Homemade Laundry Detergent - Is it worth it?

It seems lately that a lot of moms are switching to making their own homemade laundry soap. I've been getting tired of spending a ton of money on safe, ECO-friendly laundry detergents, so I thought I would give it a try. I started out using the basic recipe I found on most sites.

• 1 cup borax
• 1 cup washing soda
• 1 bar Fels-Naptha laundry soap

So I began by grating the Fels-Naptha. About halfway through I started to wonder about the decision to use this product since the smell was so overpowering. It occurred to me that I hadn't checked the label on the back of the soap. Why? I don't know. I always check labels. I guess my initial feeling was that this was supposed to be natural and safer so I didn't need to worry about it. After checking the label, I realized how misguided this thought was.

This is how it reads: 

Ingredients: Cleaners, soil and stain removers, chelating agents, colorants, perfume

I hate it when companies do this. I think I have a right to know what is in a cleaning product. It doesn't help me feel better when I read the caution right below the ingredients which read:

Caution: Eye and Skin Irritant. Avoid contact with eyes and prolonged contact with skin.

So It was at this point I decided to do some investigating. I found the actual list of ingredients on the Fels-Naptha web site. Here they are: 


Soap (sodium tallowate*, sodium cocoate* (or) sodium palmate kernelate*, and sodium palmate*), water, talc, cocnut acid*, palm acid*, tallow acid*, PEG-6 methyl ether, glycerin, sorbitol, sodium chloride, pentasodium pentetate and/or tetrasodium etidronate, titatium dioxide, fragrance, Acid Orange (CI 20170), Acid yellow 73 (ci43350) 

Since I can't tell you what any of those ingredients are, I had to do some more searching.  What I found was that a number of these ingredients are questionable, and they most definitely are not natural. (Although arsenic is natural so maybe that shouldn't be a litmus test for health) For example: Titatium dioxide is a known contaminate and is harmful to wildlife, Acid yellow 73 is banned for use in cosmetics and show to be potentially unsafe in a number of studies, and PEG-6 methyl ether is a skin irritant and there is a small amount of evidence that it may be linked to organ toxicity.

Overall, it's not so bad, but my feeling is if I'm going to go to all this trouble to make my own laundry soap, then I should feel like it's safe for my family. So I decided to toss the Fels-Naptha and purchased some castile bar soap. I got Dr. Bronner's All in One Hemp Rose Castile Soap. It smells so good! So I grated it up and combined it with the other two ingredients. I used it in my wash a few times but it only worked okay to be honest. A lot of my clothes were coming out stained and I didn't feel like they were getting as clean as I would like. One plus.. my clothes came out much softer.

Not to mention, I was a bit put off by using borax. I have avoided it for a long time because I am concerned about it being slightly toxic. It was one of the main reasons I took so long to make my own laundry soap. I use hydrogen peroxide in my all purpose cleaner instead of borax. I have tried many times over to research borax, but have found much of the information out there to be contradictory so to be on the safe side, I decided to look into ways of making laundry soap without it.

Most of what I found was simply the same recipe as above without the borax. So I thought I would give it a try, but as I was mixing my ingredients, on a whim, I decided to check the directions for using the washer soda. To my surprise, it said to add 1/2 a cup to loads to increase the effectiveness of your detergent. 1/2 a cup! I was using about a tablespoon a load. No wonder it didn't work well. So I adjusted my recipe as follows:

• 1 bar Castile soap
• 7 cups washing soda

At about a  half cup a load, that equaled 16 loads. It worked much better, except my clothes weren't as soft so I gave in and added a cup of borax to the mix to make it:

• 1 bar Castile soap
• 7 cups washing soda or a whole 55oz box
• 1 cup borax

That helped, though my clothes still weren't as soft as before. They were definitely coming out much cleaner though. 

So here is my issue.... was it worth it? Did I save any money on this venture or am I better off going back to the ECO detergents?

So I did the math.

My laundry soap cost $3.59 for the soap, $3.29 for the box of washer soda and 4.79 for box of the borax which I used approximately $.50 worth.  If I use the full 1/2 cup per load this comes out to... (drum roll)

Grand total: $7.38 or $.41 a load 

Per load, this is how it compared to the Eco friendly detergents:

• 7th Generation liquid  $16.00 for 66 loads or $.24 a load
• 7th Generation powder $15.00 for 70 loads or $.21 a load
• Method $15.50 for 50 loads or $.31 a load
• and Meyers $16.00 for 64 loads or $.25 a load

Wow! That's a big difference! Of course, most of us realize the number of loads represented on a box is usually inflated, listing the amounts or a "regular" or medium size load when I'm referring to a large load, but even so it's a big difference. From what I can tell both financially and time-wise, it just doesn't make any sense to make your own soap. Now, if you are dealing with allergies or just want to be absolutely sure of what's in your soap, then this could be a good alternative.

But for me, it just makes better sense to buy.

