Home laundry detergent £1.50 for 10 gallons

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Benny&Co
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Re: Home laundry detergent £1.50 for 10 gallons

Post by Benny&Co »

p.penn wrote::? I think I would have gone with the powder....sounds much easier!!



Yep think I'll be trying the powder next Helen! {rofwl}
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Novastar
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Re: Home laundry detergent £1.50 for 10 gallons

Post by Novastar »

I'm going to be trying out 'soap nuts' once we run out of our current laundry stuff - literally seed shells that contain natural saponins that go in with the clothes. I've also stocked up on borax (substitute), bicarb and castile soap as well - not sure if we can name names, but i've found Summer Naturals to be great for prices!
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Re: Home laundry detergent £1.50 for 10 gallons

Post by Benny&Co »

I've heard about those soap nuts too Nova, but don't fancy them - is it right you don't get a nice smell from them?

Be interested to see how you go with them though.

What's summer naturals? Is it a place where you can buy Borax etc?
Bev x
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Re: Home laundry detergent £1.50 for 10 gallons

Post by Novastar »

I've not tried, but I think you can add essential oils for whatever scent you like?

Yeah, Summer Naturals is an online shop, good for bulk-buying eco-cleaning stuff :)
I stocked up before Xmas. They do good prices for larger quantities of essential oils as well
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Re: Home laundry detergent £1.50 for 10 gallons

Post by Benny&Co »

Ah yes of course you can add some nice oils to it )t'

Cool about the website, will have to check them out. I got my things from Amazon as I had a voucher to spend with them )t' :-D
Bev x
Our family: my-Lovely-Hubbly and I, Benny and our two little Ladies - Betty and Gloria.

RIP dear little Ladies - Lottie, Cottie, Elsie, Dottie, Hilda and Margie. You may have gone, but are never ever forgotten.
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Re: Home laundry detergent £1.50 for 10 gallons

Post by manda »

I use soap nuts and yes they don't smell great but yes you can put in your oil preferred smell.
Personally I think they are great on everyday clothes washing but for anything a bit grubby it's worth either pre soaking them or adding some oxyclean of some description into the machine.

Only thing I will say is I tried making the handwash and unless I was totally off base I wouldn't bother again in the future..it didn't smell nice and had a really weird texture to it. I like that when they're no longer good for washing you can stick them in the compost )t' :-D
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Re: Home laundry detergent £1.50 for 10 gallons

Post by Benny&Co »

My soap flakes arrived today, so going to try again with the powder mixture >stir< >fi< )t'
Bev x
Our family: my-Lovely-Hubbly and I, Benny and our two little Ladies - Betty and Gloria.

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Re: Home laundry detergent £1.50 for 10 gallons

Post by Benny&Co »

Righty-ho folks, operation home-made-laundry-soap/take two is underway.

I got this recipe from the Dri Pack website (manufacturers of Borax/Soap Crystals/Bicarb/Soap flakes etc):

500mg Borax
500mg Soda Crystals
2 tablespoons Soap Flakes
Optional - 2 tablespoons oxygen bleach

As I didn't have enough Borax after my effort the other day, I halved the quantities there.

Also put half a spoon extra of the soap flakes as they said you could.

Found this recipe for fabric softener too:

1 cup vinegar (white)
1 cup washing soda
1 cup water
Drops essential oil (good choices include lemon, lavender, mint, geranium)


Have put a load of washing on, it's whirling round as we speak )t' I wasn't sure how much powder to put in, so I started with two tablespoons and put a third in for good measure. Just filled the fabric softener to 'max'.
Bev x
Our family: my-Lovely-Hubbly and I, Benny and our two little Ladies - Betty and Gloria.

RIP dear little Ladies - Lottie, Cottie, Elsie, Dottie, Hilda and Margie. You may have gone, but are never ever forgotten.
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Re: Home laundry detergent £1.50 for 10 gallons

Post by Benny&Co »

I've now done a couple of loads with my home made potions, the things don't feel too soft though, wonder what I could do to the fabric softener to make it better? >dum<
Bev x
Our family: my-Lovely-Hubbly and I, Benny and our two little Ladies - Betty and Gloria.

