Janie Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 If you choose other, please leave a comment regarding your preference. If you feel that homemade is the most economical, please share recipe and time involved in making the detergent. To me, time = money. If it saves me time, I will likely buy it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abbeyej Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 (edited) I voted for liquid. It does cost a little more per load, but I think it has better cleaning power and is gentler on clothes than the powdered stuff (thus preserving wear and saving money in the long term). Also, use about 1/2 the recommended quantity of most commercial laundry detergents. It saves money, cleans the clothes just as well (or better, because there's less soapy build-up on the fibers), and is (again) less hard on the fabrics. ETA: Others bring up another good point. Using liquid, I'm able to wash most loads in cold water. Again, more economical and easier on the fabrics. I do use hot water occasionally, but cold works for most things and also minimizes the sorting I need to do. Edited January 10, 2009 by abbeyej Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*Inna* Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 I use homemade. It's cheap and works fine. For really dirty play clothes I add a bit of liquid Tide to the load. http://grocerycartchallenge.blogspot.com/2008/10/homemade-laundry-soap-wfmw.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ereks mom Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 Sometimes the powdered kind doesn't dissolve completely, especially when I wash in cold water, and it leaves white grainy specks on our clothes. Ugh! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoughCollie Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 (edited) I checked "other". I make our laundry detergent powder. To make sure it dissolves, I put the powder in and run warm water before switching to cold. Otherwise, I wash clothes on warm and rinse in cold. Powdered Laundry Detergent - Recipe #4 2 cups Fels Naptha Soap (finely grated - you could also try the other bar soaps listed at the top) 1 cup Washing Soda 1 cup Borax * Mix well and store in an airtight plastic container. * Use 2 tablespoons per full load. http://tipnut.com/10-homemade-laundry-soap-detergent-recipes/ I run it all through my food processor. It takes longer to clean the food processor than to make the detergent. It probably takes me at most 15 minutes to gather and measure the ingredients, run them through the food processor, store it in Rubbermaid containers, and clean the food processor. I use Spray & Wash on clothes that are stained -- usually just on DD's & DS's white hoodies, though. Edited January 10, 2009 by RoughCollie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tammyla Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 I choose liquid and use a lot less than recommended. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 I chose powder, but we use liquid because of the cold water thing a PP mentioned, and because the lower grade liquids cost only slightly more than the powders. Homemade sounds cool, but does it make your clothes smell like Fels Naptha? I don't like that scent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaxMom Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 I don't think there is a standard measure here. It depends on how many loads there are per container and the cost per container, then you have to factor in the "intangibles". That said, I also prefer liquid because I do not find powder dissolves particularly well in cold water. So, in that way, liquid would be more economical for us, since we can wash in cold. Making my own, factoring in time to obtain ingredients, prepare it and the results of the washing, did not prove to be more economical, either. (Not dissing anyone else's experience - I'm sure a lot has to do with specific recipe, the nature of one's water, and how disgusting your family is. ;) ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandy in Indy Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 I recently attempted making my own and was not happy with the laundry results. It was easy to do, made a bunch and would have lasted a REALLY long time. (I still have about 4.5 gallons.) BUT, my husband is a machinist and has really, really, really dirty, greasy clothes. The homemade version (Fels Naptha, borax, washing soda--liquid version) just didn't clean very well. I went back to Tide. It might seem to cost more, but it cleans the clothes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TraceyS/FL Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 Homemade here. Powdered supposedly gets your clothes cleaner according to the manufacturer of my machine. And, all detergent needs to have the water be at 85 to work - it like activates them. Machines with on-board heaters heat the "cold" water to 85. I just recently learned this at the laundry forum.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoughCollie Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 Homemade sounds cool, but does it make your clothes smell like Fels Naptha? I don't like that scent. I don't like the way Fels Naptha smells either. Our clothes do not smell like that product -- or like anything, really. I guess they just smell like clothes. My recipe works on DH's workout clothes after he plays racquetball. That is my proof it gets the clothes clean standard. I do not have any super-dirty clothes to wash, besides those. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G5052 Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 We're on a septic field in a semi-rural area and I prefer cold water for almost everything, so that's really the only option. We get our clothes DIRTY. If I watch for sales, the cost is fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaxMom Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 Homemade here. And, all detergent needs to have the water be at 85 to work - it like activates them. Machines with on-board heaters heat the "cold" water to 85. I just recently learned this at the laundry forum.... That's interesting. My machine has an onboard heater, but it doesn't heat cold water to any particular temp. It only heats on the "sanitary" setting - to 160 degrees... which is stupid here because my hot tap water is 185 and it takes forever if I set it on "sanitary". Plus, having experienced the wet laundry when I have see something in there that doesn't belong there and have opened it up to take the item out, I can say that the water is not even close to being tepid or even warmer than our room temp - about 68. It's cold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FriedClams Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 Homemade here. :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2abcd Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 I used to make homemade laundry detergent, but when we moved near a Sam's Club, I found that their huge box of cheap detergent (it was a bucket back then) worked great and was less expensive and a whole lot easier. Check your price on your homemade. I was surprised that it cost more than buying ready-to-go detergent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elise1mds Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 I have to use liquid since my washer drains through a leach line out the back. I used powder when we first moved in and the lines clogged almost instantly. Haven't had a problem since swapping to liquid, and I definitely shop Sam's. They have the undyed, unscented kind now, which makes me happy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kris Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 I checked "other". I make our laundry detergent powder. To make sure it dissolves, I put the powder in and run warm water before switching to cold. Otherwise, I wash clothes on warm and rinse in cold. Powdered Laundry Detergent - Recipe #4 2 cups Fels Naptha Soap (finely grated - you could also try the other bar soaps listed at the top) 1 cup Washing Soda 1 cup Borax * Mix well and store in an airtight plastic container. * Use 2 tablespoons per full load. http://tipnut.com/10-homemade-laundry-soap-detergent-recipes/ I run it all through my food processor. It takes longer to clean the food processor than to make the detergent. It probably takes me at most 15 minutes to gather and measure the ingredients, run them through the food processor, store it in Rubbermaid containers, and clean the food processor. I use Spray & Wash on clothes that are stained -- usually just on DD's & DS's white hoodies, though. That's the recipe I use, but with Ivory soap instead of Fels Naptha. I made a batch the beginning of November and still have over half of it. I love it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kris Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 I recently attempted making my own and was not happy with the laundry results. It was easy to do, made a bunch and would have lasted a REALLY long time. (I still have about 4.5 gallons.) BUT, my husband is a machinist and has really, really, really dirty, greasy clothes. The homemade version (Fels Naptha, borax, washing soda--liquid version) just didn't clean very well. I went back to Tide. It might seem to cost more, but it cleans the clothes! I haven't had any problem, so far -- and actually old rags that i thought were stained forever are getting cleaner. BUT I put a load in the washer around lunch time and just let it soak until the next morning, when I wash it. So that's probably why I don't have any problem with the powder dissolving, though I use cold water. I'm also using vinegar for fabric softener and a spray on spot treatment (I'm too lazy to go look at the bottle to see what kind it is). I'm very, very happy. The old thread about stinky towels as soon as they got wet set me to experimenting, because I had the same problem. My clothes now smell like nothing, and my washer isn't stinky anymore, either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kris Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 If you feel that homemade is the most economical, please share recipe and time involved in making the detergent. To me, time = money. If it saves me time, I will likely buy it. I made mine with the food processor in just a few minutes. Time is money for me, too, but I was also looking to solve some stinky problems -- which it did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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