Monday, October 11, 2010

Detergent and Randomness

I'd love to take the time to knock out a meaningful post, but I am fairly confident I do not have the time, or mental capacity to tackle that task today. What can I do? Give you my much anticipated (by about 2 of you) laundry detergent recipe and a little random sumpin' sumpin'.

Homemade Laundry Detergent:
You'll need:
5 gallon bucket with lid
1 bar of Fels Naptha Soap
1/2 cup of Borax
1 cup of Arm and Hammer Washing Soda (make sure it's the WASHING soda)

Grate and melt the bar of soap in 4 cups of water on stove. Put other ingredients in the bucket, and then pour the melted soap water into the bucket. Fill the bucket with hot water and stir. Cover and let sit overnight. Stir and then pour your homemade laundry detergent into left over laundry detergent bottles, filling them only HALF way. Add water to fill to the top. Shake before using each time. (FYI- this detergent does not create suds in the washer, but it cleans well) We have loved this detergent. We've been using our first batch since the first week of June and our clothes get very clean and smell nice. It has a very light scent, and hasn't aggravated Ezra's eczema at all. It cost me just under $10 for the original ingredients and the next time around all I'll have to buy is the bar soap. The way I figure it, it'll end up costing me about $3 for 6 months worth of laundry detergent.

**If you're not interested in making the detergent, I'd love to get my hands on your empty used detergent bottles. I only had one when I made this recipe and the rest of the detergent has been hanging out in the 5 gallon bucket until I need refills. :) **

Randomness?
There are 627,077 people with the first name Amanda in the United States. Statistically its the 80th most popular first name for a girl.
There are 366 people in the United States with the last name Gascho, making it's rank 59,453rd for last names in America.
Finally, there is supposedly only ONE Amanda Gascho in the United States, which honestly doesn't surprise me because I never have trouble using my name for things like email accounts, facebook, or twitter, etc. You can find out where your name ranks by going to the "How Many of Me" website by clicking HERE.

ENJOY!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Amanda! I've been thinking about making my own detergent for awhile. I made a powder version awhile back, but it didn't work out that well - left spots on my clothes. I was thinking I'll try your recipe, since it seems to be working out well for you!
Just a couple questions - do you have a trick or a certain type of grater you used to grate the soap quickly? When I grated that soap before, it took me foreeeever.
Also, how much do you use per load? The same amount as a store-bought liquid detergent?

Thanks for the recipe!!

Little Bird said...

Hey Amy! I just used a regular cheese grater and it took FOREVER. I'd love another solution if you figure one out. I do use the same amount as a store bought detergent and so far that's working well.

Anonymous said...

Thanks! I'm thinking I'll try using a food processor. Seems like that should get it in small enough pieces to melt down well...I hope! :)