I got this recipe from my neighbor. I'm not sure how toxic Fels-naptha laundry soap is, so I don't know it this counts as less-toxic. It is cheap, and made with stuff I generally have on hand these days. And it satisfies the part of me that loves doing things myself.
Here's the recipe:
Put four cups very hot tap-water into a large saucepan. Grate 1 bar fels-naptha soap into the water and heat on medium heat until the soap is fully dissolved.
Fill a 5-gal bucket approx. 1/2 full with very hot tap-water. Add 1/2 C borax and 1 C washing soda. Stir to mix.
Pour melted soap mixture into the bucket, stir until combined. Fill the bucket almost to the top with more very hot tap-water. Stir again, cover with a lid, and let sit overnight.
Fill a container (like an old liquid laundry soap container, or a water container with a spigot) 1/2 full with water. Fill the rest of the way with the detergent concentrate from the bucket.
For top loaders, use 5/8 C per load (I use 1/2 C for simplicity. Close enough, right?)
For front loaders, use 1/4 C per load. I imagine that less should be used with soft water, no matter the type of machine you have.
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3 comments:
How do you like using this? I'm still unsure (though I am equally unsure about all laundry products). The recipe I used had equal parts washing soda and borax, but I imagine that with soft water less borax would be okay... I look forward to hearing how you like this long term.
Yeah, let us know how you like it. I hear Fels-Naptha is the best for getting baby poop out of clothes, but I'm too lazy so I use spray & wash (which doesn't really work). But maybe I could give this a try!
I found that my whites got grey with this recipe. Maybe I needed to double rinse?
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