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Re: Home laundry detergent £1.50 for 10 gallons

Post by Sejjie70 »

A slosh of white (distilled) vinegar is great at softening - have used it for years (on the advice of my Gran) to soften my towels & in recent years to soften cloth nappies (fabric conditioner coats things so affects absorbancy). Has the added bonus of helping sanitise, prevent detergent build up on whatever it is you're washing & helps keep down the limescale in your machine.

Used to use Gloop years ago, but got out of the habit (couldn't get soda crystals locally then laziness set in LOL). Really must get back into the habit again...
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Re: Home laundry detergent £1.50 for 10 gallons

Post by Benny&Co »

Thank you Sejjee. Do you think I should add more white vinegar to the mixture then?

Have to say I'm not too impressed really. Had to redo a load yesterday as it didn't feel clean and felt really crunchy and hard :oops:
Bev x
Our family: my-Lovely-Hubbly and I, Benny and our two little Ladies - Betty and Gloria.

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Re: Home laundry detergent £1.50 for 10 gallons

Post by Sejjie70 »

Have never tried the home-made fabric softener, have always used just plain distilled vinegar (when not using a shop=bough fabric conditioner).
Sarah.
Mum to 1 hubby, 4 children, 3 Springer Spaniels (Max, Millie & Buttons), 2 cats (Sox & Frankie), 2 rabbits (Crunchie & Munchie), 12 chickens (Target, Speckle, Barbara, Margot, EggieII, Gomez, Sparkle, Glitter, Wednesday & Isabel), 3 geese (Lister, Smeg & Camille) & 4 ducks (Soup, Anya, Marble & Vindaloo).
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Re: Home laundry detergent £1.50 for 10 gallons

Post by Lillia »

Don Roberto wrote:Hey you frugal laners, I just came across a site on YouTube, it's called The Urban Farm Guys, and they show you how to make your own washing detergent. It costs about £1.50 for 10 gallons, that's enough for about 8 months of laundry for a family of 5. They use readily available ingredients from any supermarket, they are a couple of bars of household soap, some borax powder, and some washing soda, mixed together with hot water. Don't know how good it is, but the Americans on the site rave about it. Have a look at the site and maybe a couple of you could get together and give it a try, who knows it may be brilliant. Cheers me dears........ +confused+

I used to make my own powdered detergent. It was so cheap and worked so well. In the states, you can find Borax so easily but I can't find it here!
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Re: Home laundry detergent £1.50 for 10 gallons

Post by Benny&Co »

You can get it on the interweb Lilia, here you go:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dri-Pak-Household-Borax-Substitute/dp/B001DMQZW6/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1326880002&sr=8-3

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Dri-Pak-Ltd



I'm on the verge of giving up with it to be honest!

The clothes etc just don't feel the same, all hard and crunchy and don't smell nice.

I've just added some more essential oil to the powder and put a throw in to see how it goes and a small amount of bought fabric softener.
Bev x
Our family: my-Lovely-Hubbly and I, Benny and our two little Ladies - Betty and Gloria.

RIP dear little Ladies - Lottie, Cottie, Elsie, Dottie, Hilda and Margie. You may have gone, but are never ever forgotten.
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Re: Home laundry detergent £1.50 for 10 gallons

Post by Lillia »

Benny&Co wrote:You can get it on the interweb Lilia, here you go:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dri-Pak-Household-Borax-Substitute/dp/B001DMQZW6/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1326880002&sr=8-3

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Dri-Pak-Ltd



I'm on the verge of giving up with it to be honest!

The clothes etc just don't feel the same, all hard and crunchy and don't smell nice.

I've just added some more essential oil to the powder and put a throw in to see how it goes and a small amount of bought fabric softener.


Thank you very much for the link!
Really? You aren't happy with the results? I used IVORY bar soap and Fels Naptha soap...do you use washing soda in your recipe? That is what helps with odor and softening the fabrics~
Thanks again :-D
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