Homemade Laundry Soup

 Supplies you will need:

1 Bar FELS NAPTHA Soap

1/2 cup Borax

1 Cup Arm & Hammer Washing Soda

 

Grate 1 bar of Fels NAPTHA soap & melt in 4 cups of water on stove

 Dissolve fully

Then in a 5 gallon bucket add:

3 gallons of hot water, 1/2 cup Borax, and 1 cup Arm and Hammer Washing Soda 

Add your melted FELS NAPTHA in 4 cups of water to 5 gallon bucket

Stir until dissolved and let sit for 24 hours

(soap will turn into a gel)

After 24 hours stir and pour into soap bottles

(Doug used a paint mixer in an electric drill - it went MUCH faster than stirring with a stick) 

When washing use 1/2 cup per load. OR you can add half water and half soap when dumping into your soap bottles. Then use 1 cup per load if you are using the half water half soap mixture.

The soap may gel over time. Shake container or do the half water half soap to help prevent gelling.

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All ingredients can be purchased at Wegman's or any Wal-Mart, Target type store in the detergent isle. 

You can pour the soap into an empty detergent bottle or if space allows you can leave it in your 5 gallon bucket and scoop out for each use.

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Other things discussed at our Enrichment Night were:

Fabric softener - Dip a wash cloth in liquid fabric softener and let dry. Use wash cloth for use in the dryer. This will eliminate waste of throwing a dryer sheet away each drying cycle.

White Vinegar - Add 1/2 cup of white vinegar to you rinse cycle when washing clothes. This will help decrease static on clothes and also wash away any access detergent left in clothes. The smell of the vinegar goes away by the time the washing/rinse cycle is over. 

Borax - This can be used in addition to any detergent to help boost your wash. It is a laundry booster. It's particularly great to use when washing kids clothes or work clothes - clothing that needs a little extra.

FELS NAPTHA - Can be rubbed on stains before washing. Probably used more before Spray N' Wash. A lot cheaper and does a great job. Ivory soap is also great for treating stains.

Thank you to all who were at this Enrichment. Many great comments were shared about how to get better results when washing laundry. Please feel free to leave a comment if I forgot something or you have something to add.