Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Homemade liquid dishwasher soap

In my quest to be frugal and more environmentally responsible I have tried several recipes for homemade laundry soap... without results that pass my criteria. The last batch I made was with borax, washing soda and Dr. Breener's liquid castile soap...... it didn't pass the test, either. What to do with all this liquid laundry soap?? I HATED to see it go to waste. I read the castile soap bottle and it said it can be used with dishes!! I have been using homemade powdered dishwasher soap (with washing soda and borax) for the past 4 years so when my batch ran out I used the liquid "laundry soap" I had made. Results?? LOVE it!!!! It might not meet the mark for laundry, but it does an excellent job in my dishwasher.

Since then I have made 3 more batches with equal success. I don't know if it will work for everyone (our water is VERY hard... we use a softener... and is extremely high on the ph scale) but I am very happy with this recipe. I thought that I would pass along my recipe in case anyone wants to try it. You could easily make a smaller batch to give it a shot the first go round. Dr. Brenner's Castile soap is extremely versatile... can be used in so many ways!

Homemade Liquid Dishwasher Soap
(This makes 1 gallon. It costs me approximately $3 to make. I store it in 2 1/2 gallon jugs.)

Ingredients:
16 cups of water, divided
1 1/2 cups WASHING soda (this is NOT baking soda)
1 cup borax
1/2 cup Dr. Brenner's Pure Liquid Castile Soap (fragrance of your choice)

Directions:
1) Bring 8 cups of water to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in washing soda, borax and liquid castile soap until dissolved.
2) Stir in remaining 8 cups water and allow to cool.
3) Pour cooled dishwasher soap into containers of your choice. It will "gell" up over next 24 hours.

To use:
give dishwasher soap a good shake to make sure everything is mixed well and to make it easy to pour out. I put it in both of my dispensers. Experiment with the amount you will need... I don't completely fill up my dispensers.

I hope you like it... Let me know if you try it. I enjoy making as many of our cleaning products as possible... I especially like this homemade multipurpose cleaner. I am very bummed that I haven't found a laundry soap that works for us.... If you know of any recipes I am willing to try them.

Have a BLESSED day, BE a BLESSING!
Heather

8 comments:

  1. Have you tried the laundry soap recipe from www.thesimpledollar.com yet? I can't personally endorse it, as I haven't made it yet, but I typically trust Trent. He's good. :)

    http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/03/15/how-to-make-your-own-laundry-detergent-and-save-big-money/

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  2. I tried homemade laundry detergent too a while back and it didn't cut it for me, either. Maybe well-water is the problem.

    I want to make your all-purpose cleaner though, and give that a try.

    I started a new face cleaning/moisturizing treatment yesterday ~ the "oil cleansing method." One part castor oil to four parts sunflower oil. Cheapest facial EVER! I only started it yesterday, so we'll have to see how it does for cleanser, but despite the dryness in the house due to the woodstove, my face still feels soft a day later.

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  3. http://frugallygreen.blogspot.com/search/label/Clean%20Green

    That is a recipe I have made twice now, for the laundry soap. It seems to be working just fine for me. I haven't noticed anything negative about our laundry... some people have mentioned yellowing and smells after using home laundry soap but I haven't noticed any problems.

    I haven't tried a dishwashing liquid yet because I get boxes of dishwashing stuff for real cheap with coupons and sales. But... when/if I run out of a supply I will attempt to make my own!

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  4. I don't have nor do I want to buy the liquid castile soap I do however have the bar soap since I use it to make my own laundry soap so can I just use the bar and melt in in water to have the same effect as the liquid castile?

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  5. For some reason my soap is in bottles but it's not gelling up HELP !!!

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  6. I don't know what happened to my laundry soap!! It won't "set up" or gel. The soap floats to the top and the liquid stays at the bottom. Help!!

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  7. Marla and Kaye.... I wish I could help you out! Mine has always gelled although now that I am about down to the bottom third of my bottle it is starting to separate, too. I just give it a good shake and use it.... it still cleans just fine.

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  8. I use the Duggar Family laundry soap recipe. It can be found on their site.

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