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Thursday, September 12, 2013

Homemade Ivory Soap Laundry Powder

{If you can, please scroll all the way to the bottom to read a little “p.s.” about this post from me, okay?  Thanks!}

 

You guys. 

This laundry powder (aka detergent, but that was obvious, right?) is soooo easy to make.  When I say 5 minutes, I literally mean 5 minutes from the time it takes to get the ingredients together, measure them, and put them into your jar.  I timed myself.  Seriously!

 

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I went to a seminar in the spring at a local health food co-op about how to make your own laundry soap.  The presenter used 3 ingredients – Dr. Brommer’s Soap, Washing Soda, and Baking Soda.  I tried it that way at home, and it turned out great.  I used the almond scent (my fave!) and it smelled deeeelish. 

Except….Dr. Brommer’s bar soap, while awesome, is $3.99 a bar.  Plus you still have to buy the other two ingredients.  I’m sorry, I love our planet tons, but if I can easily get regular old detergent for $1.99 on sale at the grocery store, the price is going to win out for my family. 

Enter…Ivory soap.  This is the soap I used growing up, and we still use it in our house now.  It regularly goes on sale at my local grocery stores, it’s super cheap, PLUS there are frequently coupons for it in the paper.  I’ve gotten it for free or close to free many times before.  It’s unscented and super mild, so I knew it would be safe for my kids’ clothes. 

 

And it works great! 

Here’s how you do it:

First, grate your soap.  Seriously, this took me less than 2 minutes.  I timed myself.  Watch a YouTube video while you do it if you really need some incentive. 

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Just make sure if you leave it on the counter nobody in your house mistakes it for shredded coconut.  lol

 

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Then, measure your baking soda and washing soda (you’ll need 1/2 C of each). 

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Add your baking and washing soda mixture to your shredded soap.  I like to dump everything into a gallon-size ziploc to mix it all in and shake it around. 

 

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Then pour it all into a jar (or you could totally just leave it in the bag, if you prefer!).  I like to keep mine in a mason jar.  I have a thing for those vintage zinc lids! 

 

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That’s IT! You’re finished! And you may or may not feel very accomplished and a little like Laura Ingalls.  Or maybe that’s just me.  lol

 

Here’s the “technical” recipe:

1 bar of Ivory soap, grated
1/2 C of washing soda
1/2 C of baking soda

Add 1 T to a full load of laundry (modify more or less for smaller loads or heavily soiled loads).   **I doubled the recipe for myself, so your mason jar will not be as full as mine if you follow this recipe as-is.*

 

Helpful hints:

- I like to start my washer and then sprinkle in the powder as the water starts, in order to help it dissolve a little. Then I add my clothes.

- I wash all of my kids’ clothes and some of my clothes on gentle cycle.  Occasionally on gentle cycle I will notice a flake or two here and there of Ivory that hasn’t dissolved after the cycle has completed.  Just flick it off – no biggie!

- I continue to use Shout as spot treatment for stains (I’ve always done that).  As long as I do that for tough stains like food from my kids, this detergent woks just as well as any other detergent I’ve tried!  I made sure to test it thoroughly before sharing with all of you.  :)

 

So, there you go!  A super cheap, clean, much-more-environmentally-friendly method of cleaning your clothes.  If you try it be sure and let me know how it works for you! :)

 

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Okay, so on to my little “p.s.” You might notice that every so often I’m going to have pictures up on my blog that have text on them.  Aka “The Pinterest-Worthy Pictures.”  Unless you’ve been off Pinterest for a while, you’re probably well aware that the site is FULL of pictures like this.  It’s a little obnoxious, I’ll admit it.  And sometimes super annoying.  (Aka a blogger I really like once had a picture of her son’s face and text around him saying something like, “How to talk to your kids about s-x.”  Really?!  You want that picture of your son with those words going around the internet?  So yes, people take it a little far.  I will 100% agree with that. 

BUT.  This blog makes my family a {small!} amount of side income, thanks to the ads on the side.  I am soooo grateful to God for allowing this little bit of money to come in to help us out as a one-income household.  So I figured why fight Pinterest – just embrace it.  Kinda like pointed-toe shoes in college.  I swore I would never own a pair because they looked like witch shoes, but lo and behold I caved and my short little legs had never looked longer or better.  I ended up with multiple pairs.  But I digress.  haha!

Anyway, these Made-for-Pinterest photos aren’t going away, so I’m going with it.  I’m trying out posts here and there to see how they do in the Pinterest world.  So if you see one from me every now and then, you have every right in the world to roll your eyes and refuse to click through.  Or you can {bless your little heart} use the “Pin-It” button that hovers over my pictures, and bring it to the big wide world of Pinterest.  But just know that I’m just a stay-at-home mom of two trying to make a few extra dollars for my family and trying my hardest NOT to annoy anyone in the process.  Really. :)

 

Okay, I hope that all made sense!  Thanks for sticking with me! :)

27 comments:

  1. I've been wanting to try this out, and it looks so easy! Thanks for sharing:)

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  2. Thanks for the tip and In this economy every little bit helps. I think all can understand that.

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    1. You're very welcome! I hope it works great for you! And thank you for being so kind!

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  3. WOW! Great pics and background. Looking fancy shmancy!!!

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    1. Thanks my dear! I'm actually having a lot more fun playing around with Picasa than I thought I would. :)

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  4. wow! i think i'll have to give that laundry soap a try..

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  5. had to come back over and tell you i tried this and it's AWE-SOME!!!! :)))

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    1. awesome, amber! thanks for letting me know you tried it! :)

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  6. I was going to make this for my Grandmother, because she has very sensitive skin, but she likes bleach with her laundry soap.. So I was wondering if I could mix the powder version of the non-clorine bleach with all of the other ingredients without some kind of chemical reaction?

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    1. Hmmm...I'm not sure about that, unfortunately! I've never even heard of powdered non-chlorine bleach, never mind tried it. I will say that this detergent is really good at getting out stains! I still spot-treat things like my kids' clothes {just like I did before} and it gets the stains out just as well as any other commercial detergent I've used in the past. Sorry I can't be of more help to you!

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  7. Can't wait to try this. Have you ever added essential oils like lavender or something else to the mix and if so how much would you add?

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    1. I haven't added essential oils yet but I'm sure you could experiment! The great thing about this recipe is that it's so inexpensive to make, so even if you mess it up it's not like you wasted a bunch of money! :) I'd start with a few drops if I were going to do it. :) Please come back here and comment if you try it to let me know!

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  8. Would you use the same amount for a front load or a bit more? Thank you so much for posting this, so much easier than other recipes I've found

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    1. I'm sorry but I've never owned a front-loading washer! I would hate to say "yes" and then have it damage your machine! :)

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  9. can you use this in a hd washer. the water don't start until the lid is locked

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    1. I'm sorry, I'm really not sure! I just have a very old washer. :)

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  10. You can also put that bar of soap in the microwave for 30 sec- 1 minute at a time. It will turn into a giant puff ball. Once it cools down you can just break it apart into powder. (Just keep an eye on it the first time in the microwave so it doesn't burn)

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  11. I get fels naptha barsoap at the dollar store and grate that. It smells citrus-y. I also add Purex fabric softener crystals. Also, save the little leftover chucks of the fels naptha after you grate. Keep them in a baggie and wet a piece to rub on a stain.. works awesome.

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