Homemade Laundry Soap and Fabric Softener Recipes

I am part of a mom's group at our church...a while back we made some homemade laundry soap and I have chosen to use it ever since! I think it works really well and I know many other moms have continued to use it also. You can find several different ways to make homemade soap but this is the one that I use.

I generally make 3 batches at a time because I'd rather use up a complete bar of soap rather than leaving a partial bar laying around somewhere. By making 3 batches at once, I use 2 whole bars of soap.

Amounts for 1 batch:
2/3 bar of Fels Naptha soap
1/2 cups Arm & Hammer Washing Soda (NOT baking soda)
1/2 cups Borax

All of these items can be found in the Meijer laundry aisle.

I first chop up the bar soap with a sharp knife. I use my blender but you can also use similar appliances. I've found that when you blend one batch at a time, it tends to work better--so in my blender, I first put 1/2 cup each washing soda and borax and add 2/3 of a bar of soap (chopped) last. In my blender it seems to work better to add the bar soap last so that it doesn't get softer/melt together from the heat of the motor by being in the bottom. I then run the blender till the bar soap is in finely chopped pieces and blended well with the other ingredients. You can then empty into a ziploc bag or plastic storage container. Use about 2 tablespoons per load of laundry.

*I was feeling ambitious one day and made 12 batches. I had bought a plastic container at the Dollar Tree, about the size of a shoe box, and it worked out perfectly. I believe I made it in mid-February and it will probably last me till the beginning of June or so. I spent about $20 to make that and even had some Borax left over.

So after learning how to make that, I started looking for homemade fabric softener recipes and I found this and have been using it as well. It works fairly well...I am one, though, that does not pull my clothes out immediately all of the time and will often run the dryer another 10 minutes or so to get out the wrinkles. Well, when I've pulled my clothes out immediately I do notice that there is little to no static BUT if I have to run the dryer to get out wrinkles the clothes do tend to have a little bit of static. My clothes are soft though!

1 cup baking soda
6 cups distilled white vinegar
8 cups water
essential oil

In one gallon container (I use an old container that I used to make lemonade or other juices in), pour 1 c. of baking soda. Then add 1 cup of the water. I then take a whisk and stir this up really well. SLOWLY add the vinegar. If you add too quickly it will fizz up and possibly overflow the container. I have also found that if I whisk while I slowly pour in the vinegar, my chances of it overflowing have been lower. It also helps to add a little bit slowly, let it fizz up and then go down and then continue to add the vinegar in this manner. Once all of the vinegar has been added, then add the remaining water. I whisk this all together. Then add the essential oils...I usually add 20-30 drops. You can add less, it all depends on your preference. Whisk in the oil (or shake up in your container). I just fill up my fabric softener dispenser with this for each load.

*I buy my oil at Michaels and use the 40% off coupons they have in their ad that comes with our Sunday paper. This costs me around $2 and can be used for several batches of the softener. A gallon of vinegar can be bought for approximately $2 and baking soda around $.50, both at Walmart. You should be able to get about 2 batches out of each of these.

I've found these to be money saving recipes. I hope you will too! :)

Have a great weekend!