon I will be knee-deep into canning tomatoes and other goodies from the garden. Have you gotten your canning lids yet? I have!

Here is the thing that my hubby rigged up to water our garden easier.

All he did was put our sprinkler on top of a metal stool that was just sitting in the barn. He had to put a board on top of the seat in order for the sprinkler to sit straight.

The sweet corn is tasseling and setting its silk.


The tomatoes are really starting to put out the fruit! It is all still green, but it won't be long and I will be turning them into paste, sauce, juice, salsa...


I've been canning greanbeans for a bit now. They have slowed up, but we planted more so that we will have a later harvest too. This is my daughter helping me snap them. She is not quite 2, and I really didn't think she would be able to help me like this already! She didn't do it for very long, but I was thrilled to have her help!


I pulled some carrots last week. They aren't all ready yet. We also planted some a few weeks ago for a late harvest.


Some more onions that I planted.


My daughter looking for some raspberries to snack on. They are just about done.


That's all the garden photos I have taken recently. I will add that we also planted some cucumbers to harvest late. All the stuff we planted for a late harvest should make it to maturity by our first freeze. At least we hope it all does!

Things are a bit slow as far as gardening and canning go. Mostly been weeding and watering the garden. We really need some rain. We just received 1/2" yesterday. Until that amount, we have only received 1" this month. Prior to that, we have had very little rain also. Not fun to have to worry about watering the garden every couple of days.

What is everyone else doing in their gardens (flower or veggie)?

Bulk canning lids

Just a reminder since it's that time of year!

The month of June

Looks like another month went by and I did not blog. Sorry for those who actually follow this! It's been quite busy around here to say the least! So for those of you who have been wondering what I've been getting into, here you go.


I have been enjoying spending time with my daughter, I love being a stay at home mom! She will be 2 in early September, time flies! In this picture, she is trying to help me with my baking. She loves to put on her apron and "help" like the big girl she knows she is!


I have made 2 batches of homemade laundry detergent. I haven't made this in years. We really like how well it works and it beats the outrageous price of commercial detergent! I plan on doing a seperate post on how to make this.


Found a wonderful multi-grain bread recipe in Backwoods Home Magazine (my fave mag!). I have tried for several years to find a recipe that hubby and I both like. This is finally it! I should do a sperate post on this also!


This is a Little Tykes play gym I bought for $5 at a garage sale. Had some wear, but that's to be expected! This has really helped me be able to work in the garden and keep my daughter occupied! I keep a list of household and individual needs throughout the year and scour garage sales for them. This year I am really crossing things off my list. I love garage sales!


We are working (slowly) on the landscaping around our house. I have lived here for 6 years, and hubby lived here for 3 years before that, and we never did anything with the yard except mow it! We decided it was high time to eradicate the weeds that took over the former flower beds. This is a planter I put together to help pretty up the porch. I can't stand the prices of pre-made planters, so I buy what I like and throw it together in a dollar store container. The milk can was saved from the metal scrap pile at my in-laws farm.


The strawberries didn't do too bad this year. Certainly not the banner year we had 2 years ago. However, I can't complain as I picked about 2 gallons from our small patch. They were so good fresh, but I froze quite a bit also.


Pea pickin has come and gone! This was my first year growing peas. I was very surprised at the size of these! I grew Early Frosty Peas. They had on average 6-8 peas per pod. There were quite a few with 10 in them! And none of these were tiny peas either. I will definately grow this variety again! I ended up freezing about 6 quart bagfulls.


Raspberries...yummy!!! I bought 2 raspberry plants (or do you call them bushes?) this year. They nursery said they were 2 years old already. I have been picking a steady small handful every couple days for the past couple weeks. They are so good! We are eating them as we pick them. I think my little girl has ate 90% of them!


Then came the greenbeans! The last couple days of June brought me about a 1/2 bushel of beans. I canned them up into 6 quarts and 1 pint.

Then the end of June came and we received some devestating news. I have had a miscarriage. I was only 8 weeks along. This is my second one, the first being before we had our daughter. Words cannot describe how it feels to lose baby. I pray that those around me never have to experience it.

So all in all, I have mostly worked in the garden weeding, picking and putting up the wonderful goodness God has provided us this year. Throw in some garage sales and lots of outdoor play time with my daughter, and it was a pretty good month!