Next investigation... which laundry detergent works best! :)

Homemade Dryer Balls

I love the idea of dryer balls. I have terrible allergies and sensitive skin so I prefer not having to use dryer sheets. Not to mention they can get expensive over time. My problem is that I've been trying to minimize the amount of chemicals and toxins in my home, and running my children's clothing around with a bunch of PVC plastic seemed counterproductive. So I just said "screw it," and stopped using anything. Sure my clothes were a little staticy, but it was better than wrapping my kids in a chemical suit every morning.

Then one day I was walking through whole foods and I noticed a package of all natural wool dryer balls! I was very excited about these dryer balls right up to the point when I got up to the register and found out they were $20.00. Did I mention I'm cheap? Well I am, and paying $20.00 for some balls of wool seemed pretty stupid to me.  I thought to myself, "I bet I can make these." So I came home, and ignoring me children, immediately started perusing the internet to see if I could find some information on how to make my own dryer balls, and low and behold... it was everywhere!

So for your entertainment and (hopefully) enlightenment, I have outlined the process I went through to make these dryer balls. Enjoy!

What you'll need:

• 100% wool
• A pencil
• A moment of peace
• Old panty hose, tights, or socks
• Essential oils (optional) 

First off you will need to get some 100% wool yarn. Check the label. Some wool can be machine washed - don't use those. You want it to say "hand wash only, lay flat to dry" or something to that effect. I got mine at A.C. Moore with a 40% off coupon bringing the cost down to about $3.50 for one ball of yarn. One standard size ball of yarn will make about three dryer balls. (I had to go back and get a second one so I could finish the fourth dryer ball).

To continue, you will need your moment of peace. I say this because you can't stop rolling yarn to go wipe butts and get water for little people because it will unravel. Pick a time when you won't be pulled away too much and it will make things easier.

To start, wrap the yarn around your fingers like so.

Once you've gone around a number of times (4 or 5), remove the circle of yarn and wrap the yarn around the middle a few times so it looks like a bow.












Then, fold it over and start wrapping the yarn around the center to start the ball.











 Continue wrapping it around and around so you make a ball-like shape about two inches wide. Warning: your hands will get tired and crampy.
I found it helpful to use the multicolored yarn because it made it easier to tell where I had just wrapped the yarn.

Using a pencil, push the remaining thread down into the ball as far as possible. Push the threads back over the hole to seal it.  (Others will tell you to use a  crochet needle. This sounds great in theory, if you knit. I don't knit, or sew very well for that matter, and so I didn't want to spend money on something I would never use again. A pencil worked fine.)

I made 4 balls, but you can make anywhere from 3 to 6.

Now cut off the leg of your pantyhose (Don't try to save them. Resistance is futile).  Stuff one ball into the leg pushing it all the way to the toe. Tie a knot above the ball. Then repeat the process until your pantyhose looks like this.

Here's the important part, you need to machine wash the balls in HOT water and dry them on HIGH heat to make them felt. Basically, this means they will shrink a little and the threads will fuse a bit. I put them in with a load of sheets because I worried about towel lint getting all over the pantyhose and causing problems.

Once you take the balls out, they should feel a little tighter and the threads should stick together.

You're not done yet....

Now you have to repeat the whole process again.  This time you will need to wrap your finished ball in more wool until they are about three inches across, push the thread through with a pencil, place them in the panty hose and wash on HOT, dry on HIGH.

Remove the balls from your pantyhose and enjoy. At this point you can add a drop of essential oil to each ball before throwing them in a load to give your clothes a nice cent. Don't add a lot of essential oil. Remember a few drops go a long way.

Here are my final balls. They look more like footballs, but whatever, it really doesn't matter.

They felted nicely and stayed together in the dryer fine. I anticipate they will firm up even more with continued use. I also think they are a little small. I may add another layer of wool in the future, but I'll see how these work first.

Now here's the million dollar question... Do they work? I'm honestly not sure. My clothes came out soft and without static, but it's been a wet summer, and I haven't had much in the way of static problems. The real test will be in the winter. That's when the static is the worst around here.

The essential oils (I used lavender) did make my load smell very nice though. :)

 






Linked to: Shabby Creek Cottage

Healthy Home - My Recipe for All Purpose Cleaner

I try to keep my house as free of toxic chemicals as possible, and I'm cheap so this recipe is a perfect fit for me.

It's an adaption of the one on Gorgeously Green. Check out her web site. It’s awesome! I don’t like tea tree oil, and borax bothers my allergies, so this is how I make my own APC.

Ingredients:

• 1, 32 oz spray bottle (You can get these at the dollar store)
• 2 cups of water
•   ¾ cup white distilled vinegar
• ¾ cup hydrogen peroxide (3% solution)
•  1 teaspoon of Castile soap (any dish soap will work but Castile creates less suds)
• 30 drops lavender essential oil
•  20 drops lemon essential oil
• 20 drops orange essential oil

Just pour all of the ingredients into the bottle and shake.

Shake before use