Homemade Powdered Laundry Detergent

About six months ago I made the liquid homemade version of laundry detergent... and it lasted that long. It worked great, was super cheap, easy to make and I have no complaints about it, but I wanted to try the homemade powdered version as well and see if it worked comparably.

As for ease of preparation, it was incredibly simple. The ratio is like this:

1 bar soap :1 cup Borax : 1 cup washing soda

Many people suggest Fels Naptha, Zote, Ivory or Dove soap. I doubled the recipe and used one Fels Naptha and one Ivory. (The Ivory gave it a great smell.) I have some friends who save the little pieces of soap from the bath/shower and combine those in the mixture.

The soap needs to be grated, and that's as difficult as it gets.

You'll want something with a good seal and a wide lid to keep it in. I mixed mine in a recycled plastic container that was also really good for storing the detergent.

To use, scoop one tablespoon for a regular load and 2 tablespoons for a large or heavily soiled load. It washes just as well as store bought detergent.

I think the benefits of the dry version are how simple it is to make and store. I think the liquid version goes further, but we'll see how long this one lasts.

Have you tried either version? Do you have a preference?

Making Fresh Cream Butter

I recently  learned how to make butter from my friend Ashlie. It's very simple to do and delicious!

The first thing you need if you are making butter at home is whole milk with the cream. Ashlie bought hers from a man who has his own milk farm down the road (and a license to sell to the public.) If you have never tried fresh whole milk- a note of warning: You might become addicted, it is nothing like the white-colored water sold in plastic gallon jugs at the super market. ;)

 You can (barely) see the line towards the top where the cream has separated from the milk.

 You will need a clean container with a good lid like the glass jar above to shake the cream in.

 Get a scoop, we used a 1/2 measuring cup, and carefully pour the cream into the shaking jar.

 Your jar needs to be about half full, not more or you will not leave enough room for good shaking and expansion of the butter as it expands with air. (Hi Ashlie!)

 Screw the lid on very tight and....

 ...now you are ready to shake the cream!

(Better than a shake weight because it's obviously productive...
then again, it produces butter which gives you more calories... hmmmm.)

 After about 6 minutes, the cream is looking frothy and expanding with the bubbles.

 After about 12 minutes, the cream is turning yellow and starting to clump together in little butter balls.

 Here you can see the butter starting to stick to the sides of the jar.

 After about 15-20 minutes of constant shaking, you can see yellow creamy butter.

Now the butter can be scooped out into a container to be washed...

 ...and the whey can be poured back into the milk jar. 

A wide-mouthed jar is appreciated for this step, since you have to scoop the butter out.

 If you do not wash the milk out of the butter, as Ashlie found out the hard way, you will end up with spoiled-milk tasting butter- yuck!

 Here is the butter before washing.

 To wash, run clean water over the butter...

 ...and press the milk out of the butter with your spoon.

 You may need to repeat this step 3-4 times.

 When the water runs clear, you will know it has been washed adequately. Press as much of the water out as you can. If you would like salted butter, now is the time to add the salt and mix well.

 If you have a butter bell, now you will scoop all of your butter into the bell part...

 Compact the butter into the bell so that any excess water rises to the top and can be poured out.

 Next fill the bottom part of the butter bell with 1/4 cup of clean water and...

 invert into itself to seal the butter, keep it fresh and soft.

Remember to change the water in your butter bell every other day to keep your butter fresh.
Thanks, Ashlie, for the lesson in making butter!

Enjoy!

One of the ways we enjoy fresh butter is with fresh homemade flour tortillas and honey!

Homemade Liquid Laundry Detergent

Something I've been wanting to try for a long time is making my own liquid laundry detergent. The recipe we decided to use was the Duggar family recipe. (The directions in italics are their property that I simply followed.)

4 Cups - hot tap water
1 Fels-Naptha soap bar
1 Cup - Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda*
½ Cup Borax


- Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water.

-Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.

In the beginning it looks like this:

 

After about 7-10 minutes it looks like this:

Finally, around 12-15 minutes later, it starts to look like this:

 

-Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax.

Here's the 1/2 cup Borax:

 1/2 cup of Borax to 1 cup of washing soda:

 -Stir well until all powder is dissolved.

-Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.

-Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap...

and then fill rest of way with water. Shake before each use. (will gel)

Something we decided would be a good idea to do is to mark the wooden spoon we were using to stir the soap with a "laundry soap only" spoon so someone wouldn't end up with soapy tasting baked goods one day.

-Optional: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons. Add once soap has cooled. Ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil.


-Yield: Liquid soap recipe makes 10 gallons.


-Top Load Machine- 5/8 Cup per load (Approx. 180 loads)


-Front Load Machines- ¼ Cup per load (Approx. 640 loads)


*Arm & Hammer "Super Washing Soda" - in some stores or may be purchased online here (at Meijer.com). Baking Soda will not work, nor will Arm & Hammer Detergent - It must be sodium carbonate!!" Check out this information on using baking soda to make washing soda.

NOTE: ™ = Trademark. All trademarks are property of their respective owners. Results may vary. All recipes are valid for non-commercial useotherwise written permission must be obtained from the The Jim Bob & Michelle Duggar Family. © Copyright 2011

Have you ever tried making your own laundry soap?
	Yes, and I enjoyed it.
	Yes, but I wouldn't do it again.
	No, but I would like to.
	No and I'm not interested.
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