Laundry Saving Tips
Here are some recipes for making your own items for laundry.
Dryer Sheets
Using one bottle of your favorite liquid fabric softener and pour into a large bowl.
Take a stack of wash rags or scrap sheets strips and soak in the liquid. Twist to wring out excess liquid, hang up to dry and use as dryer sheets. Save remaining liquid to make new batch of dryer sheets. These are simple enough to make and once dried can be folded or toss in a clothes pin bag for easy reach.
Notes / Optional methods:
** I tried just pouring some of the liquid on a rag and tossing in dryer… not a good idea.. My clothes had spots on them!
** I tried the clear liquid…worked fine!
** I tried the clear liquid mixed 50/50 with water and misted a rag before tossing into the dryer… works great!
Liquid Fabric Softener
~ Most liquid product can easily be cut with 50 water and still work well in the washer
~ Vinegar in the rinse is a fantastic alternative to liquid fabric softeners. Place ½ – 1 cup in softener dispenser. Clothes will come out soft and static free. The machine will also smell clean (bonus)
Laundry Soap
Depending on the type of machine you have… you may find that either the powder or the liquid works better.
Powder
~ For a powder mix combine one shaved bar of soap (Ivory/your choice), one cup each of borax and washing soda (Arm & Hammer).
Optional: add essential oils to scent the soap. Start by using 1/3 cup and adjust to your machine. I find most machines use less than store-bought powders.
This mixture will run a little over a penny a load…compared to a quarter or more with store-bought.
Liquid
~ For a liquid mix start with the same ingredients as the powder plus you will need a five gallon bucket with a lid and a one gallon container. (This mixture will make ten – one gallon containers of laundry soap. Milk jugs work great for this project as they have a handle and lid)
To prepare
~ Place 4 cups hot water in pan and stir in the shaved bar of soap on medium low heat. Stir continuously until completely melted. It will have a little foam on the top but should be smooth (no chunks or clumps). This should take around 10 minutes.
~ Fill the 5 gallon bucket ½ full with hot water. Add 1 cup of borax and 1 cup of washing soda and the soap mixture. Stir well. The best way is with a long yard stick or broom handle to get to the bottom of the five gallon bucket.
~ Once you have stirred the mixture well, continue filling the bucket to the top with hot water (faucet hot is fine, no need to be boiling water). Once full, stir really well. Put top on and seal container. Allow to sit overnight. I wouldn’t try to move it around too much! Start this project in a location that will allow you to leave it sit overnight when you start and place it on a towel to collect any spills. If on a counter or elevated surface, make sure no little ones can grab edge of towel or bucket. This is going to be very heavy and could hurt a little one.
~ Next day // Carefully remove top on five gallon container. Soap mixture will have cooled and thickened into a gel type consistency. Stir the mixture again…stir and stir until combined thoroughly.
~ Fill clean gallon container with 8 cups of the soap mixture and 8 cups of water. Close container and shake well to mix. At this point you can fill the remaining gallon containers with 8 cups of the soap mixture and water or just leave the soap mixture in five gallon bucket until you need to refill your favorite soap dispenser. From experience, I have found it easier to make up the containers all at once instead of as needed. This also allowed me to see at a glance how much was remaining. If you are sharing this mixture, you would divide it up at this stage. Keeping it in the larger bucket is fine, but you will have to really stir it up every time you need to refill your soap dispenser.
This mixture will run a little under a penny a load.
To use the soap…shake container well before each use. Use 1 cup for top load machines and ½ cup for front loaders.
The dryer sheets sound like a very good idea-especially the part where I can add my own fav fragrance! Since I live alone (and in a small apartment) the other 2 would be overkill for me-but sound great for those who have a large family and storage space!!
Oh wow, these are some awesome tips that I’ve never even heard of or considered. We do a ton of laundry over at our home – So this is really helpful 🙂
Well, I like the Vinegar tip and will be doing that tomorrow!! Not sure I want to make 5 gals of detergent so I’ll leave that one to you. YOu’ve got a large family, if I remember right. It’s just us three, so I’m going to the store!!! Thanks for the tips.