S O A P,
Have you thought about (Soap) how will you keep your clothing clean? Have you stocked up on your favorite detergent? at about $26.00 per bottle of tide probably haven't stocked up much What will you do if you can not get to the store or if you can get there and there is no detergent available?
"To keep a healthy environment you must be able to keep people, house and clothes clean".
here's what we've done to prepare and save a lot of money.
The best "Homemade Laundry Detergent" we have found. My wife uses it all the time. It will not suds up in the washer like store bought brands because it has no filler. Just good soap that will get your clothes clean. She has made this soap for about 25 years which has saved us an amazing amount of money. She does not add anything to this soap but If you love the smell of Tide or any other brand add a little Tide to the final step. Just a little cunning on her part, or you can add dryer sheets to add :"the smell".
We have a very large kettle and a grater we use only for making soap, It will make it much easier if you mark the bucket you will be using for soap making before you begin, by filling the bucket with 2 gallons of water and marking the bucket with a permanent marker. You will be taking all the measuring guess work out.
Needed:
* 6 cups water
* 1/3 bar Fels Naptha laundry Soap, grated ( I buy online by the case www.soapsgonebuy.com )
* 1/2 cup washing soda - this is not baking soda!
( I called Arm & Hammer to find a store who could supply me with this sodium carbonate. Only two in my state Kroger is one of them. You can buy online but its much more expensive. I have been told you can also get this at an animal feed supply, not sure)
* 1/2 cup borax
follow recipe exactly
Heat 6 cups water and Felos Naptha in a large pan until dissolved. Stir in washing soda and Borax. mix and heat until dissolved. It can foam up while cooking so be careful. Boil 15 minutes stirring often. Remove from heat. In a 3 or 5 gallon bucket, add 1 quart of HOT water, then add the soap mixture slowly. Mix. Add enough cold water to make a 2 gallon mixture.(line previously marked on bucket) Mix until well blended. Let sit 24 hours. The soap will gel. Use 1/2 cup for each load. Stir or shake before using. I fill old detergent bottles which makes shaking and transporting easier.
This makes 2 gallons at approx. 40 cents per gallon. One gallon will wash approx. 72 loads in my automatic washing machine. Also good for washing floors!
Important Note; If needed you can dilute this for washing hair / body wash.